circ education

[savyjoel]

Hi mama's
I wanted to get some advice. I would like to offer a free educational class to inform women about this procedure, what's involved and why it's not necessary. Can anyone give me some pointers on how to do this. Will I need videos, handouts, fliers, posters etc... and where to get this stuff. What about advertising the class? How long should a class like this last?

Just a bit of info about me--I'm not a doctor or a nurse but I am a mom of 1 boy which I did have circ--I watched the whole thing and was so upset by it I try to talk anyone I know who is having a boy out of having it done. So I now have a desire to offer this class to educate about this torture parents volunteer to have their baby go through.

Any help would be great!!!

[thixle]

http://www.nocirc.org/help/create_center.php

This is an excellent, credible place

I am planning on opening a chapter as well, though those plans got put on hold possibly for another 2 years (when DD2 starts preschool).

[glongley]

I think it is great that you are motivated to do this. I wish we had comprehensive circumcision education classes (including full information on NOT circumcising) all over the country. Parents truly do not have routine access to this information unless they go out of their way to educate themselves, and we all know that not everybody realizes there is a lot to consider about this issue until it is too late.

I have not offered a class for parents, but have thought a lot about exactly what you are asking about - informational outline, audiovisual materials, handouts. The http://www.ColoradoNOCIRC.org handouts page has a lot of possibilities in this regard, although you should be selective in what you hand out, so you don't run up a big printing tab, or give people so much written info that they won't read it all. Also, NOCIRC makes a 20 minute educational DVD that you can get for free by writing to [e-mail] or you can PM me with your snail mail address and I will send you a copy.

The other issue is how to advertise the class. You will probably have to be straight with potential attendees about where you're coming from. Otherwise, some people who want to circumcise may not like what you have to hear, and they should be forewarned, unless you want to deal with some folks walking out or accusing you of being biased. I have not figured out the best way to state this.

As far as getting the word out, I strongly recommend you network with childbirth educators, midwives, and doulas in your area who are supportive of the intactvist cause. They can send people your way, who truly want to learn more.

Also, I would think 1-1/2 to 2 hours would be a good length for the class, depending on how much discussion time you want to build into it, as opposed to just lecturing.

Also, do as much background reading as you can in preparing for the class, so you have your facts straight, and have thought through how you will explain different things or answer particular objections or questions.

Feel free to PM me if you want to bat more ideas around.

You go, girl!
Gillian

[kavamamakava]

Please include care of an intact penis in your class. People often think the foreskin needs to be pulled back to clean inside and that causes scar tissue to form and then later the boy has ballooning and tight painful foreskin and sometimes this results in childhoold or teen circumcision.

[mama24-7]

what a great idea! i love it!

you could advertise in the free sections of newspapers. there are also the bulletin boards in grocery stores. and remember the FYT area here!

i've started a document that is various websites. you're welcome to it - just pm me w/ an email address.

i'm glad youposted this thread. i printed the sheet to get more info on the NOCIRC ctr too. it's already filled out & waiting to be mailed.

keep us posted on how you are doing on this!

sus

[MommytoB]

Get the dads to show up too because they are the one's who are more likely leading the decisions of mom's to circ their kids show pics of complications from circumcision you can find them online I will have to pm you a link on it because it mentions something we can't mention here .

Many dads more likely won't able to handle a circ but other than that many dads somehow may handle it even if it creeps him out because I think if a dad is circ'ed seeing that happen they may end up emotionally blacking out with a belief that it is supposed to be done because their is a saying No pain no gain but then to teach the dad's who have been circ'ed to say their is No gain but alot of pain .

[glongley]

I agree about including info about care of the intact penis. In fact, any class like this should have as much information on NOT circumcising as on circumcising. Because of the lack of familiarity with the normal penis in our culture, in tandem with the negative myths and attitudes toward the natural penis that abound, a class like this should spend a considerable amount of time on demystifying, normalizing, and giving value to the intact penis, i.e. teach about its anatomy, protective and sexual functions, its development, and care.

Parents also need to know the other side of the story for all the medical and social rationales that are commonly given for circumcision, i.e. the counter-information that shows why these are not valid reasons for circumcising a newborn. Without this information all they have to go on is the fears of what might happen if they don't circumcise.

This is of course in addition to giving info about how a circumcision is actually done, and the range of complications that can occur - both of which are glossed over or minimized in most informational sources.

I personally feel that there needs to be some acknowledgement of the ethical considerations with neonatal circumcision. Most sources don't even acknowledge ethics beyond "It is the parents' decision" or "parents should make an informed decision." How to do this delicately without making people feel you are judging them is another issue.

Gillian