By Joy O'Donnell, NSRC director of outreach
Created 10/07/2009 - 14:03
Let's face it: Old school sex ed, which focused on scare tactics and tales of “disease, disaster, and dysfunction” within a clinical presentation format, is so over.
The NSRC and many of our allies—including Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey's Center for Family Life Education [1](CFLE)—are increasingly promoting fresh ways to teach people about sexuality throughout the lifespan. At NSRC we have incorporated film, spoken word, Internet resources, comic books, and board games into sex education in order to engage people of all ages and ensure that the lessons learned actually stick.
But really until now, despite these and other new creative approaches, using humor as a tactic in and of itself hadn’t been explored. That's why I was completely thrilled when I learned of CFLE's 2009 annual conference theme “Using Humor to Teach Sex Ed [2].” I just had to take a few minutes and ask CFLE Director Bill Taverner, What's so funny?
Clearly, as Bill describes below, humor is one more powerful tool in our quest to give nationwide, lifelong sexuality education an A+. Hopefully, this will spark some ideas for your own work, and Bill’s words will inspire you to attend the conference on October 29 [2]!
NSRC: Why did the CFLE Annual Conference choose this year to focus on humor as a strategic approach to sex ed?
Bill Taverner: I think humor is a valuable resource for sexuality educators in any year. Sex ed is often presented in somber terms, whether it’s abstinence-only speakers using scare tactics or other teachers droning on with lectures about various aspects of sexuality. Even some teachers who present sex ed in a positive, comprehensive way would benefit by taking a step back and recognizing that while there is a serious side to sex, there is also a lot about it that is funny.
NSRC: What are some of the challenges and opportunities of using humor in a sex ed classroom? What about using it to teach adults and older adults?
Bill Taverner: While my copresenters, Allyson Sandak and Ashley Generallo, and I were preparing for our plenary session, we were very fortunate to come across someone who had done her dissertation on humor and sex ed. The research of Marcy Vogel greatly informed our presentation. The first thing we learned was actually kind of funny: That conferences on humor are some of the most boring conferences around. Of course we were determined not to have a boring presentation!
Dr. Vogel researched the use of humor in sex ed with sixth graders. One of her most significant findings was that the use of humor increased student comfort with the subject as the sex ed classes progressed. Dr. Vogel also explored the use of “tendentious” (disparaging, put-down) humor and “nontendentious” humor. She found that the use of nontendentious humor facilitated learning to the greatest extent. In short, when teachers used humor in their classes, students learned more than when their teachers taught the subject matter without humor.
Some teachers might avoid using humor because they don’t consider themselves funny. But teachers don’t have to worry about being standup comics! One example of humor that helps students retain information is the use of “comic action”. A teacher might employ this technique by making an exaggerated swimming motion to show how and where sperm travel. Students remember such information because the delivery is out of the ordinary. It catches them off guard and facilitates attentiveness as they await the next such moment.
As for using humor with older adults, my coauthors—Peggy Brick, Jan Lunquist, and Allyson Sandak—and I devoted an entire lesson plan to humor in our book Older, Wiser, Sexually Smarter. In that lesson participants listen to examples of jokes about sex and senior citizens. Here’s a sample:
An eighty-five-year-old man tells his doctor that he plans to marry a twenty-five-year-old. The doctor warns him that too much sex could be fatal. The old man replies, “If she dies, she dies!”
After most people laugh we ask participants to examine the joke a little more carefully. Why is it funny? In this process we can explore stereotypes rooted in sex, gender, and aging.
NSRC: Could you share a couple of other examples of how you have used humor to teach sex ed? What were the results?
Bill Taverner: My colleagues at Answer developed an animated interactive learning program with Elizabeth Schroeder doing the voiceover in a funny German accent. (This is another example of comic action.) I am sure that the learning is enhanced because the students will want to continue the activity to see what Elizabeth says next!
Parody and satire provides great opportunities for introducing or exploring different sexual topics. Voluminous examples can be found on television, such as The Colbert Report [3], The Simpsons [4], Saturday Night Live [5], and whatever other comedy shows your audience might be watching. There are plenty of movies, too, such as a number of great scenes in The 40-Year-Old Virgin [6]. The Onion [7] news repeatedly tackles sexual topics, too.
One of my favorite ways to introduce the topic of menstruation is with a funny, ninety second video on YouTube [8] that features singing droplets of blood. Such a video relaxes the class, makes them laugh, before proceeding into a discussion about the mechanics of ovulation and menstruation. For that matter a careful examination of YouTube for sexual topics is a terrific idea for teachers because this is what young people are really watching.
Sometimes humor is intentional and strategic and sometimes it’s accidental. Peggy Brick was once asked what might make a condom fail. She replied, “Well, I suppose if there’s a little prick in it . . .” She was referring, of course, to a puncture, but the students took it the other way and had a good laugh!
NSRC: Are there any existing humor related resources out there for sexuality educators?
Bill Taverner: Humor resources are all at our fingertips: the email jokes we receive (often about sex), comics that can be accessed quickly using “Google Images”, videos on YouTube [9] and Hulu [10].
We also need to recognize students as important allies in using humor in sex ed. Let them laugh, let them be funny! We can explore the subject of sexuality seriously while maintaining a balance between somber and giddy.
We also have the stories we can tell. Elizabeth Schroeder told me once she was buying a series of seemingly unrelated items at Wal-Mart— markers, greeting cards, a bag of chocolates, Play-Doh, and . . . four boxes of condoms. When the checkout person continued to scan the items nonchalantly, Elizabeth stopped her and asked, "Ok, seriously? Aren't you dying to know what I do for a living?" Telling such a story lightens the mood and reminds participants that the presenter recognizes the innate humor in the subject.
Bill Taverner, M.A., is the director of The Center for Family Life Education at Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Sexuality Education [11], and special projects consultant for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality [12]. He has coauthored many sex ed teaching resources, including Making Sense of Abstinence [13]; Older, Wiser, Sexually Smarter; and Sex Ed 101. He has received national awards recognizing his leadership in sexuality education, including AASECT’s first “Schiller Prize” for best workshop using interactive strategies and the “Golden Apple Award,” given by the Association for Planned Parenthood Leaders in Education.
Source: http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/article/bill_taverner_bringing_laughs_sex_ed_2
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