Cancer education and self-examination was not always required by schools but with a new awareness in society more schools have begun to teach these types of classes. When being taught how to do self-exams for cancer in the body, normally co-ed sophomore gym classes at Newtown High School are separated by gender, boys in one room and girls in another.
The reason behind doing this is that the Board of Education created a policy that requires the classes be separate. This policy has been handed down since around the early 2000’s when teachers brought the cancer curriculum to their attention. The people that decided on splitting up the class may have the best intentions in mind, however I think it would be best if everyone simply stayed in the same room and were able to watch a video that could explain self-examinations.
By separating the classes there are some advantages. Boys and girls may be more open to asking questions about cancers and how to identify them or where to go for help. Having two classes also cuts the time needed to watch the videos in half when the videos play at the same time. The videos played in this health unit are specifically tailored to males and females and some parents are not open to their children seeing parts of the opposite sex.
On the other hand there are many more reasons to keep the classes together. First of all there is an excessive amount of time afterwards. In my experience, the class was waiting around for a solid fifteen or twenty minutes with nothing to do. It does not matter if classes are strictly male or female, asking questions about breasts or testicles is still embarrassing and working up the courage to ask is difficult in any setting. Parents have rights to control what their children see when they are young but as children begin to become adults themselves they should be able choose what they can or cannot see.
In my opinion it can be detrimental to separate the classes for even more reasons. Boys and girls should, at this stage in their lives, begin to get used to each other despite uncomfortable situations. By disconnecting them, it is reinforced that they should stay apart in their lives outside of school. This type of class also requires there to be two teachers each of the same gender they will be supervising. Though it is used to make the setting more comfortable for people to ask questions, it requires teachers to give up some of their free time to watch someone else’s class and get the students the appropriate information. I think it should be up to the digression of the teacher of the class if the videos be separated or not. They know their students than the Board of Education who only passed the policy.
The worst part of severing the class is leaving the students partially uneducated. Though the chances are low, men are susceptible to breast cancer and if they do not know what to look for the cancer could advance to stages that are untreatable. In some cases, there could be students that identify as differently from their birth gender that want or need to know about both ways to self-exam. Having the classes disconnected may force them to tell others of their position when they are unprepared to.
I would much rather be given all the facts on the matter and suffer through a bit of awkwardness, then not know how to help myself and if needed others.
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