:wave So, most of you know me by now... I'm the Anatomy and Physiology teacher who, during the Reproductive Unit, teaches about the foreskin, it's function, and the horrors of circumcision (I even went over the whole HIV thing this year.). I have the male teacher next door, who also teaches Anat. and Phys. teaching about it all too! (He is circumcised and was very pro-circ., until I got my claws into him... mwahahaha... he's now anti-circumcision!!!:thumb) We teach about 250 kids/year. (VERY high-circumcision rate area!)

Anyway, I gave the lecture today, and they all were appropriately horrified (Why would anyone do that?!!!) I even overheard two males talking/joking about going home to their moms and yelling at them about having it done to them. (We do discuss how many moms make this bad decision based on limited knowledge, and many moms want it done anyway, even though they know it hurts and causes lasting damage.) Not one said that they'd do it to their future sons anyway. (I've only ever had 1 student say that, and I've been giving this lecture for almost 5 years!) YEAH!!! This just made my weekend! :banana BTW, we also discuss female circumcision, etc., and talk about ethics. I ask them point-blank... "Do you or do you not have the right to tie someone down and cut them up? Yes or No?" Some try to talk and I say, "NO... DO YOU OR DO YOU NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TIE SOMEONE DOWN AND CUT THEM UP. YES. OR. NO." They all say "No." :love I love my students!!!

I can't tell you how great this post makes me feel. :love You are a wonderful teacher! Thank you so much!

WOW, that's a lot of kids, well done! :clap :clap

Wow...that's awesome AND you're awesome!! You truly are making a difference!!! :hug

:clap:

We need more teachers like you!

Jee'smom, you are my hero! I cannot adequately express the sheer force of positive feelings I feel toward you and what you're doing. You just make me happy inside. :-)

(As a side note, you may already be aware of this study, but if not you may want to take a look, as it may be helpful in some way in your curriculum: http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/touchtest.php)

if i had had you for a teacher i would not have cut my boys. how come no one ever told me these things? how come i didnt figure it out until it was too late? :(

I agree, we need MANY more teachers like you. Good Job!!!!

Thank you for doing this. If we could reach kids at a young age we can save so many future children.


Thank you, thank you.

:thumb :bouncers :loveeyes:

How're those kiddoes of yours doing? And the new bellybean? :D Hope everything's going well.

im smiling ear to ear here in circ-city, michigan! we need teachers like you in EVERY school!! thank you for doing what you do!!

im smiling ear to ear here in circ-city, michigan! we need teachers like you in EVERY school!! thank you for doing what you do!!
Which town is Circ-City Michigan, exactly? (I'm in MI, too!)

That's awesome! Planting the seed in the youth of our country...they're so much more receptive, I bet you have saved many future foreskins today! Thank you :)

Which town is Circ-City Michigan, exactly? (I'm in MI, too!)

aren't they ALL circ-city in michigan? :( in my case, it is flint though. where are you?

aren't they ALL circ-city in michigan? :( in my case, it is flint though. where are you?


wow, most of my whole family lives in Flint or at least near flint anyway (davison, grandblanc, burton)lol.
I live up in Standish, near Bay CitY. Man the internet sure makes this place small.

anyway, to the op, YOU ROCK!!! i wish i could be in a position to educate so many open minds about circumcision (its so hard to educate adults about circ, their minds seem to really close up). You are doing a wonderful thing. It sure lifts my spirit to read about your lecture and the reactions it recieves especially after reading about that poll and the horribly uneducated replys it recieved.

:clap

So wonderful that you do this every year!!! I remember cheering you on the last time you posted about this. That is great. Teenagers are that receptive audience, their old enough to understand things now and are just starting to figure out who they are and what they believe. At this point they are not as influenced by their "elders" thoughts though rather prefer to think on their own and make their own sense of the world.

I used to teach high school math, physics, physical science...if I had ever had the chance to teach about the foreskin that would have been awesome!

I have to say though, I seriously wonder if where I grew up in MI they would have allowed it. They were *so conservative* and *politically correct* almost to the point of being ridiculous. The whole thing is bizarre, that midwestern niceness combined with almost automatic chopping of innocent baby genitals. It's amazing how people just accept things up there! I grew up in Grosse Pointe Woods. I can imagine if there was something like that there parents would freak out :dizzy: . Protest or something. Maybe they're more liberal in Flint. :wink

(I grew up amongst the upper middle class conservative snottiness and survived and somehow wound up on the uber educated liberal side--Go figure. Blame my years at U of M and Ann Arbor :lol )

Yeah, I'm in Michigan, too, and I'm sure some parents would object. Of all my friends/relatives who have had babies, I have been unable to convince ANY of them to leave their boys intact. :( I'm sure some of it has to do with how I'm approaching the subject, but everyone around here circs and people feel a lot of pressure from hospitals and families. It's very discouraging.

I can't tell you how great this post makes me feel. :love You are a wonderful teacher! Thank you so much!

:yeah:

Jee'smom, you are my hero! I cannot adequately express the sheer force of positive feelings I feel toward you and what you're doing. You just make me happy inside. :-)[/url])
:yeah:
Jee'smom, you are my hero too!

YOU SO ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get that word out!! People need to hear it somewhere and your voice is priceless!!!!

