TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Thea Holcomb: How peer educators can transform sex education

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Greetings audience, I'm Thea, I'm a high school student, and today we're going to talk about sex. [It won't be too scary.] Operating on the assumption you're human, you've certainly heard of sex. In case you haven't, to get you up to speed, sex is the process by which many organisms ensure their ctuionned existence. Here's the thing though: sex is more complicated than that because - spoiler alert! - humans are comiatplecd. So how do we learn about sex if it's so complicated? You might rebmmeer sex eicuoatdn like this: [Don't have sex; you will get PREGNANT and die.] uabrn Dictionary - your scruoe for news and information about the 21st century zeitgeist - describes sex education as: ".. where they try to scare you out of having sex with pictures of diseased genitals..." A more hopeful description of sex education would be something like: a lifelong process of learning about sex and sexuality, exploring values and beliefs and gaining skills to navigate relationships and manage your sexual health. This, as far as I'm concerned, is a solid definition. So what can we do to make sex education something that teens find actually, like, educational. Clearly, teens need answers to their questions. Where do people go when they have questions? [The Internet] Listen, I love the Internet. It's one of the greatest developments in human information exchange. [Yes. Thanks ineetrnt.] But what it says about saexul health is not accurate by any stretch of the imagination or is so laden with bias that it feels more like being pleted with judgement than actually receiving information. Unfortunately, not every teen is willing and able to chat it up with their parents about sex. So if not always the Internet, where can teens turn? Enter the peer educator. People my age do, indeed, talk to each other about sex. So when teens are soucres of arctauce information, it spreads among us quickly. As a peer educator, I belong to a program that gives me the tolos to lraen about everything from STIs and safe sex to contraception and consent. Basically, I can tell you more about human sexuality than the average adult. When teens see someone like me instead of someone older, they're quite open to the information I have to offer them. At lunch once, some fdiners wanted to know the difference between hormonal and copper IUDs. So I brought this to the table. Another day, my teacher didn't understand how emergency contraception wkors. So I explained it to the calss. What does it look like when teens ask me questions about sexual hlateh? It goes something like this. Venereal disease, STD, STI? This terminology, it baffles me. STI stands for sexually transmitted infection. We used to say STD, which stood for sulexaly ttaitsremnd deassie, but it was caeghnd recently because STI is a more milaecldy accurate term, and taking away the big scary word "disease" helps dacersee simgta. What the heck is trichomoniasis? Well, trichomoniasis is a STI usually spread through vngiaal inecsurrote. It's curable with just one dose of an oral drug. Common symptoms, regardless of a person's sex, are unusual discharge, pifnual urination and itching. But it spreads really quickly because most of the time it's asymptomatic, which means people don't realize they have it. That's why it's so important to get tested regularly. Is it OK to be gay? Yes, all people of all identities and backgrounds, including on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, can live healthy and productive lvies. Regardless of your beliefs, everyone has the right to explore and express their sexuality without the fear of samhe or judgement. Thanks! So often, when my peers approach me with questions like these, seeking this or that piece of information, at least a silver of what they're wondering is: "Am I normal?" So let's talk about normal. Part of the point of peer education is to give teens the ounrttppioy to unaesndrtd that there is no such thing as the euvlsie "normal." Peer educators are here to say they're amred with information that emwoeprs you to make informed decisions; you are going to be OK. "Normal" isn't really necessary. When you can get accurate, judgement-free iomrontfain from your peers, you realize that sex-ed doesn't have to be scary. So instead of striving to be normal, let's talk to each other. Since peer education allows sex-ed to raech the cuimomnty in ways that go far beyond pictures of diseased glniteas, it turns out to be pretty bilnrilat. An idea that, unlike trichomoniasis, is certainly wtorh spreading.

