Described by ABC’s Nightline news as “Sex-Education 2.0” the Midwest
Teen Sex Show
(directed by media content guru Guy Clark) is
taking the internet by storm. This
cheeky selection of pod casts, intended to engage teens in sex education, attracts
about 150,000 viewers each month. Themes
range from anal sex to dating to drugs & alcohol.
Although the target audience is teens, the pod casts appeal
to anyone interested in sex and satire. The
show is irreverent and doesn’t tip-toe around the often hush-hush topic of teen
sex. The cast’s approach to sex ed is anything but conventional, the group of
actors make light of heavy topics often including less-than tasteful (but funny!) jokes. In
one clip, main-character Britney wakes up with a hangover asking herself, “where
am I? Where are my pants? Why does it feel like my ass is bleeding?” She looks over to find "an ugly version" of herself in bed with her who says, "Mm Pookie you were a cougar last night!"
Nikol Hasler, the leading lady of the show,
regularly receives an inbox full of hate mail condemning the show, her parenting skills
(she is a mother of three) and her appearance. It's a shame. Teens have sex, teens need direction, teens need someone to communicate with them at their level - it's the parent's job but it's always nice to have a resources available. If we ignore teen sex, it's not going to just disappear.
As a parent of a pre-teen myself, I salute Nikol’s
approach. I grew up in a home where sex
was never discussed (except for the time when I was 11 and my dad informed me
that sex was like putting a plug into a light-socket, end of discussion). As a
result I didn’t learn about birth control options until it was too late. At 18
I was pregnant with my now-pre-teen daughter.
There is no turning back for me, but at
least now I have a little bit of support in my open-discussion approach to sex education. The information in these pod casts isn’t intended to be the
end-all be-all in sex ed. Rather it’s intended to open up a dialogue. The producers call it “sex information.”
Even if you don’t have a teen in your life, the shows are
worth watching during your down-time at the office. The episodes are truly hilarious, smart, and professionally produced -– it’s definitely not youtube.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.
Originally published June 2008