Sex Education Essay Example

Nowadays education sources as much scarce as they used to be 20 years ago. Sex education is not an exception as well. Sex and all the matters related to it have stopped to be a taboo in a public discussion. It is being discussed in the most popular magazines and TV shows without even mentioning the Internet, where in order to learn what sex is you do not have to go further than Google. Although, my gay years of childhood were not marked with such a great freedom, and getting sex educated was not so easy.
Early childhood years marked my first attempts in getting to know what sex actually is. I was growing up prior to this boost in information technologies and high-tech times. So my knowledge about sex was not full until I reached puberty. My childhood years flew by in the peaceful games with my friends, most of them girls, and, of course, the game of mother-and-daughter was one of the most fascinating ones. Pretending that you are pregnant was the most interesting part. You could grab a little toy (a future baby of yours) and put under your shirt. If the neighbors saw me walking somewhere near the house in such ammunition, I would become even prouder, that in such a young age, I can pretend to be a grown-up woman. Although, at that time neither me nor my friends questioned how you get pregnant. The rumor, widespread between 7-10 year-old girls, was that man and woman have sex (yes, this word was exposed to my childish brain, although, not yet explained) and after that the child is taken out of a woman’s urethra. At that time, I did not know that there is a “second hole” which represents vagina.
However, the curiosity was taking over my innocence. During the first years of my primary school my interest shifted from childhood games to more serious questions. I still clearly remember the day when I decided to ask my mother how sex actually happens. To give a slight introduction, I must tell that my mother never let me watch the scenes for adults if there were such in the movies. So every time I was watching a film with my parents and there was sexual scene coming up, I was sent to my room. I think she just wanted my childish brain to stay innocent as long as possible, since even “Sex and the City” - the most favorite TV series of my mom were a taboo for me. Sometimes she was giving them up so that I do not see the sex parts. Anyway, when I asked my mother a straight question she was quite shocked. I learned from her words that sex is when two people take off their cloth, kiss and hug each other tightly. After the most passionate kisses the children are born as a man gives his cell (a future child) to a woman through a kiss and afterwards the cell is somehow placed into the woman’s stomach. That explanation was already a discovery for me. Prior to that I thought that sex was a reason of pregnancy, but I did not know all the details. I also thought the doctor was the one to place the whole baby into a woman’s stomach so that it can grow there and then doctor takes it out. However, my amazement was very big when in a couple of years I finally understood what the sex really is. It was obvious that my mother lied to me, but I was never angry about that. This story amuses me now more than anything.
Middle school must be the most powerful source of knowledge for any person that has ever studied at school. I learnt the most basic knowledge there. Although, some things I learnt were quite unexpected for me. The first real sex scene that brought me the true understanding was the scene from the pornographic movie which the most vigilant boys I was studying with at school found on the website while the computer class teacher was out of the room one day. I was 11, so I was a late bird in getting “sex educated”. I was sure some girls from my class knew much more than me at that time. It would be wrong to tell that I was surprised by what I saw, as I was deeply shocked. Never in my life have I seen the female genitals so close. What is more, the male genitals were always a matter of fright for me. I do not know why but from the early childhood I was taught to be very polite and careful in my actions. So even when I saw baby brothers of my friends at the beach building the sand castles naked I was not examining their bare looks. I regarded it too impolite to watch even though they were babies. But there on the computer screen I saw a totally naked man and a naked woman having sex. That was the very moment I understood that there was not only the opening for the urethra but another one. The fact that I saw a man putting his penis inside of it numerous times was totally illogical for me. I was stunned and puzzled. I might even say I was feeling a little bit dizzy, for I was not fond of the whole picture. Nevertheless, that was the obvious fact which my mother tried to hide so prudently.
As my middle teenage years approached I finally knew what the sex was. Nevertheless, I wanted to understand much more than what I saw. I wanted to know about the female and male genitals, how everything was called and what the purpose of each member was. Maybe 3 minutes of what I saw was not the whole thing, and there was something more to it? I could not ask anyone. Indeed, I could ask my mother or my cousin who was much older than me. However, I was scared that the mother would be deeply aggravated by the fact that I saw that porno scene at school. My elder cousin would be a good candidacy to ask, but we were not close and I saw her rarely only when she visited with her parents, and most important - it would be embarrassing to ask. For the part of my friends, I did not want to seem such a child as even being 11 year-old each girl tried to be woman-like, and each had a “secret love of her own” - usually a boy from the older class. I did not want to be humiliated in my friends’ company that I am unaware of sex as I thought everybody else knew more. I was also afraid to ask about condoms. I knew about them from an earlier age as I saw them in the pharmacy stores but still could not understand their purpose and how exactly they (little squares) are used in sex. There was no Internet at home to help me, no books to read, I was even somewhat scared to search for anything related to sex.
My dark age of unawareness passed when in the 9th grade we started to learn zoology, and then human’s body organism. Of course, it was not awkward anymore to read everything about the female and male genitals in the school text book. The whole reproductive function of a human body was exposed to me in every detail. Although, right about that time my mother finally decided to have a serious conversation with her daughter about sex. I finally felt so much relief that I could ask my mother questions which I was so much afraid of earlier. This conversation was not spontaneous though. My female body finally reached puberty and mother had to take an active part explaining me what menstruations were, why they were occurring periodically, what their purpose was, etc. I saw that it was not very convenient for her to talk about it. However, in the end she managed to tell me about sex. Explanation was simple and clear. I was so thankful for that. By that time I was interested in guys more than in my teddy bear and, surely, the question of sex was very important. My mother also answered my questions about a first sex. I must say, I am very glad that she finally did that, since I heard quite shocking stories from my friends, who were discussing it on the streets. First sex seemed to be a torture from what I heard, and that is exactly why I was wondering why girls actually decide to do it anyways. Mother also explained me what condoms are for. To be frank, by that time I was informed that they are not actually square, although, never saw a condom close and, of course, was not quite sure how to put it on a penis. So my mother had to explain me that as well. After our conversation got more comfortable for both of us, mother started telling me about her first experience in sex and that calmed me down a bit, as from her words it was an ordinary process. She also explained me the feeling of “butterflies in a stomach”, and how it was connected to sex.
The most formal sex education classes certainly were taught relatively late at my school. In the very last months of my graduation year, we had several out-of-curriculum classes called “Sex Education”. While sitting there I was thinking that my school got very late with teaching 18 year old girls about sex. Nevertheless, it was some kind of a progress. Those several lessons did not teach me many new things, although, they did stress to be wise while choosing sex partners as too many diseases come along with the pleasures of sex.
In conclusion, I simply wish to mention a couple of points regarding sex education as a whole. My own experience in learning about sex was enduring and built on many false claims. Of course, it did not harm me much, but I believe that in the modern world children should be more thoroughly taught about the main principals of sex starting the early grades of their middle school. Parents should also expose this information to the children, not hide it. Children will eventually grow up, and it is better to teach them to trust their parents rather than hide from them. As my example confirms, it is not a good thing for a child to be misled by false perceptions, which she or he can pick up somewhere at school, on the streets, in the movies, magazines or on the Internet. Sex education is a very valuable part in child’s education nowadays and should not be missed.