SexEd Online? Are you crazy!
There are some obvious challenges of facilitating sexuality education workshops online. But more than the challenges, there has been so much success! I have been holding sexuality related sessions online for the past 14 months, and the first time I was online on zoom with this ‘X-rated’ content, I made sure that I was alone in the room, doors were shut and I had safety words if someone did enter. I was very cautious of my parents listening to what I was talking about even though they knew all about my work. If I as a facilitator was feeling so uneasy and conscious of doing a SexEd session from home, expecting even more inhibitions from participants was a given. But man, we all got used to it and it transformed our homes!
So many months down the line, now when I am in a classroom of male adolescents speaking about sexual orientation, my parents don’t even pause midway, the entire house can hear my words and I have come out a champion. But that’s not the case with the participants of course, for them the words that come out of the phone speakers aren’t even in their control, the sessions are part of school curriculum and they could be sitting in a common room, surrounded by elder-younger siblings, parents and grandparents. For them this is nothing but dreadful.
Rishi, one of the students, shared that if he puts earphones on, his father thinks that he is not actually attending online classes but streaming tik-tok or movies. For Rishi this means that he needs to prove being on a class, and no school work could be private enough to use earphones! So when I suggested students to use earphones or find private spaces, it never worked and only caused more trouble. There are also kids who might be able to put on earphones but do not find the appropriate surroundings to share their stories or enjoy a participatory space. They would want to speak, but amidst the online commotion of who gets to speak and the household presence of spectators, we end up losing a lot of engagement.
Talking about spectators, this challenge of families hovering over participants worked like an extremely unique opportunity. A lot of sexuality educators propose parent-teacher meetings before actually engaging with school students. This is so that parents can be prepared with some information that their child would be sent home with. This although is hardly ever realised. But for online sessions during a lockdown, parents are inevitably passively participating. They are constantly hearing words that they too might be uncomfortable with. They irk mid-way, question their children and peek into the session. What is this that their children are being taught? Some of these parents question and get in touch with the facilitator, ending up in mostly positive results of trust building in the concept of SexEd. Some other parents will just ask the students to stop attending, which is also very easily noticeable since the students are not specifically sitting out of particular sessions. Either ways, there is direct information available about the relationship of households with SexEd. This after all might be a brilliant way for ice-breaking into this taboo topic. But the burden that the young participant faces, can also be eased away. The space CAN be made safe. This is how-
Value circle: Creating a virtual circle bound by certain values to set an atmosphere of trust amidst the students allows them the freedom to share and freedom to not share.
Videos off means sounds on: In an online presence where one doesn’t even have to show face or stand up in front of the whole classroom, it is possible to add single worded or short comments very easily. The participants are able to constantly interact without interrupting anyone. So encourage videos off if need be, it might allow for the space to be more inviting and participatory safer.
Encourage chats: Yes, it is the most obvious tool to use if one wants to encourage classroom participation, more so when the taboo topic itself is going to hush voices.
Interactive Story-telling: Allows my voice and choice of words to deliver deep-rooted sexual and gender messages under aliases. It is engaging and sticks to the memory of the listener.
Movie Screening: This is a great tool to deliver messages to the students and invite them to ponder over their learning through discussions or questionnaires. There is scope to purposefully trigger them, as well as learn from what we didn’t know triggers them.
Games and zoom tools: Tools like annotating, puzzles, pictures and whiteboards give participants a way to interact without having to speak. I have been able to use so many power points which otherwise wouldn’t be possible in physical classrooms. I have been able to share music with children and turn the classroom atmosphere from a discussion to a play space within minutes without having the participants move around. It’s hard to deny that the limitations of online sessions also act as comforts!
Artistic expressions and visualisations: A lot of abstract capturing can be done and invited to capture raw thoughts and subjective replies. A reflective question followed by “visually express yourself on a sheet of paper” works like a charm, because at home all stationary and inspiration is within reach.
Time and comfort: When at home and attending such a workshop, you don’t see other participants laughing giggling or snickering. You are more with your own thoughts and feelings unless the other participants voluntarily choose to share their thoughts publicly on chats. This means less distractions and more depth. Things move quickly time wise and one can move around between couch, bed, study table, garden, toilet, anywhere!
The reason I have jotted down these techniques and I am not shunning away the idea of online SexEd, is because it has been possible for me to use this as an opportunity and not a challenge.
