Just for a minute, cast your mind back to the good ol’ days of school sex education and health classes. Highlights likely included tampons in glasses of water, condoms on a banana, awkward silence, stifled laughter and no one looking anyone in the eye. But what did we learn? Well, that’s the most ridiculous bit…
The information you were given about periods and sex likely depends on what kind of school you went to. Some schools were matter of fact when it comes to sex education. Some schools more conservative and others are .. just plain odd.
Shining a light on the oddness is Julie Mannell. Julie attended a Catholic school in the 90s. Now 30 years later she’s started to detail her sex education experience on Twitter. Reading this thread had us equally horrified and rolling around in hysterical fits of laughter.
When school sex education FAILS
I thought women had their periods forever. When my first period stopped I assumed the neighbours’ dog impregnated me when I pet him. For a month I believed myself to be carrying a half human half dog baby. This story is brought to you by Ontario Catholic School Sex Ed in the 90s.
— Julie Mannell (@JulieMannell) July 13, 2018
Julie tweeted “I thought women had their periods forever. When my first period stopped I assumed the neighbours’ dog impregnated me when I pet him. For a month I believed myself to be carrying a half-human half-dog baby. This story is brought to you by Ontario Catholic School Sex Ed in the 90s”.
Um, say what?
There’s comfort in numbers
As it turns out, the internet never disappoints and for many, the Catholic school system has a lot to answer for. Many, many people (around 11,700 to be precise) chimed in with their own thoughts and horror stories, much to our reading pleasure.
Sex education confusion EVERYWHERE
Turns out kids of the 90s really were very confused about the birds and the bees and how conceiving a child actually happened. #MINDBOGGLES
Because keeping your socks on is 100% fail-safe contraceptive. NO, NO IT’S NOT.
Periods are what?
As if sex education wasn’t bad enough, information on the menstrual system was seriously scarce. SO many of us were scared that we’d bleed to death or that a period was punishment for something we did wrong. Sorry, I did kick my bother in the nuts … but that doesn’t cause a period.
Don’t rely on the school system to get it right guys..
One thing we all know for sure though is that as parents we most definitely should not stick our head in the sand when it comes to telling our children about the facts of life. Because firstly, kids imaginations are HUGE and secondly, it’s only fair AND SAFE to let them know the real deal. No one wants to spend weeks thinking they’re carrying a litter of puppies.
Just in case you HAVE been avoiding having the all-important chat with your kids, we’re here to help! This How Babies Are Made book is a no BS, book for kids found at Kmart and if it’s the tweens and teens you need to chat to, we have great safe sex chat tips. PHEW.
Julie’s tweets resurfaced after they were picked up by a viral news website. Regardless, they make for hilarious reading. Want to have a read yourself? Julie wrapped them all up in a nice neat Twitter bow for us all here in a Twitter story!
