by Tracy Clark-Flory

Melissa Pintor Carnagey’s puberty workshops still feature the same genital anatomy models and quizzes around body care, but these days she looks out on a virtual classroom of adolescents sitting at home alongside a parent. A few weeks ago, she took her in-person classes to Zoom, where familiar exercises have gotten a technological update: a software program allows students to text her their associations with puberty. A colorful on-screen collage of words like “pimples,” “breasts,” “hair,” “acne,” and “sex” show up on the screen, each growing in size relative to the number of students who submit it.

Since Carnagey’s puberty workshops went online, they continually sell out within 48 hours of open registration. “We’ve definitely seen an influx in families seeking out resources for sex ed,” said Carnagey, founder of the organization Sex Positive Families. “Parents are very hungry for access to these conversations, the information, and the resources.”

Many schools schedule sex ed not-so-subtly for the spring, that literal and symbolic time of regeneration and growth. Of course, this spring for young people has been more like the time-lapsed bloom of a flower played in reverse, given social distancing mandates, canceled prom, and the mass closure of schools. Now, where middle and high schoolers were so quote-unquote “lucky” as to even have it in their curriculum in the first place (only 29 states and the District of Columbia mandate sex education), sex ed is similarly shutting down. And, Carnagey explains, as schools adjust to online learning, sex education is frequently treated as less essential than core areas like reading, math and history. Often, it’s being left behind entirely, which helps explain the overwhelming demand for Carnagey’s classes. Read more via Jezebel