Addressing an audience of 500 students, grades 9 to 12 on the topic of Sex Education and Sexuality was a unique experience for both me and the students. This topic typically elicits giggles, excitement, and lots of curiosity because most children respond to these words emotionally. Understanding the Teen Brain: It's crucial to recognize that teenagers' brains work differently than adults. The rational part of a teen's brain isn't fully developed and won't be until around age 25. Recent research has shown that adult and teen brains function differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the rational part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment and an awareness of long-term consequences. However, teens primarily process information with the amygdala, which is the emotional part of the brain. In teenagers, the connections between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making center are still developing, and they don't always develop at the same rate. This explains why when teens have overwhelming emotional input, they can't later explain what they were thinking because they were feeling more than thinking. Considering the above, the class primarily focused on understanding one's body, health, hygiene, rights, the laws of the land, understanding abuse, why it thrives, recognizing when it's violated, and knowing how and whom to report to and seek help from. The Questions and Answer session was the most interesting part, with some questions being heartbreaking, some nerve-wracking, and others hilariously entertaining. Here are some of the questions we discussed:
