Beyond the Birds and the Bees
Supporting Sexual Education in BC
Teachers, educators, school staff play such an important role in youth's lives. It is also clear that the education system does not always provide the best tools to educators, especially when it comes to sexual and health education, a subject that is often piled on to the already impressive workload of school staff. This resource aims to offer some tools and ideas in a consise manner so that you feel better equiped to support your dear students.
Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Supporting Sexual Education in BC
is a webinar series developped by the Students Commission of Canada in partnership with Healthy School BC. It was designed to support teachers in enriching their understanding of British Columbia’s updated Physical and Health Education Curriculum for secondary students and to provide teaching tools to assist with the delivery of what can be sensitive and sometimes uncomfortable content to teach.
This webinar includes videos on various key topics covered in the curriculum and the Supporting Student Health Guides: creating a safer space in the classroom, consent, healthy relationships, and safer sex.
This webinar was designed in partnership with youth; youth voice was gathered through multiple consultations and will be included throughout the series.
This document highlights the information shared in the webinar series with accompanying activities, helpful links and resources.
INTRODUCTION
This video is an introduction to the series and is directed towards High School teachers.
CREATING A SAFER SPACE IN THE CLASSROOM
In this video, explore the creation of safer spaces in the classroom. You will discover some general tips and acitivities that can help creating an environment that foster genuine and respectful exchange. You will also learn more about specific strategies related to sexual and health education such as inclusive languages and how to respond to the unexpected.
CONSENT
This video will dive into the concept of Consent and Body Autonomy, not only during sexual entercourse, but in life in general. Get some suggestions to start the conversation about consent with the students and practical ideas to apply this concept in your classroom. Beyond consent, this section also discuss handling the feeling of rejection that can come with one's asserting their boundaries.
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
In this video, unpack the key characteristic of a healthy relationship, romantic or not. Build students' capacity to recognize the sign of abusive relationships through engaging activities and techniques. This section also includes the importance of active listening.
HEALTHY SEXUAL DECISION: SUPPORTING SAFER SEX
Making decisions about sexuality goes beyond the sexual entercourse itself. This video will go more in details over the different types of intimacy, some legal considerations when engaging in sexual acitvities, as well as contraceptives, STIs and pornography.