Student NEA “Connections” Conference (11/99) Focus Group(s) Responses

• To inform parents of issues arising in the classroom
• To raise parents’ awareness
• Legal obligation – responsibility of teachers to address the issue
• Know resources, how to access information
• Teachers should remain non-judgmental about behavior and orientation, but have a responsibility to protect the health of the other students
• Ethical responsibility to respond if student approaches the teacher
• Responsibility to be “proactive” and put issues out there before problems arise
• Be there to answer questions, offer support
• It is part of the job – not to promote sex but to provide information. Sense the tone of the classroom and the needs of the students and decide what is appropriate.
• Important that educators realize their role is to be an advocate, not to take on complete responsibility for students’ sexual health needs.

Issues/Concerns:

a. Conflict arises between community values/norms, the district and/or state policies, and the desire of teachers to support their students’ needs. Information provided needs to be “general enough so teachers don’t step on anyone’s toes.”

b. Every district has its own policies on sexual health education. Teachers should research these policies.

c. What is NEA’s policy on sex education? What impact does this have? (Answer: NEA supports comprehensive sex education in all schools, but each district makes its own decisions when it comes to implementing this.)

d. Does this open the role of teachers up to now teaching what “should” happen in the home? It should happen at home but too often doesn’t. Students need to learn in a “safe” place. Friends often give misinformation on these topics.

e. Fine line between what is sexual health and what are signs of sexual abuse. What are the legal issues around this? Each state mandates these policies. Need to research.

f. The ideal is for parents and teachers to work together on this. One suggestion: School district sends a letter home announcing that there will be an open question period in class about sex so parents can anticipate and prepare for follow-up at home. Students put questions in box. They are read aloud anonymously and answer is given to the whole class.

g. If educators are going to open themselves up to this role they have to be prepared and careful about how info is given: non-biased, non-leading, document everything.

h. School board, district and teachers should all decide what role educators take in sexual health of students.

 

2) What Kind of Training Have You Received on Health Issues in General, and Sexual Health Specifically?

• Sexual health education
• 16 hours of a health class that included sexual health information
• 3 unit health class that covered sexual health issues but not in practical, applied way
• Training for Resident Advisors in college with information about STDs
• Red Cross Certification
• None since sophomore year in high school because not required in my state (IL). Took general family science and health classes, but sexual health not included.
• BA and MA programs in education often do not require this kind of training 3) How Satisfied Are You With the Training You Received?
• What training?
• Not satisfied with lack of application of information to real life teaching situations.
• Diseases are always changing – there’s so much to keep up with
• It’s hard to feel prepared to deal with these situations

What we would like:

a. Strategies for teaching students, dealing with tough situations

b. Need more resources – would be great to have information and strategies on hand

c. Community resources (e.g. groups that come present at schools)

d. Teach sexual health as a mandated professional course. Make it age-appropriate for different teacher levels (e.g. K-6, 7-9, 10-12) and cover district issues.

4) How Have Sexual Health Issues Already Come Up While You Were Student Teaching?

A 6th grade boy was touching girls inappropriately. A teacher approached the boy and he denied doing it. Is it better to use this as a teaching moment with the boy or to “scold” him? If it is used as a teaching moment the teacher could potentially go through disciplinary hearings and ultimately be fired if the child goes home and tells his parents the teacher talked to him about sex. If the student is the star of a sports team, if he is spoiled or if parent are simply in denial, they have all the power and the teacher is highly vulnerable. “I can be fired for passing morals/values on to my students.”

SUGGESTIONS: Better to put responsibility back on the parents: “This is what I’ve been hearing about your son. I don’t know if it is true but÷” And document everything you do. v A 6th grade girl asked the teacher, “How long does it take to get pregnant?” The teacher answered by saying “Two seconds, now let’s talk about something else.” I was very uncomfortable answering the question, but once I did I felt OK about it. v In terms of anti-gay comments in the classroom, “I try to de-sexualize them and highlight that such comments are offensive to other members of our culture.”

A fellow teacher found out one of her students had lesbian parents and handled it by being shocked and uncomfortable. The child was made to feel badly and the issue was never revisited.

During a lesson plan on “eagles” a child asked the teacher how to spell “lesbian.” The teacher responded by telling the child “that is not what we are talking about right now.”

SUGGESTIONS: Offer to look it up in the dictionary together during recess; Tell him to spell it how he/she thinks it should be spelled and then look at what he/she wrote later and talk about it.

A teacher put a symbol on his door to show that he is a resource for gay/lesbian youth. Parents sued the teacher for promoting homosexuality.

10th graders in a district in Omaha, NE receive an entire year of health classes with sexual health content from the very broad to the very specific. Students must have a parental waiver to participate.

ISSUES/CONCERNS: a. The issues become broader and broader. Teachers are there to focus on teaching subjects and helping students prepare for exams. It is very scary to think about being there to help students deal with sexuality/orientation. “I am very unsure and scared of what my role might be. Plus they don’t pay us well but expect us to be all this and all that.” b. New teachers are expected to be the best but are also the first to blame. c. The key is to develop trust and build relationships with parents. d. “Until I saw the Sexual Health Session description in this conference’s program, I never thought this would even be an issue to have to address as a teacher. And I never considered how I would answer these questions.”

5) How prepared do you feel to respond to students’ questions about sexual health? I feel comfortable but not very prepared. We need to arm ourselves with more resources.

ISSUES/CONCERNS: a. You have to recognize what you know and tell the student when you do not have the answer. But you should help the student find the answer (e.g. accompany him/her to the school nurse or counselor). b. If a question is asked that the teacher feels would be inappropriate for him/her to answer and the student is told , “go ask your mom,” then it distances students and stigmatizes the issue.

SUGGESTIONS: The teacher must clarify why he/she cannot answer the question. Make it obvious to the student that it is not his/her fault that you cannot respond and that it is a good question. Acknowledging the value of a question is a way of responding to it. The teacher can also say that he/she does not have enough time to answer the question then, but will get back to it. In the meantime, he/she can find the answer!

6) If you had a question about sexual health or STDs, where would you go for resources and support?

• I am comfortable accessing community resources and have a good support network of friends and peers that I would go to for answers
• CDC website
• Hotlines
• Call parents to update them and attain consensus on how to proceed.Very comfortable going to peers. We all have the same questions so that is helpful.

7) What do you see as the role of the NEA in ensuring that the sexual health concerns of its members are met and that they feel they have access to the appropriate resources?

• Offer support
• Offer information
• Offer resources
• Offer teacher training
• Make it a part of required training
• Have more programs/workshops (and open them to students since they are the ones dealing with these situations)
• State NEA chapters can discuss these issues with their local chapters
• Sexual health would be a great topic for a teacher association meeting on campus.
• Do workshops at the state leadership conferences
• Create a listserv – it’s a good way to distribute broadly and cheaply.
• On the Student NEA website put up classroom scenarios with solutions and ideas for how best to respond. v Link resources to the Student NEA website so others can access them easily.

ISSUES/CONCERNS:

a. Workshops should include real or typical situations that will arise and provide basic guidance on how to address them

b. Cover insurance issues like “what are the limits?” Where does NEA stand on these issues? Will NEA support you with this content and to what extent?

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