Sex Education

Like most American boys of my generation, everything I learned about sex before I was an adult was from my peers. The kids who were just like me and who lived in my neighborhood passed along information, usually from the older kids to the younger ones. And of course much of it was misinformation.

I "learned" things like:

• Most girls don't want to have sex. A boy had to trick a girl into having sex by misrepresenting himself. You needed to make her believe that you are stronger, more courageous, richer, more compassionate, etc. than you really are.
• Ugly people don't have sex. When we heard in school that such-and-so had sex under the bleachers after the football game last week, only the most attractive girl and boy were involved. The ugly people in school were left out and would be left out for life as far as many of us were told.