Many preadolescents remember encounters in the school that leave an impression on their sexual attitudes and behavior. We were having health classes in our fifth grade physical education course and learning more about ourselves. There were talks given and movies shown explaining menstruation to us in detail. There were movies on dating, teaching us manners on a date and the correct way to refuse a date, and so forth. They were all rather general but helpful, although outdated, and therefore did not seem as realistic to us as they might have.
My second encounter with sex education came in
the fifth grade. At this time the girls in the
class were shown a film on menstruation. The
boys were given a recess and most of us thought
it was strange that we got recess and the girls
didn't. Later that day I asked an older girl who
lived next door what the movie was about. She
told me that it dealt with girls bleeding in
their panties. This was her only answer. Her
explanation confused me and I wondered what was
wrong with girls.
The teacher's frankness is not all that is necessary to good sex
education.
I feel that my conservative attitude toward sex
was instilled by my sixth grade physical education
teacher. She was a very young but a very
coarse woman. She told us about her sordid sex
life, her illegitimate child, and how sexual
intercourse was the most wonderful thing in the
world-whether one was married or not. After her
talks on sex, anything relating to it, even
kissing, made me sick.
The Church
The church has not been known for its openness in discussing human
sexuality nor for the quality of sex education it provides for its
young people. Yet many church-oriented youth remember some experiences
from encounters with the church and with church professionals in the
area of sex. The church has been the source of a good deal of the
general sexual prohibitions in American society.
On occasion, the church has specifically condemned departures from its sex codes, but
more often it has depended upon the force of less tangible concepts
such as purity, cleanliness, sin, uncleanness, depravity, and
degradation to create a climate of repression. The very generality and
indefiniteness of these concepts makes them inclusive. Each person who
places himself under the authority of the church is likely to
categorize himself in accordance with such standards. He is often more
severe on himself than his fellows would be if they were judging his
behavior.
My first source of misinformation about sex came
from my church. From ages six to thirteen I
attended a Missouri Synod parochial day school.
Between the ages of eight and twelve, church and
school were totally integrated for me. What the
school authorities stated was what the church
dictated.
Therefore, sex was taboo. As pupils,
we were forbidden to mention the word or any
activities relating to sex. I remember saying
'sex' to one of my friends when I was about ten.
I was reprimanded by the teacher and told to
write "I will never say sex" three hundred
times. This seems to me to have been a self-
defeating punishment because it only served to
reinforce the term.