Heart to Heart

I'm not talking about the 80s TV show starring Robert Wagner, but a series of workshops on sexuality education being taught by a doctor and a registered nurse that are routinely selling out. Granted, the name is completely cheesy, but the content seems to be way better than what my middle school football coach was forced to teach in health class. From the Palo Alto Weekly:

"Lehman has been teaching these two-part workshops, called "Heart to Heart," for boys ages 9 to 13 and their dads or guardians for more than 10 years. His counterpart is Julie Metzger, a registered nurse who developed the separate sessions for girls and their moms or guardians 17 years ago in Pittsburgh. The pair now teach the workshops at both Lucile Packard and the Seattle Children's Hospital.

…Programs like Heart to Heart may have been unheard of 20 years ago. However, in today's Internet Age with social networking sites like MySpace and other highly-sexualized media, adolescent sexual awareness and expectations have reached an all-time high.

…Faced with this kind of challenge, many parents are now looking for resources, such as Heart to Heart, that use a friendly approach and provide a healthy perception of sex because they don't necessarily feel equipped to guide children through today's sexually-fueled society. This is not the sex education of generations' past."

These workshops sound exactly like the type of sexuality education Ellen Goodman was alluding to in her recent editorial. More about what actually happens:

"Metzger discusses getting giant feet during puberty, which is 'really fun for your parents because you get lots of shoes,' painting your nails, and of course breasts that 'look fantastic and they're amazing, but what are they good for?'

For two hours, Metzger drives her messages home and peppers them with lighthearted jokes. She covers many of the same topics Lehman does, including shaving, body odor, acne and hair growth. Their presentations diverge at puberty, the other sexes' body parts and sex. Metzger also touches on eating disorders, while Lehman discusses steroids. Lehman leads a penis chant; Metzger holds an 'I am fabulous!' cheer.

'We need to start celebrating who our bodies are becoming,' Metzger tells them."

If the chanting made you cringe a bit, remember this is geared to tweens and not older teens. I think parents need all the help they can get and workshops like this seem to take some of the pressure off the always awkward birds and bees talk.

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