Fourteen years ago on Saturday, the FDA approved Mifepristone. It was one of those all-too-rare moments in recent years where access to safe abortions were increased rather than decreased. But even though it’s been available for fourteen years now, there are still vast misunderstandings about it – the most common one is confusing it with… Read more »
This Saturday is the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion. This is a very personal and very emotional issue for me. In the summer of 2013 there was a major shift in the abortion dynamics here in Texas. Wendy Davisapproached heroic measures in order to allow Texas women to keep their… Read more »
It is not yet the National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – that will be this Saturday, on September 27th – but there’s so much going on this week I’m jumping ahead of myself, calendar-wise. The Center for Sex Education doesn’t have a manual about STIs – although I hear rumors of an old one about… Read more »
This is a busy week in the world of sexuality! Saturday, September 27th is National Gay men’sHIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Sunday, September 28th is both the Global Day of Action for Accessto Safe and Legal Abortion and the 14thanniversary of the day the FDA approved mifepristone, and Friday, September 26th is World Contraception Day. To celebrate all… Read more »
I love working with the Center for Sex Education. In addition to my daily blogs here, I do a variety of other things, including editing the Sex Ed Network, run trainings for sexuality educators, and am co-chair for the 2014 National Sex Ed Conference. The conference is coming up in a few months (Less than… Read more »
One of the most neglected areas of sexuality education is with older adults. Stereotypes about sexuality and aging are pervasive in our culture – from assumptions to asexuality being an inherent part of the aging process to not needing to discuss safer sex choices, the dominant United States culture sweeps older adults’ sexuality entirely under… Read more »
In stark contrast to yesterday’s lesson that was designed for adult learners, this one is designed for students just entering puberty. I love that Game On! has something to offer everyone! After attending Bill Taverner and Tanya Bass’s training on the Center for Sex Education’s new puberty manual, Changes, Changes, Changes last week, I’ve been thinking… Read more »
I just looked over the Game On! table of contents to decide which game to write about next and found myself entirely unable to pass up this title. It’s a lesson that’s specifically designed for college students and other adult learners, which I love. It’s rare to find activities specifically for this older age group…. Read more »
Weekends around my house are often filled with board games. Saturday found us playing Ticket to Ride (the Germany edition, because we go to Germany every summer!). Other household favorites include Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan. In honor of my family’s love of game playing, this week I am devoting entirely to the Center for… Read more »
This Sunday is Margaret Sanger’s birthday! Sanger was born in 1879, almost 100 years before me. She was a remarkable woman – a trailblazer who made it possible for me to do the work that I do today. One of my favorite quotes from Margaret Sanger is: “No woman can call herself free who does… Read more »
Art by Milliped As I mentioned yesterday, today I’m going to dive into Streetwise to Sexwise. It was last updated in 2001, and is ready for a make-over. I’m beginning to work with the author, Steve Brown, as his editor for the Third Edition and I’m really excited about it. There is so much good material already… Read more »
My trainings with Bill are over for awhile, and so I have been pondering which manual and which lesson plan to turn to next. Tomorrow I am going to talk about Streetwise to Sexwise. It is one of those manuals that’s something of a classic around sex educator circles. The author, Steve Brown, tells me that… Read more »
I’m diving back into Sex Ed In The Digital Age today because Bill Taverner and I are doing another training together today focusing on this manual. I’m going to introduce a lesson by Kirsten deFur, because Kirsten is one of my favorite sex educators. In addition to being an amazing presenter and lesson writer, she is… Read more »
Welcome back to Week 2 of 500 Lessons in 500 Days! Today is Lesson 5! In honor of Tanya Bass and Bill Taverner’s training today on the Center for Sex Education’s new manual Changes, Changes, Changes, I’m going to address the first two activities in the manual. These are ice breakers designed to help younger… Read more »
My training yesterday with Bill Taverner on Unequal Partners was just fantastic. The attendees are engaged, talking, and diving deep into the issues in this manual. My favorite conversation came at the end of the day, after we had wrapped up the content. I asked people to finish the sentence stem: “I feel…” Words that… Read more »
Image from Kristin Schmit (https://www.flickr.com/photos/giraffecereal/5486705109/in/set-72157626169897314/) Today and tomorrow I am training with Bill Taverner on Unequal Partners , so while my mind is here, I’m going to discuss my favorite two lesson plans in this manual. Because I seem to enjoy putting together small tables of contents recently, here’s what’s coming: first a refresher on… Read more »
Day 2 of 500! While I will be going through time periods focused on certain manuals, I don’t know that I’ll go through all of the lessons in each manual chronologically. I may even jump between manuals because I’m crazy like that. I feel like leaving that up to the winds of need and desire… Read more »
Today is a thrilling day for me. I’ve been waiting for this day ever since I saw the movie Julie and Julia way back in 2009. Writing a daily blog with some huge and definite end in mind? Sign me up! Julie started out with 365 and 524 recipes, but I have decided to go… Read more »
Several years ago, I read an excellent four-volume set of books on the history of sexuality education, Sexuality Education Past, Present, and Future, edited by Elizabeth Schroeder and Judy Kuriansky. Bill Taverner had a great article in volume 3, “Principles and Practices.” When I met him for the first time while attending Widener’s Sexuality and… Read more »
LA Senate Passes Bill Banning “Abortion Providers” from Teaching Sex Ed in Public Schools Last Tuesday, the Louisiana Senate passed HB 305, which bans any organizations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood, from teaching sexuality in public schools. According to The Advocate, state Senator Karen Peterson, Democrat of New Orleans, said the legislation singles… Read more »
