Hi! sorry to say that I am not a foreigner. I am a local English teacher at a so-called junior college and I have one question regrading English teaching. That is, is it appropriate to talk about sex in the classroom?
This is the story. Today I taught a classs for non-majors. We read a chapter dealing with capital punishment. Because there’s really no right or wrong answer to whether death penalty is necessary, I asked them to name some other contraversial topics which are just as touchy. Students gave some examples and then I decided to bring up my own. I told them about the contravery that some school teachers encouraged young students to masturbate so they wouldn’t go on streets looking for one night stands. I noticed that students, mostly boys and some girls, looked very uncomfortable and nobody responded to my story.
Well, I later apologized to them for causing the uncomfortable feelings. I believe I have made a terrible mistake by mentioning “masturbation” in the class to young adults. However, I still wonder if I were in a different culture, woul students feel ok or they would act the same way like those local studnets? Can anyone please share your opinion?
I don’t think it’s necessarily a big no-no but your direct approach may have shocked some students into silence. You need to build them up slowly before you can have the whole class discussing sex.
Maybe get them together in pairs to brainstorm some issues related to a specific sex-related topic. Then pair up the pairs (after ten minutes or so) to compare notes and then keep putting groups together until you are ready to have the whole class discussing it.
This is not a lesson plan; just an idea to get them warmed up.
“IS SEX A BIG NO-NO IN THE CLASS?”…good question that…presuming you are not a troll (and i am wondering) it’s not so much sex that is the problem but masturbation…an english class is not really the appropriate forum to discuss masturbation…and young adults will probably not be very comfortable discussing such a subject;i know i wouldn’t at that age!
btw…no need to apologise for not being a foreigner…
[quote=“the bear”]" it’s not so much sex that is the problem but masturbation…an English class is not really the appropriate forum to discuss masturbation
btw…no need to apologise for not being a foreigner…[/quote]
That was not my intention to discuss “masturbation” in class. We were just trying to think of issues that people have different viewpoints on. Some people mentioned abortion; some said love between teachers and their students; I brought up the “masturbation” issue. I only said the word and did not plan on having any further discussion. Yet, as I said, I sensed students looked very uncomfortable. Female teacher, young male students, why am I surprised?
Well, thank you for your sharing. It’s a good lesson for me to learn.
Lastly, Forumosa is more of a discussion board for foreigners in Taiwan so I didn’t know if a local would be welcomed. I don’t want to be an intruder here, you know.
Welcome! I think it would be very interesting and useful to hear the views of a local teacher.
Do teachers here really believe masturbating will stop kids looking for sex? Where do they get this information? That’s one of the craziest things I’ve heard yet! Sounds like its the teachers, as well as the students, that need sex education.
[quote=“sandman”] Do teachers here really believe masturbating will stop kids looking for sex? Where do they get this information? That’s one of the craziest things I’ve heard yet! [/quote]
I read the news years ago in the newspaper. It happened at a small-town high school of some foreign country(not sure what is it exactly). As far as I can remember, teachers there encouraged young students to show more “appreciation” to their bodies so when they felt the desire, they would not look for one night stands with strangers, which we all know how dagerous it could be. However, parents and religious groups got very upset because “masturbation” was still considered disgusting and an inappropriate topic to speak about in school. (well, should’ve learned) So, haha, no it didn’t happen here.
I never brought up sex in the classroom when I taught at a local college. My students did. The girls openly flirted with me in class -
Me, teaching an English lesson involving ‘my favorite ___’, waking up a girl sleeping in class: “So, where’s your favorite place to sleep? The classroom?”
Her friend answers for her: “Your bed.”
She, a bit groggily: “Or my bed. Whatever.”
Ah, if I didn’t have to those teachers’ ethics to deal with -
Junior College - they’re adults right? Over 18? Don’t mollycoddle them. They need to know what’s going on. There’s nothing wrong with exposing them to the issue of “self-dating”.
I would guess that SEX as a topic of general discussion is taboo in the guidelines of just about every language school, and public school you’d go to in Taiwan.
Having said that, I was amazed at how “yellow” the sense of humor of all kinds of my students was, over the years.
I taught sex in the classroom in Taipei, including drawing large diagrams on the board of male and female genatalia ( ), introducing both standard clinical vocabulary and slang terms for penis, vagina, breasts, etc, and their various components, discussed foreplay, climax, etc, as well as birth control and other related topics. The students seemed to love it and many eagerly took notes, but of course they were totally silent except for a few stifled giggles.
I had been hired to teach a class of students who were preparing to head overseas for their graduate degrees (mostly to the US for MBAs) what they would need to know for such a life overseas as well as brushing up on their English. Other lessons covered banking, shopping, post office, finding an apartment, registering for classes, student life in the US, etc, but I felt that many of them will also encounter a different sexual scene in the states and should be prepared for it. Plus, what a great bunch of vocab words to learn in a foreign language. But I didn’t teach them to masturbate if they want to avoid sex. In fact, I don’t believe I mentioned masturbation – the lesson was on sex with a partner (although I did offer a disclaimer in the beginning that I wasn’t advocating having sex, and if they wanted to remain virgins till they got married that’s fine, but a little knowledge can’t hurt).
Of course, these were young adults – college graduates – I doubt I’d teach the same lesson to junior high students in Taiwan.
