Sixth Grade Beginnings

Chapter 47

The air around the classroom was thick, and heavy with an uncomfortable silence, as the class of 6th graders blankly peered at the colorful sign in front of them; their eyes slowly moving from the jolly woman in front of them, to their peers in uncertainty, whilst others awkwardly stared at the tops of their desks instead. No one was really sure of what to say, or what to do. Was Nurse Shelley looking for an answer? Or was she just letting the anticipation sink in?

"I can see that all of you have some mixed feelings about this subject..." The woman said softly, her voice full of sympathy, "When you hear the word 'sex,' it may make you feel a little strange and uncomfortable, almost like it's wrong to hear or know about, however, I'm here to teach you just exactly what the term means, and how important it is for you to learn about it."

Shelley walked over to her bag and pulled out a few laminated pictures; each depicting outlines of a different body, and stuck them just under the sign. "There are two categories that we and most other living things are divided into due to our reproductive functions: man and woman." She explained, pointing at the respective pictures. "While we're all made up of the same things, such as blood, bone, and tissue, our reproductive systems are what separate us." Looking at her students, she could see that some of their attentions were fixed on the diagrams, while others eyes roamed elsewhere as if trying to find another place for them to dwell. "Can anyone tell me the purpose of the reproductive system?"

"To reproduce," Nadine stated blandly, a bit confused at why this question was being asked.

"Yes, that's true." The husky nurse nodded, "but what exactly does it mean to reproduce?"

"To make more of," replied Phoebe. "In this case, to make more of ourselves."

"We have cloning machines inside of us?!" Harold shouted in bewilderment. "What?!"

This made Shelley laugh. "Sort of, Harold. The job of our reproductive system is to pass on our DNA; our genes!" She then pointed to the male body. "Men have slightly different chromosomes than females. They have an X and a Y." Picking up a black marker, Shelley marked those letters underneath the picture. "While females have two X chromosomes!" She continued, doing just the same under the picture of the female. "Chromosomes are part of our DNA, and inside of our reproductive systems, are something called reproductive cells. A man's reproductive cell is his sperm, and carries both his X and Y chromosomes, while a female's reproductive cells are her ovum's or more commonly said, eggs, which carry her two X chromosomes."

"Ewww!" Sid blurted out carelessly. "So, you're telling us that girls have eggs in them, just like chickens? Do you lay them too?!"

"No, of course not." Nurse Shelley shook her head. "At least, not in the sense you're thinking about." She then capped her marker and crossed her arms. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves! Let's go back to the main topic! Can anyone tell me how babies are made?"

The room became silent once more until Harold loudly cleared his throat. "Babies are made when a mommy and daddy love each other very much...-" But before the boy could finish, the classroom door opened suddenly, and in stepped Mr. Simmons.

"Oh, am I interrupting?" He asked, looking around with a panicked face. "I'm so sorry! Please continue!" He said as he hurried over to his desk, and sat down to join in whatever their discussion was on currently.

"Harold was just telling the class how babies were made." She smiled, before turning back to the boy in question. "Please, continue!"

With a face now a bit reddened from embarrassment, Harold began to fumble with his thoughts. "Uhhh, oh yeah. Right. So, when they love each other very much, they give each other special hugs, and then babies are born!" He finished triumphantly.