Wish I could give you an award!:bow :bow :bow :bow

Thanks guys! I do feel blessed to be in a postition where I can teach important topics. I live in Pennsylvania, a very conservative state, in a VERY conservative area. The neat thing is that these are teenagers and they are so receptive to hearing new ideas. I've never gotten in trouble for teaching what I do. I tell my students that "I teach Anatomy and Physiology of the human body. The WHOLE human body. We treat the teaching of penises and vulva/vaginas the same as stomachs and ears. I teach FACTS, not opinion. If you would like to hear my opinions on things, you may ask me after class." (Of course they get my opinion from the way I talk about things... but...) How can anyone argue facts? and BTW, let me tell you, it's a fine line I walk when I teach the function of the foreskin (the gliding motion during sexual intercourse, etc.) I do it very factually. They are so awesome about it. No snickers, no giggles, they just sit and listen with interest, then we have a discussion afterwards. I think they just appreciate someone talking to them about genitals and sex and laying it all out on the line, instead of sugar-coating everything, or beating around the bush (so to speak!)

Jee'smom, you are my hero! I cannot adequately express the sheer force of positive feelings I feel toward you and what you're doing. You just make me happy inside. :-)

(As a side note, you may already be aware of this study, but if not you may want to take a look, as it may be helpful in some way in your curriculum: http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/touchtest.php)

I've never seen that, I'll have to read it later when I have more time. Thanks!

[QUOTE=paquerette;8221871]:thumb :bouncers :loveeyes:

How're those kiddoes of yours doing? And the new bellybean? :D Hope everything's going well.[/QUOTE

They're doing great, thank you for asking! This one's a girl (named Kalia)... we can't wait for her to come!!! and I hope the little Honey Bea's doing great also!

Thanks guys! I do feel blessed to be in a postition where I can teach important topics. I live in Pennsylvania, a very conservative state, in a VERY conservative area. The neat thing is that these are teenagers and they are so receptive to hearing new ideas. I've never gotten in trouble for teaching what I do. I tell my students that "I teach Anatomy and Physiology of the human body. The WHOLE human body. We treat the teaching of penises and vulva/vaginas the same as stomachs and ears. I teach FACTS, not opinion. If you would like to hear my opinions on things, you may ask me after class." (Of course they get my opinion from the way I talk about things... but...) How can anyone argue facts? and BTW, let me tell you, it's a fine line I walk when I teach the function of the foreskin (the gliding motion during sexual intercourse, etc.) I do it very factually. They are so awesome about it. No snickers, no giggles, they just sit and listen with interest, then we have a discussion afterwards. I think they just appreciate someone talking to them about genitals and sex and laying it all out on the line, instead of sugar-coating everything, or beating around the bush (so to speak!)

I wish you had been my biology teacher! Well, luckily I read read Mothering so found out the horrors of circ before I ever had kids, but if I had had kids when younger I wouldn't have even thought twice. Or once. In fact, I didn't even know there was such a thing as circ, because I had no idea there was such a thing as a foreskin! Great that you teach about ALL body parts.
OT: the other huge gaping hole in my anatomy/physiology education was everything in "Take charge of your fertility." When I read that book, I was SO MAD that no one ever mentioned that before! All they ever told us was "you're gonna get your period, here's some coupons for kotex." When I think of that OB/GYN who was convinced I had an infection because I had a lot of clear/white streaked discharge (just in for a regular checkup)... which I later found out was regular cervical mucus; I was probably ovulating that day and that idiot doc didn't even recognize cervical mucus!!! And I didn't recognize it either, because I had no idea the changes our bodies go through in cycles of fertility.
Anyway, AWESOME that you teach about functions of the foreskin. Just getting word out that foreskins exist is a great thing.

Jen

I wish you had been my biology teacher! Well, luckily I read read Mothering so found out the horrors of circ before I ever had kids, but if I had had kids when younger I wouldn't have even thought twice. Or once. In fact, I didn't even know there was such a thing as circ, because I had no idea there was such a thing as a foreskin! Great that you teach about ALL body parts.
OT: the other huge gaping hole in my anatomy/physiology education was everything in "Take charge of your fertility." When I read that book, I was SO MAD that no one ever mentioned that before! All they ever told us was "you're gonna get your period, here's some coupons for kotex." When I think of that OB/GYN who was convinced I had an infection because I had a lot of clear/white streaked discharge (just in for a regular checkup)... which I later found out was regular cervical mucus; I was probably ovulating that day and that idiot doc didn't even recognize cervical mucus!!! And I didn't recognize it either, because I had no idea the changes our bodies go through in cycles of fertility.
Anyway, AWESOME that you teach about functions of the foreskin. Just getting word out that foreskins exist is a great thing.

Jen

Amen to all that. There are so many things that I never knew about my own body, or the male gender either, until I was about 30. My poor boys are circumcised because the lack of education for me and my husband...and the vast majority of Americans. I wish I'd had a teacher like this awesome lady too.

those kids are the next wave of intactivism. they aren't so afraid to speak their mind, the stuff that passes at mainstream sites won't last. it's so obvious if you haven't been brainwashed, and they will do more than we could ever hope to.

OT: the other huge gaping hole in my anatomy/physiology education was everything in "Take charge of your fertility." When I read that book, I was SO MAD that no one ever mentioned that before! All they ever told us was "you're gonna get your period, here's some coupons for kotex." When I think of that OB/GYN who was convinced I had an infection because I had a lot of clear/white streaked discharge (just in for a regular checkup)... which I later found out was regular cervical mucus; I was probably ovulating that day and that idiot doc didn't even recognize cervical mucus!!! And I didn't recognize it either, because I had no idea the changes our bodies go through in cycles of fertility.
Anyway, AWESOME that you teach about functions of the foreskin. Just getting word out that foreskins exist is a great thing.

I do talk about cycles, understanding your fertility, and cervical mucus (I try to get them to think about why a woman's cervical discharge would be abundant and slippery at the time of ovulation.) Instead of just teaching facts, I like when they synthesize/analyze the info for themselves, it leads to great discussions as they all try to figure stuff out about the human body! :thumb (Like I said, I do this with the whole human body... why is the ear shaped like it is? Why are your olfactory receptors (for smell) located in the upper part of your nose? etc.)