For not being a foreigner your English writing skills are far better than most any Taiwanese I have ever read. Also, it would seem that you should be the one giving the advice about this subject since, presumably, being a local you would have better insight on how young people here would respond to sex as a subject in a classroom.
I never bring up sex in the classroom with students under 21. In general they are too immature to discuss it seriously. Above 21 though I don’t think it would be a problem. The masturbation aspect though might still cause some squirming.
[quote=“ac_dropout”]
Unless you consider Self-defense (zi wei) to be a form of relieving of sexual frustration. ^_^[/quote]
Ha ha! That’s a funny intralingual pun.
At least, I assume you’re making a pun? The “wei” in masturbation is the character for “console,” not “defend.” So masturbation, appropriately enough in some respects, is a way to “console oneself.”
Or so they say. I myself have never done the deed, having never lacked for sexual partners since the age of 13.
Hi! I just found out what “a troll” means after looking up in the dictionary.
No, I didn’t try to get people’s reactions by posting the message. I am truly wondering that students felt so uncomfortable because we are in a comparatively conservative culture or rather, sex is generally not a safe topic in any classroom of any country.
When I studied abroad, one time in a class a classmate from some arabic(spelling?)country gave a presentation on his culture, an American girl asked him quite bluntly “In your culture, each man can have maximum 4 wives. How do you figure out the speeling arrangement?” We all laughed at first but nobody seemed to take offense. Because of the experience, I was always convinced that as long as it’s educational and related to teaching, any topic can be and should be discussed in a language classroom. What I mean by this is of course I would not be happy if some student just poped up “dXXK” while I was lecturing; yet, if students don’t know certain names of the body parts and would like to learn, I would gladly tell them. Honestly, I don’t have the same belief after Thursday’s class any more. I was trying to create a stress-free language learning environment like most classes I had abroad, but I ended up embarrassing myself as well as the students.
Thanks again for all the replies. Poeple here gave really good feedback. Now my only hope is that me and my students can forget about the whole thing. I would hate to be remembered, when this semester ends, as a woman who opens up her mouth and says everything. :s
I think that bringing up the subject of masturbation in the classroom, just like bringing up any controversial subject, is going to lead to some students feeling uncomfortable. However, I think that the subject of sex, in all its forms, is an important subject for students to be able to discuss or write about in an intelligent and mature way, and, as a result, students, especially students who are learning a foreign language like English, need a teacher to explain certain terminology so that they are not forced to get their vocabulary only from places like television, i.e., Sex and The City, or music, especially rap music.
I am sure many Taiwanese students know what it means for a couple to f@ck but how many of them know that a more acceptable term would be sexual intercourse? I would bet very, very few. Thus, this is why they need teachers, especially intelligent teachers like your posts show you to be.
I really don’t think that there is any “taboo” subject for students to be exposed to in the classroom, especially in a junior college classroom. Actually, students really need to learn how to express themselves, either verbally or in writing, and they won’t be able to do this unless there is a teacher who is willing to tackle a possibly controversial subject.
Thus, I applaud your attempt to add more to the classroom than the usual subjects that students are used to getting from their teachers. I am sure that even though some students may have been uncomfortable with the subject, especially given the fact that you are a woman and most of them are guys, the students still found the subject to be an interesting one and they probably engaged in discussion out of class among themselves once the class was over. (Which is something I bet they never did after having a grammar class )
I also enjoyed, as somene else pointed out, getting the perspective of classroom teaching from a local Taiwanese teacher, and I hope you post more in the future.
BTW, I also agree with the poster who complimented you on your writing ability. I also think you write far better than what I have read from many Taiwanese people.
Taiwan is not abroad. Abroad people talk about orgasm in public.
Well if you want to have a casual environment in you classroom. You have to let the student know you have a casual attitude in class.
Abroad before broaching a taboo or difficult subject it is customary to begin with a joke.
So if I was to give a lecture or presentation about sexual matter, I would begin with a sexual joke. Then open the subject to discussion.
“Just last night I realized my girlfriend orgasm really loudly because the neighbors were knocking on my door when we were having sex. They even threatened to call the cops. I think they were pretty rude, because how am I suppose to answer the door naked. I never had this problem before because my other girlfriends were really quiet during sex. Do any of you in class have this problem? What do you do when you girlfriend gets too loud having sex?”
This might not even work in Taiwan. Since “yellow gun” humor is a little different.
Why not talk about other things guys are comfortable with. Like I don’t know…basketball…and Kobe Bryant recent rape charges filed by a crazy woman.
I would introduce it as a part of a lesson on love and dating. You could even do surveys on when it is appropriate to have sex and then have a discussion about it. You could use an article (such as the bullshit published in the Taipei Times a while back) and then have a discussion if they agree or disagree with it. I’m sure there was some terminology in it. I wish I could add to this discussion, but it’s been nearly 5 years since I’ve taught students old enough for me to talk about sex with. And no, students trying to figure out how Charlotte the spider had babies without a husband being mentioned in the book doesn’t count.
Do teachers here really believe masturbating will stop kids looking for sex? Where do they get this information? 
), introducing both standard clinical vocabulary and slang terms for penis, vagina, breasts, etc, and their various components, discussed foreplay, climax, etc, as well as birth control and other related topics. The students seemed to love it and many eagerly took notes, but of course they were totally silent except for a few stifled giggles.
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