Human Sexuality and Relationships (HS&R)

A favorite Milton optional course, HS&R enrolls students in Classes I-III who are interested in learning about sexuality and relationships in a fun, comfortable, supportive environment. Groups of 12 students (six girls, six boys) meet with two adults (one female, one male) once each week in the evening to cover topics ranging from anatomy, to safe sex, to sex-role stereotyping, to relationships. The HS&R course runs for ten weeks through the winter term and into the spring term.

Class IV students take Health, a required course that includes learning about sexuality. Many then enroll in HS&R as upperclassmen.

Response to HS&R has been so enthusiastic, students have been so eager to continue the conversations begun in Class III, that a course for Class II, Advanced HS&R, has been offered. Participants take a more active role in the ideas covered. This course often delves more deeply into the topics and issues laid out in the initial course. Students can take an advanced course more than once, as the agenda is set each year by the group.

The overwhelmingly positive response to the HS&R courses led to the formation of the campus group Students Educating the Community about Sexuality (SECS). SECS is a group of 12 Milton seniors selected from those who have taken the two courses, Beginning and Advanced HS&R, to serve as aides in the beginning HS&R classes.

HISTORY OF HS&R
The course was started in 1978 at the request of students who wanted a forum to discuss relationship issues that weren't addressed anywhere else. Since then, the original program has undergone many revisions, but retains the same comfortable, relaxed atmosphere that it developed at the start in 1978.

VALUES STATEMENT FOR THE HS&R COURSES:
Adolescents do make decisions about sex, and we hold as a value that those decisions should be based on accurate information, not on ignorance.

We hold as a value that relationships function better when based on clear communication and mutual respect than on sex-role stereotypes, assumptions, and coercion.

We hold as a value that sexual decisions must be made responsibly and with regard to their consequences.

We hold as a value that it is better to deal openly with the issues of birth control, abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, masturbation, premarital intercourse, and homosexuality than to relegate them to a closet of unmentionables.

We hold as a value that it is good for students to realize that they are not alone in their apprehensions and uncertainties, but that many of their concerns are commonly shared.

We hold as a value respect for the beliefs of others, even when they are different from one's own.

We hold as a value the paramount right of each group member to state any opinion or to pass on any issue without fear of ridicule or judgment.