1 10 4 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/5c326a71c8d9ee9d1fc366660a7418db.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=X1kj3hJI5odD3onwyFTQwn%7E1D1vGQ1iNt742ipb3nQIr0G12f9aQsVRSq4%7EektCJoYcG0AkbCYwt1WmSHmLKxSRFcEbVv2zozk1aUw20df1etWC5DHnnP1CDBYt5temjVymW5N6rO-Xx3I3TCMzOO%7Eq%7EreJtTuu0up5Rx70eS6TWeQIXW2kRd0Gwr-3AJHvSSQlqT3NGo1dW0tZjLQXVfhKuyZQHnVtpChZFaYDACKDZKZ4RK8m-VG9d6hluMOMEnM1kVcRl7RFuHL0hNXGaXeFw03E0QU5CuZQm-uPDoFuw700JC6KnaIKthWugDrGReg7xLFHYxPPt1rUvIA9zaQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 4db57a3bd40687836806f955acf2dfd1 PDF Text Text Health&Education The McGill Daily, Thursday, March 18, 2010 13 Let’s talk about sex, baby Early sexual education (or lack thereof ) gives us a limiting idea of the three-letter word Sex talks Maddie Guerlain and Amanda Unruh W hen we were in middle school, the word sex was usually spoken in hushed tones between friends, accompanied with giggles. Often we weren’t quite sure exactly what “sex” referred to, but we knew it deserved a quiet, reverent tone – or that it wasn’t supposed to be talked about at all. Up until that age, sex had been explained to many of us as something a man and a woman who love each other (or who are married, depending on your upbringing) do to make a baby. Maybe your experience was different, and your knowledge was more comprehensive than ours. But this experience mirrors millions of children’s – it’s the way sex is explained to future generations of sexually active people. Whether parents avoid the topic, or make it explicitly clear that it’s a taboo subject, it leaves teens and young adults trying to make their way through a sexual landscape, piecing together what they know and experience as “sex.” But what does “having sex” mean to most people? According to a study done in 2003, university students still believe the childhood explanation of sex, that it involves some kind of penetration, most often involving a penis and a vagina. This seems limiting to us on many levels. What about oral sex or hand sex? Only 20 per cent of students in this study identified oral-genital contact as sex, and 10 per cent of people considered sex to be touching the genitals as leading to orgasm. These assumptions of “having sex” can create problems and confusion on many levels, from understanding what a partner wants when stating “let’s have sex” – a more obvious statement than most seduction innuendos – to knowing the kinds of sexual health risks you are taking depending on your activity. Professionals who work in sexual health (educators, nurses, doctors, et cetera) will discuss various sexual activities including penetrative, oral, and hand sex, rather than make a sweeping assumption of what being “sexually active” means, as activities have differing levels of risk associated with them for pregnancy or contraction of STIs. These distinctions, however, are not often made by the general public, as we often forget these concerns and group oral and hand sex into the foreplay category, separating it from something related to “sex,” something that has no risk. This divide Zara Meerza | The McGill Daily creates a hierarchy of what “sex” can include, as though everything is just warm up for the “main event” – penetration. For many, penetration may be pleasurable, but for others, “sex” includes a lot more. Here are some other definitions of what sex can be, as asked to ran- dom McGill students. Sex is: anything that ends in an orgasm; slow, soft touching; sweaty; an expression of a natural human need; emotionally intimate. As you can see, there are many definitions of what sex is. The most important is the one which you and your partner(s) have. By communicating with your partner about what you include in your definition and your goals of “having sex” (To orgasm? To have fun? To get a good workout?), your sexy time will be more pleasurable, enjoyable, and safe. Of hard-ons and cultural taboos Owning sexual awakening can be tougher for women: a personal narrative Tiegan Hobbs Health & Education Writer W hen I was in the eighth grade there was this guy in my class that could not control his erections. Even though my friends and I giggled about it a lot it was a pretty unfortunate situation for the poor guy. He couldn’t have wanted to get hard during math class. I’ve been using this as an example of why I think puberty for men is so much more embarrassing than for women for a long time since. A lined bra is all we need to hide most traces of sexual arousal during those awkward teen years. I used to think this was great. Now I think maybe it was ultimately detrimental. At 12 I didn’t want to be sexually involved. I wanted to be wanted and I knew