Do women pee and have babies out of the same hole?

This past week I had my first sex ed class with my ninth graders. Alex was there with me and literally was running circles around the classroom in a confused, astonished, overwhelmed, sympathetic state. I have had conversations, many conversations, with the teenagers of Tabuga that had prepared me for the lack of knowledge I was about to confront. Alex unfortunately had heard my stories but had not experienced first hand the seemingly ridiculous myths and misunderstandings that exist in Tabuga regarding sex.

To start the class I just sat down in front of the class and talked about why I was teaching the class, how the government of Ecuador has declared it a right to learn sex ed (not that it actually happens much) and the importance of the information that was going to presented. Then I explained the importance of having respect in the class as well as open conversation. I also explained the teaching tool of having an anonymous questions box where the kids can write whatever question they want anonymously and I will answer in front of the whole class. From here I elaborated, most likely if you don’t know or are confused about something probably a number of your classmates also are in the dark about it.

It was all downhill from here.

Or, if you’re over positive like me, uphill. I had all the kids answer a questionnaire, like a pre-test. I told them that where they didn’t know the answers just to write ‘I don’t know’ and that the purpose was to help all of us see what the kids know and don’t know. Alex can attest that the majority of the answers were ‘I don’t know’. Almost all of the kids figured out that you can buy condoms in a pharmacy after a few kids answered it correctly and spread the news. Otherwise there were a lot of confused kids, confronting words they have never seen, like masturbation, and being told that not knowing anything about the questionnaire was a positive thing because it meant that the class was totally needed.
Some funny tidbits from the first class...

Profe? How do you make love? – Carlos, 17 years old
Well, obviously Carlos isn’t shy but that is a more personal question and for now we’re going to take it step by step –Me


Profe? What word did you just say? Mas-t-u-r-ba- what? – Jarizta, 15 years old
Masturbation, raise your hand if you know what masturbation is – Me
About 4 out of the 31 raised their hands, two of which I had explained previously what masturbating is

Question #11 Where can you buy a condom? Answer by my 13 year old godson A condom is the penis.

Question # 6 Can a female get pregnant during her first time having sex? Literally the majority of the kids that answered said no, I think only 3 got it right. The rest simply put ‘I don’t know’.

Question 8 and 9 asked the students to name part of the female and male genitals. One kid, frustrated yelled out, 'I don’t know any of this, I don’t even know what the word genitals means’ and like a out of tune children’s choir a number of the students chimed in that they didn’t know either.

After I helped Alex snap back into it by assuring him I will do my best to spread the truth about sex to the students I went to tell my fellow teachers about the class. I am trying my best to keep them updated in case a parent gets uncomfortable about their kids learning. I told them how surprised I was by the lack of knowledge the students have and told them some of the tidbits mentioned above. Then I shared my materials with the other teachers who declaraed thata they wanted to attend my classes as well.

Then, one of the teachers who has two kids, ask me sheepishly if women pee and have babies out of the same hole? She told me that the men believe that and say it is how you can tell the difference between a virgin and someone who has had sex, those who pee loud can’t be virgins because their holes have been stretched out. Luckily I had my sex ed resources with me to show the drawing of the female genitals and without laughing in their faces I explained how women are built. I am sure this sex ed class is going to give me a lot to write about but for now, atleast I have explained to two women that the vagina and the urethra are two different things and that tampons don’t give you cancer, hurt when they are in or are for people with big vaginas.

Hats off to knowledge, looking forward to helping prevent unwanted babies that come out of the hole one pees out of.