The Best of the Question Box

It’s been an amazing year for More Than Sex-Ed, and we are so excited to keep teaching, learning, and connecting with more students in 2020! 

In celebration of the amazing young people who make our work meaningful, and often really funny, we present to you some of their best contributions to the Anonymous Question Box. 

At the end of classes, we pass out index cards and invite students to write down any questions they have about human sexuality: bodies, feelings, relationships, behaviors—anything.  Everyone has to write something, even if they don’t have a question, in order to preserve anonymity; if you don’t have a question you can write down something you learned today, or something you liked, or draw us a picture.  Nothing makes us happier than hearing from the students themselves that our classes make a difference, and we are delighted to share just a tiny sampler of the notes, drawings, and thoughtful questions that made us smile. 

Heartfelt Thanks:

1. “good job with inclusivity”: “Hi! How’s your day so far?”; “Hello, nice to meet you.”; “Much better than my first sex-ed class”; “It was a lot of fun! Thank you for dealing with my many questions J”; “Great job! J”; “good class”; “Good job J have a good day”; “I feel good!”

2. “cool teachers”; “I appreciate how you guys speak in a way that makes everyone comfortable/relate to in today’s day”; “don’t have any questions. I RESPECT YOU”; “I learned there are many things to sex-ed”; “I have a bigger understanding on this topic thanks J”; “Thanks for the learning!”; I like when we do the question box and when we answer them. Thank you”

3. “Thank you”; “When is Greg going to come we all MISS HIM L wait how do you get baby twins?”; “This class has been REALLY informative and fun, Thank you!!!”; “I don’t know what to write thank you for teaching us! J” “I don’t have any questions sorry great class <3”; “Thank you for coming”; “can we do games like this again?” with drawing of a (bear? cat?); “So u people r the best sex-ed teachers!”

4. “Thank you for being at Muse School. Thank you for being attentive.” “I like about this is I learn new things every time you come”; “The class was very informational! J” “You teach a great class”; “I’ll miss this class I made a lot of memories and DJ LLAMA was here!” with drawing of a llama wearing headphones; “I don’t have a question but I liked the game J”; “Thanks for teaching us! J” “I appreciate that you teach us about so many different topics.” “This was cool.” “I think you did a great job.”

5. “I don’t really have a question but it’s nice to have y’all back J” “I will miss you guys” with drawing of a girl; “I love this class thank you! Emmalinda I <3 your earrings”; “I don’t really have any questions, but I wanted to say thank you, because this class was very helpful. Also, Hello! J” “No questions. Thanks for being cool.” “Very helpful and respectful session. More confident now & grateful. THANKS”; “my mom really appreciates your organization.” “I loved this class so much! Thank you for being amazing teachers!! <3” “I have no questions, but thank you guys for being a safe space for teaching us all these wonderful things. <3” “This class was easily one of the best classes I have ever taken”.

Great Questions:

1. “Is it hard to teach sex-ed.” “Why does a woman need a sperm or have to have sex to have a baby?” “When is it okay to have a first kiss”; “are sperm alive”; “Oh and also, what’s the peach and water and eggplant mean? (emoji)”; “How do you know if someone likes you. How do you make a guy not like you. U guys r great”; “what % of the world is happy with their body and what percent is not? What age do humans start really caring about their body image?” “How do you know you need to say truth”

2. “You guys are awesome!!! Q: What is gender variant? Gender fluid?” “Why do we talk about weird stuff”; “is pansexual part of the LGBTQ+ community; is it bad to hold in your emotions”; “Why do you use the pronouns”; “how do you know if you like someone/ how do you deal with rejection”; “how do you know if you’re gay?” “How do you guys feel when you say ‘p____’ and ‘v_____’. Do you feel weird?” “How does same sex intercourse work?”

4. “How do I tell my mom that I’m bi?” “How do you become transgender”; “could homeless people have babies” “HOW does one masturbate?” “what happens if you’re on your period and you have sex”; “How old do you have to be to get an orgasm?” “What is an orgasm?” “How many times do you have to have sex to be considered ‘sexually active’?” “What is/are ‘AIDS’?”

3.. “If you have a vasectomy and your partner doesn’t have any STIs but you do, can you give them an STI with unprotected sex?” “Does the pill have any side effects?” “Could you get a disease by wearing a tampon?” “Does taking testosterone mean you can’t get pregnant?” “Can you specify what the vaginal fluids are?” “How many people in the world have foreskins?” “Can a girl get pregnant before they have their period?” “Is it true that lesbians are the least likely to transmit STIs to each other, than straights, than gays?” “How many different sexualities are there?” “Is it scary to get your period?”

5. “Why do Male and Female have to be in the same room while sex-ed? Is it necessary for both genders to learn about each other’s body parts?” “How do I make more friends?” “How many friendships survive big arguments?” “How do you know if you like someone?” “How do you deal with anxiety or depression?” “how do you know if somebody is taking advantage of you”; “How do you break up with someone? How do you know if you like someone?” “How do you know you are in love!”

Lessons Learned:

1. “I learned that masturbating in front of others without consent is sexual assault.” “I learned there is no right way to look.” “I learned about infections”; “I learned parenting can be hard.” “I learned some things about disabilities”; “sexuality: I learned about sexuality and gender and pregnancy. No question”.

2. “I learned today that you are the gender you believe you are, not your body”; “I learned to be yourself and don’t let anybody take your values”; “I learned about different types of genders.” “I think it was cool to learn about friendship.” “I personally think that popularity is not important to me at all. I love this class” with a drawing of a cat. “I learned that power in sexuality is neither good nor bad, but can be used to be flirtatious, or be a factor in sexual harassment. My day is going beautiful and sunny! Here is a drawing.” With a drawing of a bee and flower; “this class has taught me many things in the first day”; “I learned that they put soooo much make-up on models”; “I learned that when a photo gets taken of a model they photoshop it a lot.”

Arts & Laughs:

1. Text “love is love” on a rainbow background; pink and red dot pattern; “the doodle page” and “love”; doodles of love, scribble, bush, cat, heart, fox, and bug, labelled.

2. “I <3 sex-ED!”; be you <3; drawing of “boss cat” and ???; “it’s a beautiful day today” with a flower and smiley face; “follow your dreams!” with smiling stick figure; “snalie!” with a snail wearing a bandana.

4. “Can I beat you in a game of basketball? To: Greg” with drawing of basketball and hoop; “What is love? Baby don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me! No more!” with drawing of a singer; “can I call sex-ed sexy-Ed?” with drawings of (presumably) Ed in a bikini; “can your head be a different shape”, with several smiling geometric shapes; drawing of a cat reflected in a pond; “this was good” with a drawing of an eye.

3. Drawing of a hamster; Kat; blobfish; “this class was fun. Thank you” with a flower and cupcake; “hewwo” with a turtle; dog saying “I’m a cat” and in tiny print in the corner “jk I’m a dog”.

5. “What is safe sex? Can humans change gender naturally? Can you be both genders at once?” with drawing of four cats on a cat-tree, labeled “Kit, God Cat, Teen Cat, and Super Cat”; drawing of a dinosaur (dragon?); “Hi you guys did good” with labeled drawings of a vulva and penis; “thank you so much for your time J” with drawing of a dog.