that being sexy made you wanted. I wanted boys to want to date me but I was terrified of being expected to do anything more than kiss. A few times I tried to masturbate but I couldn’t make it work. Honestly? I was a little uncomfortable about spending time around my vagina. As a young girl the first introduction I had to my private parts was when I was instructed how to deal with menstruation – a very gross idea. On a personal level there was no sex going on in me, but I knew about sex outside of myself. It was staring lecherously at me from underneath that guy’s track pants. It was sailing around on the edge of my friend’s low-cut shirt. Sometimes I could even lure it in with an exposed bit of midriff or pair of short shorts. Like I said, I wanted to be wanted without actually having to touch or see genitals. From talking to guys now I get a very different impression of what pre-adolescence was like for them. A friend of mine says he started masturbating at the same time he started getting those awkward erections. And though he was embar- rassed, he also says that starting to masturbate was the best thing that ever happened to him. It seems like at some point these boys got sex thrown at them. Suddenly their dicks were trying to break through their pants for attention. And the girls were giggling because everyone could see. It was so overt and totally undeniable. They said they didn’t even have to be thinking about sex for it to happen. At the same point in our lives, my male friends and I were having such radically different experiences. And upon reflection I feel that these differences have stayed with me much longer than I would’ve supposed. I know now that the poor boy in my class was probably getting hard without wanting to. And that he, as well as several of my other penisbearing sources, figured out that if they rubbed their cocks, even over their pants, it felt good. They figured out self-pleasuring. By 12. I certainly didn’t get that memo at 12. Sexual pleasure start- ed, for me, in my connection with the person I was sexually involved with. And when, in my own bedroom, I did figure out what made me reach orgasm, I felt a little bit of guilt and a lot of shame that I was enjoying such a dirty place on my body. I felt especially wretched at the thought that my friends might find out. This summer I was visiting some close pals from high school. One night over the course of a few drinks and a lot of truth-or-dare Jenga I learned a lot about them I didn’t know. For instance, they were all touching themselves during high school. Even better, they wished they could have talked about it with someone. We never expressed that, though, and it never expressed itself. It appeared, interestingly, that certain characters (of potent phallic desire and closeted muliebrous desire) are in our bedrooms in roughly the same form they took when we were 12. Even though it was embarrassing at the time, my boyfriends have more or less grown up with this assurance that erections are unavoidable, sexuality is natural, and masturbation is an understandable cure, (as well as being really awesome). This was something I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t figured it out on my own. It wasn’t until my first boyfriend that I learned how to masturbate effectively. And it took me until the summer after my first year at university that I truly understood that sexual desire and personal gratification are normal, natural, and acceptable. Even though we both hit puberty at roughly the same time, roughly, it took me an extra seven years to decide my orgasms were valid – something I believe might’ve been different if my clit had some way of letting me know about itself sooner. Just sayin’. Tiegan Hobbs blogs about sex online. Read about her continued sexual awakening at tyranosaurussexxx.blogspot.com � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 99 Issue 39 Page Number(s) 13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Let's talk about sex, baby Description An account of the resource Discussion of sex education. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Maddie Guerlain, Amanda Unruh Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010/03/18 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English consent Sex sex-ed https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/b85db51b77bde11b3f4dbfdc21511a2b.