Why Jewish Kids Need Values-Based Sex Ed
Written by Mara Yacobi. Mara is a first-time Jewrotica writer, was profiled in The Jewish Week’s 2011 “36 Under 36” feature and is the founder of Jlove and Values. Photo credit above to Housing Works.
Last spring I walked into a sixth grade classroom where the girls welcomed me with squeals of delight, excited to show me the dance routine they had created to the rap song “Take It Off.” The lyrics include:
Now we’re looking like pimps in my gold Trans-Am
Got a water bottle full of whiskey in my handbag…
There’s a place downtown where the freaks all come around
It’s a hole in the wall, it’s a dirty free for all
And they turn me on when they take it off…
The girls told me they had performed their dance routine as they peeled off layers of clothing until they were down to their bathing suits. Their original performance was for the talent show at a Jewish co-ed sleepaway camp.
As a former Planned Parenthood educator and the founder of JLove and Values, a group dedicated to educating Jewish youth and professionals on adolescent sexuality, I was able to turn this event into an opportunity to discuss healthy life choices and responsible decision-making based on Jewish values and moral reasoning.
I asked the girls to create a list of everything they do from the moment they get up to the moment they go sleep, then categorize the list into private and public behaviors. The girls quickly started to engage in conversations about how “context” was important depending on the behavior. However, they collectively agreed taking off one’s clothes was a private event. “Well,” I said, “I wonder where this performance would fall on our continuum?”
An engaging and meaningful conversation followed about what they felt it meant to be made in God’s image and how to follow traditions of modesty when they live in a culture that promotes sexiness.
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