Talk prepares pre-teens for puberty

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By MATTHEW HANSEN / Lincoln Journal Star

Kerfala Fofana and Jim Growney  stand at the front of a Rosseau Elementary classroom, prepared to talk about all those things that make boys (and some men) giggle, bracing to answer the questions that surely will follow.

More than 40 seated fourth-grade boys stare back, their minds sparked by the introductory video, "Just Around the Corner," they've just watched, and revved by the hormones now coursing through their bodies.

So, guys: What's a five-o-clock shadow? Do your eyeballs grow during puberty? Does everything?

Is it weird to have a wet dream, ask the fifth-graders later. Is it weird not to?

And will drinking Mountain Dew  make your penis smaller?

"Uhhhh, I don't drink that stuff," Growney says, triggering a round of laughter. "I'll tell you what's best for you … water. Water and milk."

Growney and Fofana are physician assistant students at Union College, a master's program that's received some $1.3 million in federal grants to help the young and poor and to educate the public about things such as childhood obesity and rural health.

The 6-year-old program recently converted to a master's degree program at Union, making it the only one of its kind in Lincoln.

Tuesday, the outreach topic is puberty, one part of a sexual education program they administer with the blessing and assistance of Lincoln Public Schools.

The school provides the educational video. At the fifth-grade level, the 15-minute film stars a floppy-haired actor playing a musician who walks the students through the male body's transformation.

At one point, the actor strums his guitar and says, "Rhythm. Music has rhythm, and so does adolescent change."

Then the Union College students take the stage, reiterating the importance of personal hygiene — for example, you sweat more when you hit puberty, so remember to shower daily and wear deodorant — and stressing the message that the changes aren't strange.

Hitting puberty at 9 is normal. So is hitting puberty at 14, they say.

Pimples are normal. Hair on your chest or no hair on your chest? Both normal.

A cracking voice and feelings of awkwardness, unexplained anger and frustration are very, very normal, they say.

"If you find yourself getting more aggravated … think about the fact that it may be the hormones in your body," Growney says.

There is also talk of the aforementioned wet dreams and brief definitions of the terms "erection," "testicles" and "sperm."

There is no talk of sex or masturbation, two topics that LPS and Michael Huckabee, director of Union's physician assistant program, deem too adult for the fourth- and fifth-graders.

The Union program does talk  sex with older LPS students, telling them that abstinence is the best option and mentioning various forms of birth control and the risk that accompanies using them.

"It's not religious at all," says Huckabee of the program put on by Union, a private, Seventh-Day Adventist school. "I would say we just provide the info honestly, and, if we're honest, the arrow points to abstinence as the safest thing."

What to teach students about sex — a debate brewing in school districts across the country — isn't applicable to pre-teens anyway, he and the Union students say.

During the presentations, the pair gently deflect all queries about sex, telling the students to ask their parents.

That doesn't stem the barrage of questions the fourth- and fifth-graders want answered.

So boys have the wet dream thing and girls the period thing, is that right?

What's aftershave?

My cousin has braces. Why do the other kids call him, "Train Tracks"?

"Don't tease 'em," Growney says to the fourth-grade boys whose female classmates are already starting to hit puberty. "Be respectful.

"We've all been through this process before, or we will go through it. Everybody does."

Reach Matthew Hansen at 473-7245 or mhansen@journalstar.com.