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Q: Should expat teachers breach the topic of sex with their students?
I was reading this story of one Chinese university inviting a Japanese AV star to talk about sex with the students, and I thought the idea was pure genius. On the one hand, no Chinese has to 'lose face' talking about something that makes them uncomfortable, it's a great attention grabber and most importantly it gets the kids educated on something important.
And it got me thinking...those teaching high school and up - even though most of us are English teachers, should it be a concern of ours to use the opportunity we have to breach this topic, if only briefly, if only subtly...maybe merely mentioning contraception and these types of things?
11 years 49 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
Not at all.
We are language teachers, not sex ed.
I took German in college and we NEVER discussed sex.
In PR we had English and Spanish class and in those, we never discussed sex.
Why would we need to bring this up?
I don't think I would teach it straight up.
You could blend it into a topic such as "ways to waste lots of money" and an example is having unprotected sex it'll cost you loads of money either on hospital bills because of all the diseases you will get or cost you lots of money because you'll have a baby to take care of.
Oh noooo not waste money!!! I must have protected sex if that's the case!
Not at all.
We are language teachers, not sex ed.
I took German in college and we NEVER discussed sex.
In PR we had English and Spanish class and in those, we never discussed sex.
Why would we need to bring this up?
This is my feeling, and even if I will respect all opinions, I still think you will eventually face problems if you do that "uninvited". Sooner or later it will be misinterpreted and catch up with you. In my opinion, too risky to do it on your own.
Now, if your school director approves your idea, and you find a third party to witness no improper things taking place, that will be another story.
GuilinRaf:
Indeed, especially since our contracts often specify that we may not discuss sex, politics or religion.
Well if you have friends among your students (mine are in their 20s), why not talk about it outside the classroom...if you hang out with them...I encourage them to do hang out as they feel more relaxed and actually wanna talk to you..about anything.
I had to explain the word 'virgin' at some point to a class of boys...they did get pretty uncomfortable...but they love Japanese AV stars 
There was a girl who asked me 'What is love?' after the class...I told her i dunno how to explain it but when you feel it you'll know...As far as sex, as you know, a lot of them are scared of it cuz they know nothing about it....
why even consider it? even in the states you should be trained , approved, and cleared to teach sex in schools so why come here and do something that in western countries is done by train professionals. come to china to do your job not to try and "make it better" . many of us like to see ourselves as something special coming to a backward land and think we should civilize the "savages". we are english teachers, our jobs is to teach english, not impose our thoughts and views. i had a student say something say something incorrect about schools in usa. did i correct him? no they are brainwashed and made ignorant by their govt. the classroom is not the place for me to undo their indoctrination.
Sex? No. Once, I tried to teach a group of adults why I always laughed when they called erasers "rubbers", but they didn't think it was funny. Haven't touched the topic since.
But, it's fun to tease them about dating.
GuilinRaf:
I sometimes do that with my English Majors. Usually the class is overwhelmingly female so I may ask the boys if it must be easy to get a girlfriend (though I never do this in front of the girls!). The looks of horror always make me laugh inside! Just like six year olds!
lokethebloke:
What's funny about calling a rubber, a rubber. A rubber is a rubber because it rubs things out, correct?
I know that sometimes there are things about life, about the world, about our own bodies, and other basic knowledge that you want to teach them. Things that their schools and parents have failed to teach them. But there are just some things that would not be appropriate for us to discuss in the classroom. This is one of them.
It's isn't our job to just roll into Chinese schools and start pushing western views on sex, religion, and politics. In say, encouraging condom use to a group of Chinese high school students or even undergrades you could be conceivibly lending tacit approval to not only cohabitation and and sex out of wedlock, which theoretically run counter the way that the Chinese think its supposed to work (what they actually do is another matter), but also to even having a boy friend or girl friend, which most school frown upon. As far as what fruit such a discussion might bare, Chinese people aren't like westerners. You can't goad them into talking with you by staying something controversial. They'll just write you off as one the bossy foreigners they learned about their history classes, and those that don't immediately tell you that you are completely and totally wrong, in their minds at least, will go back to their math homework and forget you said anything. Talk to them about their dull as dishwater lives as students in a free and easy manner, and you'll get more out of them, as boring as it may seem.
If you want to receive a giant pile of messages from angry parents, ruin your reputation, do efforts in pure vain because you will never make a difference here, and perhaps lose your job, go ahead, great idea!
Not the place of an English teacher to do so. Culturally and professionally it is wrong.
https://goodschoolhunting.org/2019/04/teachers-unions-oppose-bill-make-sex-students-crime.html
This is so disgusting, I can't think of anything to comment.
