Students in Intro to Biology (aka Bio100) attended several sessions by yes+, Phillips Academy’s peer-to-peer sex educators. Led by Dr. Cath Kemp and José Navarro Peralta, Instructors in Biology, the initiative is part of a broader curricular design of the introductory biology class to embed relevant issues of race, gender, and sexuality into the science curriculum. Since not all 9th graders take Bio100, some dorms and other 9th grade classes joined bio students for this presentation.
Some student reflections:
“I did not know that different people felt pleasure in different ways. This was meaningful to me because it shows that everyone is different, so communication in a relationship is important.”
“I didn’t know that girls masturbated.”
“One thing I already knew was the important of protection when having sexual intercourse. I learned about this in 6th grade when I had my first sex-ed class. This is memorable because it is very important to my own health and the future partner’s health as well.”
“One thing I learned is the how frequent intersex babies are born. This is important because it was something I barely though existed but learned that it is more common than I thought. This changes my thinking on the topic because it enforces the fact of how people are expected to choose a sex and doctors encourage “correctional” surgery to intersex babies.”
“Even though many of us were initially suspicious of this presentation, it was an important presentation. We never talk about it in class and it is great to talk about things that affect all of us. We don’t talk about it and I feel it is very valuable that we actually do.”
Brace Center for Gender Studies 