Just how they were supposed to act...

Would it be ridiculous to remain completely unassuming when substitute teaching for an eighth grade health class? Fully unaware of this contemplation, I, "Mr. Riske", walked into the class with walls clad in anti-drug posters, completely oblivious to today's topic. Was it going to be about tobacco? Drugs? Maybe alcohol, perhaps? No, no, no, no. Today was 'Sex and the Reproductive System'. So after briefing the text's lesson I prepared for what I thought would be the worst.

I can't really blame them for how they acted. Honestly, they responded quite typically for middle schoolers who get to say "penis" and "vagina" in class without a referral. But what was to follow was what I couldn't have anticipated.

These kids, more like younger adults in some ways, started asking: "Why are we taught abstinence and then told to use condoms?"; and stating relevant facts about the number of people who loose their virginity before they graduate high school. These students were informed and curious.

I don't know if I did the best job and fielding the questions and forming in them a sense of responsibility and morality; but the opportunity itself was an honor and a blessing. With further steps being taken toward my new life in Utah, experiences like these further affirm my passion to help struggling youth.