Sex Education – 60’s Style

My husband and I took a walk at the local county park the other day. Of course, we were very careful to maintain the Covid-19 required six-feet distance between us and the other walkers we passed on the trail. As people in Minnesota are prone to do, we all smiled and nodded to each other as we passed. In the midst of all the passing, smiling, and nodding I had a sudden flash back to a sex education film shown to my class in the seventh grade. I use the term sex education very loosely because it only served to confuse me.

Let me describe it to you. Don’t worry this is still a PG story. The film was about sexually transmitted diseases and, in an effort to impress on us how rapidly STD’s are spread the film creators showed little red dots on an infected person’s private area. Said person was fully clothed, mind you so you can see how it was confusing.

The film showed the infected people walking down the street and as they walked past another person the little red dots would then jump from the infected person to the seemingly innocent passerby. The “newly infected” person would then pass by another seemingly innocent person and the trend would continue until it appeared that about ¾ of the poor people on the street were infected. I mean seriously, who thought this movie was a good way to teach seventh graders to avoid sexual activity with another person who may or may not be infected?

Like I mentioned earlier, this film confused my seventh grade, very innocent brain. So, when the movie ended, and the teacher asked if anyone had any questions my hand shot up. (I was never one to be shy about getting to the truth.) When my teacher called on me, I said, “So, does this mean we can get and STD just by walking past an infected person on the street?” Because that was a very scary idea! HA! Like I mentioned, my seventh-grade brain was very innocent.

So, that’s what was going through my mind as I passed people on my walk the other day. Are there little red coronavirus germs jumping off the other walkers onto me? It made me laugh so I guess my walk was therapeutic in more ways than one because we all know laughter is some of the best medicine.

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22