"I was extremely shocked to learn about reproduction in health class..."

Here's a piece of writing from one of Beth's 5th grade students, who comments on their sex- ed workshop experience. In response to this particular writing prompt, we really love the honesty expressed.

More Than Sex-Ed workshops provide age appropriate information, and these early sessions are focused so that kids aren't overwhelmed by the complexity of the topic of human sexuality.  

Even so, feeling freaked out and ruminating on what human sexuality is all about is an understandable reaction, and we empathize. We can honor the enormity of having one's worldview challenge by new information. As caring adults, we don't need to try to minimize the emotional impact, much as we might want to protect our kids. Big new feelings are part of adolescence, and kids are entitled to feel them, and hopefully we provide them healthy outlets to express them, by being available to listen.

The best part  of this student's paragraph is is the way they integrate their new-found knowledge into a healthy perspective. What a great example of maturity!

Write about a time when you felt surprised or shocked to learn something was not as you thought it to be. What did you do or how did you act after you had this knowledge?

“I was extremely shocked to learn about reproduction in health class. This was a topic where the reality was extremely different from what I thought. My reaction to this new information was that I freaked out for a long time. I could not stop thinking about reproduction for a while. This stressed me out for a little bit of time. I was pretty unhappy. However, after a while I got the fact that humans are animals like any others into my head. Then I calmed down, and things were back to normal.” 

--anonymous preteen