We asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the most messed-up things they learned in sex ed. Here are their responses:
1. This terrifying theory of female orgasms.
"My teacher said that a woman can only orgasm a few times in her life, and she advised us to save our orgasms for when we're trying to have a baby."
2. This info that's both false AND dangerous.
"I was taught that wearing lipstick will cause you to be assaulted because your lips resemble a vagina."
3. This wild idea about STD transmission.
"They told us that we can get STDs from toilet seats and trying on swimsuits at the store. I was in middle school and hadn’t even kissed a boy, yet I was suddenly terrified of getting herpes."
4. This tired stereotype of bisexuality.
"My teacher taught us that if a woman with a male partner finds out he's bisexual, she should leave him because he will always choose a man over her."
5. This cautionary message.
"My teacher taught us that the sperm that comes out when men masturbate is poisonous."
6. This garbage theory of self-control.
"I was taught that men can’t control themselves, so it’s up to women to make sure their relationships stay 'pure.'"
7. This scarring class play.
"My teacher picked one boy and one girl to 'get married,' made them sit on the floor, and then announced that they were having sex. She then brought up three more girls to represent the boy's former girlfriends. The 'moral' of this story was that when a non-virgin gets married, it's like they and their spouse are having sex with all of their past partners."
8. This lunchbox analogy.
"I went to a religious summer camp when I was in fifth grade. The counselor said, 'Love is like a lunchbox that you can't open until you're married. That includes holding hands and kissing.' She explained that if you open it early, you'll be giving your future spouse a half-eaten meal."
9. This bigoted nonsense.
"My sex ed teacher told us that STDs were made by God to punish gay people and polygamists."
10. This fertilization myth.
"In high school the gym teacher who was in charge of sex ed told us that you can get pregnant if you give a blowjob and swallow. I'm not really sure how she thought that worked."
11. This not-at-all weird suggestion.
"My Bible teacher taught us to 'make love as if Jesus were watching at the end of the bed.'"
12. This nurse's nonsense.
"When I was in fourth grade, our nurse told the girls that we shouldn’t sit with our legs apart because the boys would think we were advertising. I had no idea what she meant at the time, but looking back that was a pretty messed-up thing to say to fourth graders."
13. This hot take on life expectancy.
"My sex ed teacher told our seventh grade class that girls who get pregnant before 23 will die before 60. She also said that boys who have sex before 17 are more likely to get cancer."
14. This demo gone wrong.
"Our teacher tried to show us how to put a condom on a cucumber, but she did it wrong. She unrolled it, then pulled it on like a sock."
15. This less-than-cozy comparison.
"My health teacher said that your sexuality is like a beautiful sweater, and the more people you give it to, the more worn out it gets. I'm sorry, but WHAT?!"
16. This IUDs disinformation.
"A speaker came in and told us that an IUD allows an embryo to be formed, and then shreds it up. They said it was the same as an abortion."
17. This unreal algorithm.
"In ninth grade, I had a teacher say that if you use two kinds of contraception and still get pregnant, there's a 60% chance that your child will be gay."
18. This haunting memory.
"My teacher recalled to us that her own sex ed teacher had described giving birth as 'shitting a watermelon.' The idea of childbirth has terrified me ever since."
19. And finally, this grade-A nonsense.
"My sex ed instructor told us that making eye contact with someone for more than three seconds is considered sex. That one scarred me for life."