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=tuTFYOsS%7EPKhOVOxSlR-xJCR2RcsYpusTTsIcdUlJKNgqLrhPrE7zAnZPyIRKVBFb6BUd9RwM8c1J0lx8GOJISmDf-En-q3KSiNmGWRaDfO3-81oz9hsdZ0oYzdHkeDE9BXRWJpEYrDOb9OH8sgrsNjwvCR3gzRCL-E4Vj782CoumziBu7okW6qSvl-kPJQ4ZRnY-cv4OnMz-9Xdg3AXb9HXVWYQfKtxLyHswYeks7BWL9cPITB-G2NpB7YkgEU8sGQ0%7EnjdNasmwyzya5YZKb407aKsjyp6YpoV8QpNABIxHptZJIME1NgUmIMqDxnY5b65NMCIJBumaqiiCt-b8Q__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM bb485492af1c31160f1bfcd0c91db5e0 PDF Text Text 12Health&Education The best sex tip you’ll ever get All illustrations by Sally Lin | The McGill Daily The McGill Daily, Thursday, April 1, 2010 Love triangles, sexual education, and memories of sex talks past Sex talks Maddie Guerlain and Amanda Unruh Y esterday I learned a new word: triad. It all began when talking to a friend about sex educator and blogger Andrea Zanin and her most recent post about triads. So, what is a triad? Think of an equilateral triangle, with each point a different person and everyone in a relationship with each other. Zanin calls it a “four-in-one relationship” where all three people are involved (three different couple relationships), plus the relationship between all three people together. It took me a few minutes to get this (try to make a mental diagram), and my initial response was: Damn. That must be complicated. But then again, what relationship isn’t? Sexual or not, relationships require work. To name a few: friends, lovers, friends you want to become lovers, parents, siblings, et cetera. As a person in a triad, Zanin goes on to list some helpful tips, prefacing the post by saying most of her advice is probably useful for other non-monogamous relationships as well (and here I would add most relationships in general, to an extent). Eventually she reaches one of my all-time favourite sexy topics: communication. If you haven’t noticed a theme in this column over the year, then here it is explicitly stated again: communication. Even the name of the column says it: sex talks. Zanin brings up three great points about communication for triads specifically, but I would say it’s applicable to most relationships. “Communicate about sex. Hell, communicate about everything. And on top of that, communicate about how you communicate.” This is a good way to think about communication at different levels, such as communicating with a partner(s) about sex, but also communication more broadly in terms of sexual health and education. Her final point is also incredibly important: people communicate differently and so it can be helpful to know what those differences are in order to communicate well. One example: don’t have a serious conversation while cooking dinner with someone who gets grumpy when hungry. For almost every topic mentioned in this column, communication comes up as being very important. Want to try using a new toy? Being in a polyamorous relationship? Finding out where your G-spot is? Talk about it. I polled a few friends of mine today at lunch on what their number-one sex tip is. The winning answer? Communicate with other people. Talking about sex is great for a number of reasons. First, talking about sex makes having safer sex a lot easier. Speaking out loud about condoms, lube, dental dams, or STIs reduces the stigma that often surrounds them and makes it easier to figure out what works best for you. If you can say something out loud just hanging out, it will probably be easier to talk about it later when getting it on. Sounds awkward? It definitely doesn’t have to be. Try whispering in someone’s ear: can I take off your shirt? Very hot and asking for consent at the same time! Talking about sex can be very sexy, lots of fun, and easily done by just asking what feels good or saying what you like. However, as a very wise friend once told me, sometimes communication isn’t sexy. Sometimes “no” needs to be said out loud, straight-up, without any frills or innuendo. When asking for consent, no matter how sexy you make it, hearing “no” always needs to be listened to and respected. So why can communicating about sex be so damn difficult? It may be easy to talk about talking about sex, but once under the covers it can get a lot harder – especially suggesting something new or saying no. One thing that makes it difficult is the way we are taught about sex in high school. For example, in 2005, Quebec cut its sex ed class out of the curriculum – a great way to shut down conversation and leave teenagers in the dark about sexual health. While the government argued sex would become integrated into many different classes in an attempt at a more holistic approach, teacher’s time, budget constraints, and a lack of training has meant this is simply not the case. Instead, sex education can be spotty, biased, false, or nonexistent, and amazing community organizations like Head and Hands in NDG have had to fill in the gaps. In other places, where sex ed still exists, high school can leave us with the impression that 1) sex is only between a man and a woman with a penis and a vagina, respectively; 2) sex will either lead to an STI or pregnancy and is therefore dangerous; and 3) there is nothing pleasurable about sex, so don’t get any ideas. It’s not until after a number of awkward encounters that we begin to realize none of these are true. