Pre-Video Activities
Prepare
Get ready to teach using tools provided in this section.
- Ask students to share what they know about masturbation; what messages they’ve learned/are common in their culture about masturbation. Encourage them to share alternate names or phrases (both formal and informal) for masturbation. Lighten up the class mood by using humor and possibly adding some you’ve heard of (but use caution and classroom management to guide the conversation to ensure that everyone feels safe and comfortable).
- Discuss definitions and benefits of: masturbation (a.k.a. “solitary sex,” “solo sex,” “sex for one,” “self-loving,” “self-pleasuring,” “self-exploration”) and body autonomy. Refer to pages 11-12 of this Planned Parenthood article to provide important facts and encourage conversation: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/uploads/filer_public/8e/f5/8ef53e54-2fcb-4f92-933e-59fa0a09285b/masturbation_11-02.pdf
- To assist in the discussion, encourage students to read this article from Teen Source: https://www.teensource.org/hookup/self-love-self-care and/or this one from Planned Parenthood: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/sex/masturbation
- For video #2, show clips of Jimmy Fallon’s famous Thank you Notes segment to let students know where this parody comes from.
- Discuss the definition and benefits of body positivity, body image.