SPERM GOT ON MY KNEE

Today I had to take a moment, take a deep breath and sit down in the middle of class from the outrageous comments I heard during an impromptu lesson I had to do for another teacher’s class. I actually taught the biology class but another section so I was familiar with the topic they were going to cover next…the reproduction system.

Since the teacher didn’t leave material on what she wanted me to cover, I did an impromptu lesson on the “myths and facts” about sex and the reproductive system as an intro to the next biology topic. I deliberately didn’t tell them anything. I simply told each student to write down 5 things they were either unsure or sure about and then we'll clarify it together as a class.

OH …..MY ….LORD….The stuff I heard was unbelievable.

Keep in mind…these students were 13 and 14 years of age and freshman. Below is a rundown of the stuff I heard and the results of the # of folks who believed it.

--OVER HALF the class thought that a woman could not get pregnant if a woman is on top during sex.

--At least 3 out of the 10 boys in the class thought you could impregnate a girl if she gave oral sex because they thought the esophagus lead to the stomach and then to the uterus…..(YES, they think it’s one big ole’ pipe all connecting…and a few tried to seriously set up an argument to save face in class)!!!! I sat there and looked at my watch with a grin on my face.

--THE ENTIRE CLASS thought they could not get disease through anal sex.

--Many of the girls were not sure exactly where the baby was kept after it was fertilized.

--Over half thought the baby came out of the belly button itself.

--The guys in the class thought that a girl can only get pregnant when she is menstruating.

--They were ALL interested in knowing how strong and how far sperm can swim. A kid with a concerned look on her face asked, “well Ms. Thompson…if one sperm got on my knee (as if they swim alone) and swam up my thigh into “that hole” (you mean the vagina) could you get pregnant?” After I explained about the lifespan of sperm outside of the body, a kid blurted out, “whewww, Ms. T I’m glad sperm can’t live that long.” I was thinking what in tarnation have YOU been doing?????

--then the question I had to take a seat on was this one….coming from a laid back yet precocious freshman named Ralph. After he noticed the class was asking all types of questions he felt comfortable and raised his hand to ask me an outrageous question (with a straight face). “Ms. Thompson let’s say you have two guys who are having sex. If he gets sperm in the next man, could he become pregnant?”

I was waiting for the “ha ha ha, SIKE” to come…but it didn’t! Half the class yelled, “NO DUMMY”..and then there were AT LEAST 5-6 other students who looked at me with a confused look on their faces wanting me to answer the question because they weren’t quite sure! I was beyond baffled.

Was I having sex at the age of 14? Nah..far from it, but I surely knew the basic concept of sex. It was scary to know that almost all of these kids had not had a “Sex” talk from their parents (I asked)…and that many (I can sadly but safely assume) were engaging in sex. What in the world was going on? These were babies with no knowledge engaging in adult activities!

I did the same lesson with my class to see where in the reproductive lesson I had to start. It wasn’t any better and I decided to start at ground zero. If they don’t learn anything else in this biology class, I hope they absorb the upcoming lessons on the reproductive system as fast as they absorb the lyrics from a Jay-Z song….God knows they need a real Blueprint to the basics of how they came into this world