Happy birthday, Mifepristone!

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 »

The Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion

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 »

Still normal, after all these years!

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 »

All you need is love…and touch…and education…

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 »

Drawing Development

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 »

Vulvatastic!

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 »

Sex Ed Games

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 »

Happy (almost) Birthday, Margaret Sanger!

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 »

Educating about child sexual abuse

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 »

The important things that must come first

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 »

Addressing that most uncomfortable of topics…

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 »

Surviving Puberty

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 »

Known unknowns

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 »

How I learned to protect myself, how we teach our young people to do the same

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 »

Mindful education

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 »

1 of 500!

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 »

CSE Curriculum Informs Salient Study about Sex Ed, Gender, and Youth Empowerment

The Center for Sex Education (CSE) curriculum, Streetwise to Sex-wise: Sexuality Education for High Risk Youth proves groundbreaking success in a research article published in the Journal of Sex Research titled Sexual Education, Gender Ideology, and Youth Sexual Empowerment.* In this seminal article, the authors highlight how Streetwise to Sex-wise incorporates unique and effective components of gender ideology,… Read more »

Sex Ed News Roundup: TOP, Sex Life, Republicans

Minneapolis, Minnesota: Home of Largest Decline in Teen Pregnancy in Nation! Image: http://wymancenter.org/nationalnetwork/top/ Thirty-two Hennepin County public schools in Minneapolis are reporting news-worthy declines in teen pregnancy rates among their young residents since implementing TOP (Teen Outreach Program). With the help of $17 million in federal funds, 2,200 students over five years will participate in the… Read more »

Sex Ed Week in Review: Posters, Partners, and Sex Positivity

Kansas: Poster Sparks Anger, Leads to Opt-In Mandates In Sex Ed The passage of Senate Bill 376 would  mandate school districts to obtain signed permission slips from parents or guardians so their children could engage in human sexuality instruction. Anger over a poster brought the Bill to the floor after a student showed her father a picture of it. The… Read more »

We Want to Hear From You!

National Sex Ed Conference Blog SubmissionsFor the next several weeks, we’ll be posting attendees’ thoughts, impressions, and takeaways from the National Sex Ed Conference. Please email Jennifer Hart, CFLE’s blog manager, with your submission, limited to 500 words or less. To kick us off, we’ll hear from Jocelyn Schur, a CFLE Scholarship Recipient and emerging sex… Read more »