Modern Love The Podcast is supported by

Produced by the ILAB at WBUR Boston.

From The New York Times and WBUR Boston, this is Modern Love.

Stories of Love, Loss and Redemption.

I'm your host, Megna Chakrabardi.

When you think back to sex ed class, it's not hard to come up with a couple of memories that might have scarred you for life.

Eggs that you had to take care of, dolls that really cried, flower bag babies.

Not to mention having actual discussions about sex in the classroom.

But in this week's essay, it's actually a parent, Hope Edelman, who's a little traumatized by her daughter's experience of sex ed.

Her piece is read by Jillian Anderson.

You know her as Agent Scully from the ex-files and Stella Gibson in the fall.

She's starring now in the New Netflix show Sex Education.

The memo from the middle school came home in my daughter's backpack on a Friday afternoon.

Next week, your six-grade child will participate in a flower sack baby exercise.

All six graders were to report to school Monday with five pound bags of flower dressed up as dolls and carry them everywhere for the week.

The idea was to teach them the responsibilities of teenage parenthood.

We encouraged parental participation to make this exercise a success, the note concluded.

There were so many confusing directives, I didn't know where to begin.

How could a flower sack simulate an actual infant?

Why did all the newborns weigh just five pounds?

And weren't six graders a little young for this kind of thing?

We picked babies out of a hat today.

...