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a sex ed teacher mention that sex can also feel good – something like this: “So, class, now that we have learned how to have safer sex, I just wanted to mention that there are a lot of nerve endings in your nipples and touching them can feel really good. Next time you are masturbating or with a partner, check that out. But first ask them if it’s okay, and then, if you try it, check in to see if it does feel good, because not everyone likes this.” I was lucky enough to have a wonderful/horrifying sex talk with my dad when I was 14 that quickly cleared up any of these high school myths. His opening statement on our three-hour car ride together: “You know, Maddie, sex is a really great thing.” He later went on to explain how important respect is, and in retrospect this conversation was very insightful (at the time I was trying to throw myself out the window into oncoming traffic). It probably has something to do with why I am writing this today. Communicating is hard, but it doesn’t have to be awkward or unsexy. Rethinking our ideas about communication between partners, and sex ed in general, helps bring pleasure back into the picture. This way, talking about sex can be easier and sex can be what it should be: really fucking awesome. HEALTH AND EDUCATION EDITOR Applications due April 4 at midnight healthandeducation@mcgilldaily.com � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Volume 99 Issue 42 Page Number(s) 12 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The best sex tip you'll ever get Description An account of the resource A discussion of sex education, sexual health, and polyamory. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Maddie Guerlain, Amanda Unruh Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010/04/01 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English consent Quebec Government Sex sex-ed https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/0a00a9e324448fc97df8953b47a3179c.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=J6zaIao2YFdygyxkpg3u12ZkFkP2MdrRPwODIzwuRjC-xP66O5CIReFB5DbJPmAc%7EZFVKLIGYQqeq9tVORuY09BEqXiXj9lF8OafLOJ6xVIrO5CuXEI6akzuYuGkDGnZ%7EWGZjYqKILXE4CL1dGdfHvSCaEjU66K-ChNFFZ8QmFTaDYNZcM6lKCWld5ajdkJRD4U1ppdgPifs6skfwKBB4A-a4wbuc1cajE6QEnVbtqtmdDYrRr0ZMvGl--6IzVl98dDylbh1ZnBT3WIH0WtPCLCcpVEMohy5otcx74V1tJuQGzIFPyra4FkUgMCRxP-zhOq07hn8goVD3xfzyTRk2Q__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 5a4eb08bbbd7faec7bd9948d307c9718 PDF Text Text 40Health&Education The McGill Daily | Monday, April 4, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com The classroom takes on the bedroom Community groups create new strategies for sex education in Quebec Lisa Routly Health&Education Writer O n the evening of March 16, forty McGill Education students convened on campus for a student-organized teacher training event on a topic that continues to ignite controversy and concern amongst teachers and the general public alike: sex education. This event was the first of its kind at McGill, and was led by sex educators from AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM), a volunteerbased, community organization founded in 1987 whose aim, according to the organization’s mission statement, is “to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV/ AIDS, to prevent HIV transmission, and to promote community awareness and action.” In 2007, a team of ACCM volunteers began the process of creating and assembling a Teacher Toolkit, which provides teacher-friendly sex education curricula, including lesson plans and multimedia resources designed with Quebec’s current education program in mind. Since October 2010, ACCM has expanded its services and has been training teachers in teaching sex education. The ACCM Teacher Toolkit, along with other similar community-based sex education programs, such as Montreal’s Head and Hands “Sense Project,” speak to the need for increased discussion and dissemination of knowledge and information over this sensitive topic. The issue has become increasingly salient since Quebec’s education reform in 2005, when sex education was removed from the province’s curriculum. “The idea [behind the reform] was that [sex education] would become a more holistic process, and would be infused throughout Tom the entire curriculum,” explained Lisa Trimble, a McGill instructor and