__X Education

The announcement of the Department of Education that they will include sex education in the basic curriculum stirred up a hornet's nest. Groups pro and anti started hurling arguements at each other. Lawsuits are even being filed to nullify the DepEd order. One proponent said that if the word sex is so offensive, maybe they can just call it gender education. The antis would not have it. A rose by any other name will still smell like a rose. Sex by any other name will still be malodorous to some nostrils. The antis want sex education to be the parents responsibility. I totally agree except for one good reason: my mother never talked to me about sex so how could I talk to my kids about it!

Well, actually, my mom did try to tell me the story of the birds and the bees when I was about 10. I remember she was reading a magazine and then called me over(in retrospect, she must have been reading an article on how to talk to your child about sex without offending them). She first asked me if I knew where babies come from. I told her no and I should have added, I don't really care because the thought never crossed my mind. Anyway, she started to tell me that daddy would plant an invisible seed in mommy's tummy and that seed would grow into a baby. While she was talking symbolically, I was thinking literally. I imagined my dad going really close to my mom, holding this invisible seed (from who knows where!) between his thumb and forefinger and pushing it in my mom's tummy. Much like a farmer planting a seed on the ground. Nine months after, a baby is born. My mom never asked me if I had any questions. If she did, I wouldn't know where to begin!

All I know is, after that little talk, I made sure I was never too close to a boy because he may plant a little invisible seed in my tummy without me knowing about it! What a tragedy that would be! Not knowing who the father of your baby is! With that as my introduction to sex, I knew I wasn't the expert who could talk to my kids about it.

Jonina later told me that one day in elementary school, a classmate bragged that she knew how babies are made. She then revealed the secret of copulation to the curious. Jonina was flabergasted! "What! My mom had 4 kids and she never did that!" Wow, the Virgin Mary could only boast of one immaculate conception. I had four!

Since I pleaded ignorance, like a good dad, Doug took the responsibility of educating our children about sex. He told me that his talk with them was brief and straight to the point. Like me, none of them had questions. I think they were thinking in their minds: why would anyone want to do that?

Amanda just started grade 5 and for their first science lesson, they had to learn the different sexual organs and the process of reproduction. Since they were going to have a test, I had to review her (I couldn't back out on this). I tried to be as clinical as possible. Except for a "ewwwhh, gross!" and covering a detailed picture of the male genitalia with her hands when I turned the page, she kept her thoughts to herself. When Jonina learned what Mandee's science lesson was all about, she teased her about already knowing about sex, Mandee looked perplexed and asked, "I do?"

Just what I suspected! The lesson just flew over her head and she had no idea what all those body parts were leading to. Maybe my mom's story about the invisible seed may interest her more...