Open Cloze

Greetings audience, I'm Thea, I'm a high school student, and today we're going to talk about sex. [It won't be too scary.] Operating on the assumption you're human, you've certainly heard of sex. In case you haven't, to get you up to speed, sex is the process by which many organisms ensure their _________ existence. Here's the thing though: sex is more complicated than that because - spoiler alert! - humans are ___________. So how do we learn about sex if it's so complicated? You might ________ sex _________ like this: [Don't have sex; you will get PREGNANT and die.] _____ Dictionary - your ______ for news and information about the 21st century zeitgeist - describes sex education as: ".. where they try to scare you out of having sex with pictures of diseased genitals..." A more hopeful description of sex education would be something like: a lifelong process of learning about sex and sexuality, exploring values and beliefs and gaining skills to navigate relationships and manage your sexual health. This, as far as I'm concerned, is a solid definition. So what can we do to make sex education something that teens find actually, like, educational. Clearly, teens need answers to their questions. Where do people go when they have questions? [The Internet] Listen, I love the Internet. It's one of the greatest developments in human information exchange. [Yes. Thanks ________.] But what it says about ______ health is not accurate by any stretch of the imagination or is so laden with bias that it feels more like being ______ with judgement than actually receiving information. Unfortunately, not every teen is willing and able to chat it up with their parents about sex. So if not always the Internet, where can teens turn? Enter the peer educator. People my age do, indeed, talk to each other about sex. So when teens are _______ of ________ information, it spreads among us quickly. As a peer educator, I belong to a program that gives me the _____ to _____ about everything from STIs and safe sex to contraception and consent. Basically, I can tell you more about human sexuality than the average adult. When teens see someone like me instead of someone older, they're quite open to the information I have to offer them. At lunch once, some _______ wanted to know the difference between hormonal and copper IUDs. So I brought this to the table. Another day, my teacher didn't understand how emergency contraception _____. So I explained it to the _____. What does it look like when teens ask me questions about sexual ______? It goes something like this. Venereal disease, STD, STI? This terminology, it baffles me. STI stands for sexually transmitted infection. We used to say STD, which stood for ________ ___________ _______, but it was _______ recently because STI is a more _________ accurate term, and taking away the big scary word "disease" helps ________ ______. What the heck is trichomoniasis? Well, trichomoniasis is a STI usually spread through _______ ___________. It's curable with just one dose of an oral drug. Common symptoms, regardless of a person's sex, are unusual discharge, _______ urination and itching. But it spreads really quickly because most of the time it's asymptomatic, which means people don't realize they have it. That's why it's so important to get tested regularly. Is it OK to be gay? Yes, all people of all identities and backgrounds, including on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, can live healthy and productive _____. Regardless of your beliefs, everyone has the right to explore and express their sexuality without the fear of _____ or judgement. Thanks! So often, when my peers approach me with questions like these, seeking this or that piece of information, at least a ______ of what they're wondering is: "Am I normal?" So let's talk about normal. Part of the point of peer education is to give teens the ___________ to __________ that there is no such thing as the _______ "normal." Peer educators are here to say they're _____ with information that ________ you to make informed decisions; you are going to be OK. "Normal" isn't really necessary. When you can get accurate, judgement-free ___________ from your peers, you realize that sex-ed doesn't have to be scary. So instead of striving to be normal, let's talk to each other. Since peer education allows sex-ed to _____ the _________ in ways that go far beyond pictures of diseased ________, it turns out to be pretty _________. An idea that, unlike trichomoniasis, is certainly _____ spreading.

Solution

changed
friends
medically
stigma
internet
lives
pelted
sources
understand
health
intercourse
opportunity
armed
elusive
disease
decrease
learn
remember
information
works
urban
tools
source
continued
painful
sliver
transmitted
reach
shame
brilliant
education
complicated
community
genitals
empowers
sexual
class
vaginal
accurate
sexually
worth