sex education researcher. “The problem is that it is optional, and teachers are not given any training, resources, or support to teach sex education.” Furthermore, the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir, et du Sports (MELS) indicates that it is now the responsibility of all teachers to “ensure that students develop a sense of responsibility for adopting good habits with respect to health, safety, and sexuality.” Additionally, with the increasing predominance of sexually-transmitted infections, teen pregnancies, and bullying targeted on youth of various sexual orientations, “youth are on the frontlines,” commented Amanda Unruh, McGill’s Health Promotion Coordinator. “The need for quality sex education is clear.” This need has been met by community organizations, such as ACCM, which Trimble explained, “work with schools and other youth community organizations to get sex positive [and] queer positive sexual education workshops, based [on] a harm reduction philosophy, and youth empowerment praxis out to Montreal youth.” While these services have been effective in dealing BOOSTER SHOT Alcohol medication gets discriminatory Results of a recent study conducted at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre indicate that naltrexon – one of the few medications effective used in the treatment of alcohol abuse – may only be effective in women and those with a specific gene, the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1). Alcohol stimulates the release of endorphins in the brain, which bind to opioid receptors, a kind of specialized protein. The activation of these opioid receptors creates feelings of euphoria and pleasure, the same experienced in drunkenness. Naltrexone blocks the receptors and thus decreases the euphoric effects of alcohol. OPRM1 plays a crucial role because it affects the sensitivity of the receptor to the pleasurable effects of alcohol and the ability of naltrexone to diminish these effects, said Marco Leyton of McGill’s department of Psychiatry, the head investigator of the study. However, researchers are as of yet unsure as to why the drug is so effective in women, despite the fact that not all women have the OPRM1 gene. The benefit of these results is clear: “It will help us give the right medication to the right people,” said Leyton. There is a possibility that further research could lead to a new drug that is effective for everyone, but “since there are probably many pathways that lead to alcoholism, there are probably also multiple treatments that will be needed,” he explained. Moreover, he does not advise that people currently taking naltrexone stop taking it until they have consulted their doctor. The results will be published in the June 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. — Veronica Winslow er | A ck M The c Gi ll D aily with the questions, concerns, and curiosities of young people, Trimble added that “youth in Montreal have consistently called for more sex education and more access to conversations about emotions, pleasure, desire, and identities.” Yet while MELS has given teachers the responsibility to educate youth about sexuality, they have not provided teachers with a standard sex education curriculum that would provide the tools, information, and training to teach the subject matter with confidence and ease. Marla Schreiber, ACCM’s Teacher Toolkit Coordinator and sex educator summed up teachers’ apprehensions well: “it’s one thing if you fumble a date in history… If you make a mistake in sex ed, there can be dire consequences.” Unruh was involved in the initial development of ACCM’s Teacher Toolkit in 2007, and emphasized that “not everyone is comfortable talking about sex. How can they be if they were never trained to do it? An English teacher wouldn’t be expected to teach Math without being knowledgeable in the field.” The reform has asked teachers to do just that. Though the Teacher Toolkit is a positive move in the right direction, Unruh highlighted the fact that the training is about two to four hours long, which may not be comprehensive. Robert Beaudry, a third-year Education student who attended the training event on March 16 echoed this concern: “I thought I knew everything, and I realized I didn’t, which is gratifying. But I also learned that this should actually constitute a full semester course, as part of the McGill Bachelor of Education.” While at present neither the province nor the university offer teachers standardized training in the subject of sex education, Fiona Benson, Director of the Office of Student Teaching at McGill, assured that she has been “trying for some time to organize a MELS-led workshop for faculty [at