Flash back to our start at The Country School

Flash back to our start at The Country School

Unsurprisingly the new year tends to inspire a bit of reminiscing and reflection upon the past. I recently checked in with Holly Novick, Head of School at The Country School in Valley Village. Holly was the first school administrator who opened the door and gave me a chance to pitch the idea for a comprehensive, inclusive, fact-based, affirming sex ed program facilitated by professionals.

At that time More Than Sex-Ed was still just an idea


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Kids and Crushes: Some Guidelines for Navigating Big Feelings in Little Ones

 Kids and Crushes: Some Guidelines for Navigating Big Feelings in Little Ones

We debuted a brand new workshop this month for a school whose elementary teachers wanted to get on the same page about young children with crushes, and healthy ways to respond. Lots of parents, caregivers, and educators have seen this social development, somewhere between preschool and 5th or 6th grade: having a crush, liking someone, maybe wanting to marry them, and then frequently a change of feelings and a new interest. It’s perfectly normal, at any age, and yes we agree that it’s often unbelievably cute. But the feelings are real and can be potent, so it’s important for trusted adults to not dismiss or minimize them—take advantage of the opportunity to affirm, normalize, build trust, and teach consent.

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Book Review: Eliot Schrefer’s Queer Ducks (And Other Animals)

by Sebastian Madonado, CSUN School of Public Health Intern

Eliot Schrefer’s Queer Ducks (And Other Animals) is a well written, fun and eye opening book that looks to explore sexuality and gender outside of the two sex binary in the natural and animal world. The majority of this book is conducted in a sort of an interview style, where the author interviews animals such as penguins, bottlenose dolphins and ducks, asking them questions pertaining to sexual expression and gender roles. Although the interviews often bring on a funny tone to them, they serve as smooth segues for the author to further explore the everyday lives of these creatures such as how they breed, who they chose to sexually engage with and behaviors they often exhibit. Finally, the author explains how the animals compare and differ from other creatures, including ourselves, while using anthropology, zoology, and sociology to lay out credible evidence to sustain these claims. Schrefer also takes it beyond this and uses history to look at key biological discoveries, different points in human time, how gender and sexual norms have changed with the times and the acceptance and or condemnation these changes have brought with them. Overall, what this book attempts to do is no easy task; it looks to identify gender and sexual expression in the diverse animal world while attempting to then explain these to the reader using current human definitions and ideas. But all in all, Schrefer’s message resonates loud and clear; queerness is in fact not something unnatural, as some may claim, rather queerness itself is woven into the very fabric of nature itself and the rich and diverse animal kingdom shows us this. 

From the Huffington Post: "How Sex Educators Talk to Their Sons About Consent"

From the Huffington Post: "How Sex Educators Talk to Their Sons About Consent"

It is abundantly clear that as a society we still have lots of work to do on the topic of Consent. 

We really love this article by Caroline Bologna in the Huffington Post: "How Sex Educators Talk to Their Sons About Consent", and highly recommend you give it a read.

No matter the gender of the kids you may or may not have, the advice is spot on. Here's a couple of important points:

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