Sex Ed out of the classroom

Creative methods from around the world that aren't taught by the wrestling coach

Jul 26, 2023

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This is a weekly newsletter from me, Dani Faith Leonard , a comedy writer, film producer, and performer, based on the live comedy show ADULT SEX ED that I’ve hosted since 2018. If you want to know more about this newsletter, here’s a description on substack.

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This newsletter is a quickie. My show ADULT SEX ED and this newsletter are for adults. But in order to create an adult sex ed curriculum for ourselves, it’s important to analyze how the sex ed when we were young impacted us. If we learned sex ed out of the classroom, it probably meant we were in the gymnasium, learning about diseases from the high school wrestling coach.

Increasingly, people are getting creative about teaching sex ed to kids and young adults, either because it’s way more fun to learn that way, or because sex ed is illegal. Here are three methods from around the world that I thought were fascinating:

Sexual Health Circus (U.K.)

In England, students are learning about sex ed through a visiting circus (as well as in the classroom). Think circus arts, which have ancient origins, rather than elephants and lion tamers. The first image that popped into my head when I heard about the Sexual Health Circus was a clown juggling dildos and I wasn’t too far off. The benefits of teaching sex ed through circus arts is that they require consent and communication, although the program covers a wide array of topics.

I spoke with the founder, Jess Herman, a couple of years ago when she was creating an educational video series, so people can enjoy the circus no matter where they are. Sex ed/circus programs have also emerged in Australia and Zambia, where Circus Zambia started a program called “Clowns for Condoms.”

Sex Ed Camps (China)

Sex ed in China has been lacking (or non-existent) for generations. When modern, open-minded parents felt that they couldn’t answer sex related questions at home because of their own limited knowledge, they looked for outside help. Enter sex ed camps, intensive weekend programs for ages 11-18 that include as much information as possible. Something that stuck out to me: students attend WITH THEIR PARENTS! That might sound incredibly awkward, but due to their own lack of sex ed, the parents may have learned as much as the students.

Sex ed through Soccer (Southern Africa, Haiti)

Who wouldn’t want sex ed lessons from Ted Lasso? In countries where HIV education has been lacking and sex ed is banned, organizations like Grassroots Soccer have discovered a method that works. The use of soccer language and activity-based learning helps to normalize traditionally stigmatized sexual health concepts. Groups in the United States have begun to use the model to teach about sexual health in schools, too.

Of course, sex ed all over the world is lacking, not just in countries that we’re trained (in the states) to think of as repressed. Personally, I would love to see a comedy sketch about an African NGO visit Florida and teach sex ed through football because they’re not even allowed to say gay. No matter how it’s taught, sex ed continues throughout your life. Anyone want to go to camp?

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