McGill]. I am hopeful that this will come about in the fall.” As evinced by the attendance at the ACCM teacher training, preservice teachers are demanding training and taking their education into their own hands. Though a sex education course is not presently offered, teachers can become aware of available training. As Schreiber emphasized, “you don’t need to be an expert. There is a universe of support out there.” Go to mcgilldaily.com for Melanie Kim’s article on the BCG World Atlas and McGill’s step toward curing tuberculosis � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Volume 100 Issue 44 Page Number(s) 40 Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-04-04 Title A name given to the resource The classroom takes on the bedroom Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lisa Routly Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Description An account of the resource Coverage of a McGill Education student-organized teacher training event on sex education. events HIV/AIDS Quebec Government queer Sex sex-ed https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/62030/archive/files/e1390704085a9c3530d803923d08293c.pdf?Expires=1787788800&Signature=rZEwKxM2g-mlaO89zItKSA1nfYlUf3a1WrtDRA4VZstUe1N4NOWd1KwSui9pQPvejKiCLLdmHXOIQZ6lRxEpnc0qQ2L7tcWok4Rgp3Bpe6LaHTj6JmYRRE5z%7E3eF209ic3tiDzVzBkCmSsUdJiwb6eFEu4P2SaITB3EyMmMfoc3415kBAQxHJGFFHQA9Qo6XU%7Eryzmf0pM2v4LB-B0a1q76WcV9A7OVZ-T%7EAtNgbI4zfQyLjFqZCrBb7GN9LeSz4s4v9krc3SQw3rOgGBVS%7Efje%7E6sqD86VSeQ383rbEPUxMX-uqyZtn6UOTrUEGxA5JQboJgWRflcuKCXZnCy0Wbg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 5a4eb08bbbd7faec7bd9948d307c9718 PDF Text Text 40Health&Education The McGill Daily | Monday, April 4, 2011 | mcgilldaily.com The classroom takes on the bedroom Community groups create new strategies for sex education in Quebec Lisa Routly Health&Education Writer O n the evening of March 16, forty McGill Education students convened on campus for a student-organized teacher training event on a topic that continues to ignite controversy and concern amongst teachers and the general public alike: sex education. This event was the first of its kind at McGill, and was led by sex educators from AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM), a volunteerbased, community organization founded in 1987 whose aim, according to the organization’s mission statement, is “to enhance the quality of life of people living with HIV/ AIDS, to prevent HIV transmission, and to promote community awareness and action.” In 2007, a team of ACCM volunteers began the process of creating and assembling a Teacher Toolkit, which provides teacher-friendly sex education curricula, including lesson plans and multimedia resources designed with Quebec’s current education program in mind. Since October 2010, ACCM has expanded its services and has been training teachers in teaching sex education. The ACCM Teacher Toolkit, along with other similar community-based sex education programs, such as Montreal’s Head and Hands “Sense Project,” speak to the need for increased discussion and dissemination of knowledge and information over this sensitive topic. The issue has become increasingly salient since Quebec’s education reform in 2005, when sex education was removed from the province’s curriculum. “The idea [behind the reform] was that [sex education] would become a more holistic process, and would be infused throughout Tom the entire curriculum,” explained Lisa Trimble, a McGill instructor and sex education researcher. “The problem is that it is optional, and teachers are not given any training, resources, or support to teach sex education.” Furthermore, the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir, et du Sports (MELS) indicates that it is now the responsibility of all teachers to “ensure that students develop a sense of responsibility for adopting good habits with respect to health, safety, and sexuality.” Additionally, with the increasing predominance of sexually-transmitted infections, teen pregnancies, and bullying targeted on youth of various sexual orientations, “youth are on the frontlines,” commented Amanda Unruh, McGill’s Health Promotion Coordinator. “The need for quality sex education is clear.” This need has been met by community organizations, such as ACCM, which Trimble explained, “work with schools and other youth community organizations to get sex positive [and] queer positive sexual education workshops, based [on] a harm reduction philosophy, and youth empowerment praxis out to Montreal youth.” While these services have been effective in dealing BOOSTER SHOT Alcohol medication gets discriminatory Results of a recent study conducted