Positive Sex Ed, Wisconsin Fall Color Report

Air Date:
Heard On Central Time

How did you learn about sex education in school? Did it feel like “disaster prevention?” We speak with an author who says we need to reconsider how we teach kids about sex to be more positive. Then we get Wisconsin’s Fall Color Report from the state’s Secretary of Tourism.

Featured in this Show

  • Sex Educator Says 'The Talk' Doesn't Have To Be Awkward

    For many children who are coming of age, having “the talk” can mean enduring an awkward mess of innuendo and strange metaphors that altogether avoids using that three-letter word at the heart of the matter: sex.

    While it might be an uncomfortable conversation for many adults, it’s not for Al Vernacchio, a teacher of English and sexual education at a high school in Pennsylvania. He jokes that when God was passing out talents, the Lord blessed him with ease in talking about sex.

    Vernacchio is the author of “For Goodness Sex: Changing the Way We Talk to Teens About Sexuality, Values, and Health.” The book makes the case that the “disaster prevention” model of sex education — which Vernacchio says characterizes sex as a dangerous, dirty and wild force that needs to be controlled — isn’t working. Rather, said Vernacchio, it’s time to think about sex-positive models instead.

    “I’d like to change that so we can start from a point where sexuality is seen as a really good gift, and the best thing about being human and the thing that allows us to connect with other people in meaningful ways,” he said.

    Developing healthy sexuality in young people requires a willingness to talk with them, he said, because they need to hear from parents and adults who love them. He said that talking about sex is no different than talking about anything else, no matter how much adults want it to be.

    “It’s about communicating about values, communicating about being one’s authentic self, communicating about risk and reward and pleasure,” Vernacchio said. “So, all these conversations we’re having with kids about other things in their lives — we can have the same conversations about their sexuality.”

    Vernacchio said adults need to get rid of the idea that talking about sex involves sitting down around the dining room table in a family meeting arrangement. Rather, he said, adults should start engaging in small conversations, asking questions as part of the daily interactions with kids.

    “We really just need to open our mouths and start talking,” Vernacchio said. “Unless we actually take that first step … it just becomes this monster that gets bigger and bigger in our heads and our fears.”

  • Positive Sex Education

    Our guest makes the case that the “disaster prevention” model of sex education isn’t working, and it’s time to think about sex positive models.

  • Places In Wisconsin To See Fall Colors

    It is that time of year! The trees in Wisconsin are turning and the trees are still full. We hear great places to enjoy the fall colors in the state.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Al Vernacchio Guest
  • Stephanie Klett Guest
  • Galen Druke Producer