Original Text

Greetings audience, I'm Thea, I'm a high school student, and today we're going to talk about sex. [It won't be too scary.] Operating on the assumption you're human, you've certainly heard of sex. In case you haven't, to get you up to speed, sex is the process by which many organisms ensure their continued existence. Here's the thing though: sex is more complicated than that because - spoiler alert! - humans are complicated. So how do we learn about sex if it's so complicated? You might remember sex education like this: [Don't have sex; you will get PREGNANT and die.] Urban Dictionary - your source for news and information about the 21st century zeitgeist - describes sex education as: ".. where they try to scare you out of having sex with pictures of diseased genitals..." A more hopeful description of sex education would be something like: a lifelong process of learning about sex and sexuality, exploring values and beliefs and gaining skills to navigate relationships and manage your sexual health. This, as far as I'm concerned, is a solid definition. So what can we do to make sex education something that teens find actually, like, educational. Clearly, teens need answers to their questions. Where do people go when they have questions? [The Internet] Listen, I love the Internet. It's one of the greatest developments in human information exchange. [Yes. Thanks Internet.] But what it says about sexual health is not accurate by any stretch of the imagination or is so laden with bias that it feels more like being pelted with judgement than actually receiving information. Unfortunately, not every teen is willing and able to chat it up with their parents about sex. So if not always the Internet, where can teens turn? Enter the peer educator. People my age do, indeed, talk to each other about sex. So when teens are sources of accurate information, it spreads among us quickly. As a peer educator, I belong to a program that gives me the tools to learn about everything from STIs and safe sex to contraception and consent. Basically, I can tell you more about human sexuality than the average adult. When teens see someone like me instead of someone older, they're quite open to the information I have to offer them. At lunch once, some friends wanted to know the difference between hormonal and copper IUDs. So I brought this to the table. Another day, my teacher didn't understand how emergency contraception works. So I explained it to the class. What does it look like when teens ask me questions about sexual health? It goes something like this. Venereal disease, STD, STI? This terminology, it baffles me. STI stands for sexually transmitted infection. We used to say STD, which stood for sexually transmitted disease, but it was changed recently because STI is a more medically accurate term, and taking away the big scary word "disease" helps decrease stigma. What the heck is trichomoniasis? Well, trichomoniasis is a STI usually spread through vaginal intercourse. It's curable with just one dose of an oral drug. Common symptoms, regardless of a person's sex, are unusual discharge, painful urination and itching. But it spreads really quickly because most of the time it's asymptomatic, which means people don't realize they have it. That's why it's so important to get tested regularly. Is it OK to be gay? Yes, all people of all identities and backgrounds, including on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, can live healthy and productive lives. Regardless of your beliefs, everyone has the right to explore and express their sexuality without the fear of shame or judgement. Thanks! So often, when my peers approach me with questions like these, seeking this or that piece of information, at least a sliver of what they're wondering is: "Am I normal?" So let's talk about normal. Part of the point of peer education is to give teens the opportunity to understand that there is no such thing as the elusive "normal." Peer educators are here to say they're armed with information that empowers you to make informed decisions; you are going to be OK. "Normal" isn't really necessary. When you can get accurate, judgement-free information from your peers, you realize that sex-ed doesn't have to be scary. So instead of striving to be normal, let's talk to each other. Since peer education allows sex-ed to reach the community in ways that go far beyond pictures of diseased genitals, it turns out to be pretty brilliant. An idea that, unlike trichomoniasis, is certainly worth spreading.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
sex education	4
sexual health	2
sexually transmitted	2
peer education	2

Important Words

accurate
adult
age
answers
approach
armed
assumption
asymptomatic
audience
average
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basically
beliefs
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bias
big
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common
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consent
continued
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curable
day
decrease
definition
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description
developments
dictionary
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discharge
disease
diseased
dose
drug
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educational
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educators
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ensure
enter
exchange
existence
explained
explore
exploring
express
fear
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find
friends
gaining
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give
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healthy
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high
hopeful
hormonal
human
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idea
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imagination
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information
informed
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internet
itching
iuds
judgement
laden
learn
learning
lifelong
listen
live
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love
lunch
manage
means
medically
navigate
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normal
offer
older
open
operating
opportunity
oral
organisms
painful
parents
part
peer
peers
pelted
people
pictures
piece
point
pregnant
pretty
process
productive
program
questions
quickly
reach
realize
receiving
regularly
relationships
remember
safe
scare
scary
school
seeking
sex
sexual
sexuality
sexually
shame
skills
sliver
solid
source
sources
spectrum
speed
spoiler
spread
spreading
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stands
std
sti
stigma
stis
stood
stretch
striving
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symptoms
table
talk
teacher
teen
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term
terminology
tested
thea
time
today
tools
transmitted
trichomoniasis
turn
turns
understand
unusual
urban
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venereal
wanted
ways
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word
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zeitgeist