It is only natural for parents to want the best for their children. In order to protect their young children from harm, parents provide safe environments for their children to explore. But as the children become older, their environments are less controllable and parents rely on education to enhance their child’s ability to stay safe. There is no doubt about it, as children enter their tweens and teens, parent/child conversations can become difficult. That is why parents refer out to experts and enroll their children in extracurricular education such as drivers ed. A more difficult subject is sex …parents often panic at the thought of “the talk” and their children exploring their sexuality, and why parents should consider enrolling their child in a comprehensive sex ed program.
Why do we enroll our kids in drivers ed, and how is this similar to enrolling our children in comprehensive sex ed?
- The educator has the time specifically devoted to educating the student.
- Kids often work better with non-parents.
- Teachers are experts on the subject and have a curriculum. Structured education taught by professionals gives the detailed information which makes the parental follow-up easier.
- Parents want their kids to be safe. Enrollment in a comprehensive program teaches students the skills to safely navigate their experience (whether driving or sexuality).
In a driver’s ed curriculum I found online *, I saw many correlations between the learning objectives for driving and sexuality. Take a look and see if this makes sense to you. If you would like more information, contact me here.
| *How to I turn the car on or off?
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What is sex and what control do I have over it? |
| *How do I stop once I get started?
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What is consent? You can say no anywhere in the experience and expect that to be honored. |
| *How do I maintain safety when completing basic driving tasks?
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How do I protect myself from unwanted disease and pregnancy? |
| *Student will be able to identify the various adverse conditions
he/she will be likely to encounter and define the appropriate measures to take to drive safely in those conditions.
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Student will be able to identify the various adverse conditions he/she will be likely to encounter and define the appropriate measures to take to proceed safely in those conditions. |
| *Student will be able to list his/her responsibilities in a collision
and what the consequences are for failing to complete those responsibilities. |
The student will be able to list his/her responsibilities in a relationship and resulting STI’s and/or pregnancy, and the consequences for failing those responsibilities. |
| *Students will be able to evaluate the impact of the various
personal factors on safe and legal driving.
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Students will be able to evaluate the impact of the various personal factors on safe and legal sex. |
| *Students will develop strategies to avoid impaired or distracted driving.
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Students will develop strategies to avoid behaviors that lead to unhealthy sexual interactions. |
Ways to experience safe and enjoyable driving, like safe and enjoyable sex, demand education and open conversations. We would not ask our children to learn about driving from movies any more than we would encourage our children to learn about sex from TV or porn. Sexuality is part of being human and a necessary topic to be discussed.