The Male Sex Organs :

Once everyone has copies and colored pencils, I hold up the picture of the male sex organs. I tell the class that the sex organs on the outside of a man's body are the penis and the scrotum. The kids in my class still giggle like mad or fall off their chairs in ambarrassment, but I don't pay much attention. Using my vest kindergarten Lady voice, I say, "The penis itself has two parts: the shaft and the glans. Find the shaft of the penis and color it with blue and red stripes.'' Now everybody gets very intent on the coloring. Some are still giggling, but they do start coloring. Why don't you color the shaft in, too? (Unless, of course, this book belongs to someone else or to a library. One of the people we most admire is a librarian. We would be in very got water if labrarian thought we were telling people to color library books.)

Next I ask the class to find the small slit at the tip of the penis and circle it in red. This is the urinary opening. It is the opening through which urine leaves the body. There's usually less giggling by now. The urinary opening is small. The class has to pay more attention to the coloring. Then we color in the glans itself. I usually suggest blue, but color it any way you want. "Red and blue polka dots for the scrotum,'' I tell my class next. The scrotum is a loose bag of skin that lies beneath the penis. Scrotal sac is another name for the scrotum. Inside the scrotum are two egg-shaped organs called testes, or testicles. Then, I explain that the curly hairs on the sex organs are public hairs. I have the class color them as well.

Finally, we come to the anus. This is the opening through which feces (bowel movements) leave our bodies. The anus isn't a reproductive organ. But it's nearby, so you might as well color it, too. By the time the class has colored in the different parts, I've said the word "penis'' out loud about twenty-eight times. Everyone is used to my saying this and other words that aren't usually said out loud in classrooms. My students no longer have to go crazy each time I use these words. Besides, the pictures look funny. Everyone is laughing. Laughter makes it easier to deal with embarrassed or nervous feelings.

Circumcision

Circumcision is an operation that removes the foreskin of the penis. The foreskin is part of the special skin covering of the penis. The operation is usually done when a baby is only a few days old. Most males in this country have been circumcised. But there are also many that still have their foreskins. If a boy has not been circumcised, his foreskin covers most or all of the glans. When a male baby is born, the foreskin and glans are usually attached. sooner or later, the foreskin works itself free. By the time a boy becomes an adult, if not sooner, he can retract the foreskin. This means he can pull it back over the glans and down the shaft of the penis. You may be wondering why people have their sons circumcised. Maybe you have other questions about the operation. If so, you'll find more information about circumcision in further articles.