at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre indicate that naltrexon – one of the few medications effective used in the treatment of alcohol abuse – may only be effective in women and those with a specific gene, the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1). Alcohol stimulates the release of endorphins in the brain, which bind to opioid receptors, a kind of specialized protein. The activation of these opioid receptors creates feelings of euphoria and pleasure, the same experienced in drunkenness. Naltrexone blocks the receptors and thus decreases the euphoric effects of alcohol. OPRM1 plays a crucial role because it affects the sensitivity of the receptor to the pleasurable effects of alcohol and the ability of naltrexone to diminish these effects, said Marco Leyton of McGill’s department of Psychiatry, the head investigator of the study. However, researchers are as of yet unsure as to why the drug is so effective in women, despite the fact that not all women have the OPRM1 gene. The benefit of these results is clear: “It will help us give the right medication to the right people,” said Leyton. There is a possibility that further research could lead to a new drug that is effective for everyone, but “since there are probably many pathways that lead to alcoholism, there are probably also multiple treatments that will be needed,” he explained. Moreover, he does not advise that people currently taking naltrexone stop taking it until they have consulted their doctor. The results will be published in the June 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. — Veronica Winslow er | A ck M The c Gi ll D aily with the questions, concerns, and curiosities of young people, Trimble added that “youth in Montreal have consistently called for more sex education and more access to conversations about emotions, pleasure, desire, and identities.” Yet while MELS has given teachers the responsibility to educate youth about sexuality, they have not provided teachers with a standard sex education curriculum that would provide the tools, information, and training to teach the subject matter with confidence and ease. Marla Schreiber, ACCM’s Teacher Toolkit Coordinator and sex educator summed up teachers’ apprehensions well: “it’s one thing if you fumble a date in history… If you make a mistake in sex ed, there can be dire consequences.” Unruh was involved in the initial development of ACCM’s Teacher Toolkit in 2007, and emphasized that “not everyone is comfortable talking about sex. How can they be if they were never trained to do it? An English teacher wouldn’t be expected to teach Math without being knowledgeable in the field.” The reform has asked teachers to do just that. Though the Teacher Toolkit is a positive move in the right direction, Unruh highlighted the fact that the training is about two to four hours long, which may not be comprehensive. Robert Beaudry, a third-year Education student who attended the training event on March 16 echoed this concern: “I thought I knew everything, and I realized I didn’t, which is gratifying. But I also learned that this should actually constitute a full semester course, as part of the McGill Bachelor of Education.” While at present neither the province nor the university offer teachers standardized training in the subject of sex education, Fiona Benson, Director of the Office of Student Teaching at McGill, assured that she has been “trying for some time to organize a MELS-led workshop for faculty [at McGill]. I am hopeful that this will come about in the fall.” As evinced by the attendance at the ACCM teacher training, preservice teachers are demanding training and taking their education into their own hands. Though a sex education course is not presently offered, teachers can become aware of available training. As Schreiber emphasized, “you don’t need to be an expert. There is a universe of support out there.” Go to mcgilldaily.com for Melanie Kim’s article on the BCG World Atlas and McGill’s step toward curing tuberculosis � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coverage from The McGill Daily Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Volume 100 Issue 42 Page Number(s) 40 Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011 Title A name given to the resource The classroom takes on the bedroom Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lisa Routly Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The McGill Daily Description An account of the resource This article discusses a student-organized teacher training event at McGill focused on sex education led by AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM). events HIV/AIDS Quebec Government queer Sex sex-ed