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Key messages
- To answer student questions, provide small amounts of information at age and stage appropriate levels.
- Scripted answers provide different levels of detail on specific topics.
- Providing parents with resources to have conversations at home can help address curly questions.
- Referring students to reliable websites is a strategy for questions that can not be answered in class.
Have a question you think should be featured here, email the GDHR inbox.
Early years
- How is a baby made?
A baby starts inside the mother's body when an egg and sperm meet.
Additional information:
Educator notes: Conception and pregnancy
Middle primary
Upper primary
- How is a baby made?
To make a baby you need a seed (sperm) from a man's body to join with an egg (ovum) from a women's body. The sperm comes out of the penis and goes up into the vagina. Sometimes (not always) an egg meets with a sperm which is the very first step in a pregnancy.
The egg that has joined with the sperm travel to the uterus, where is settles and grows. It will grow for about nine months - this is called a pregnancy. When the baby is ready to be born, the muscles in the uterus contract and push the baby through the vagina, which stretches so that the baby can get through - this is how a baby is born.
Additional information:
Educator notes: Conception and pregnancy
High school
- Can a tampon break the hymen?
It is a myth that the hymen is a membrane covering the entrance to the vagina that will be ‘broken’ by a tampon or first sex.
The hymen is made up of thin elastic folds of tissue just inside the entrance to the vagina. Hymens come in different shapes and sizes and cover varying amounts of the vaginal opening. A common shape is like a ring or crescent shape around the edges of the vagina, so these days it is often called the vaginal ‘corona’, meaning ‘crown’.
The hymen stretches and the opening usually gets larger as a young person matures.
The opening may be big enough for a tampon to go in easily. If the tampon (or anything else that is put in the vagina) is bigger than the opening, the hymen will stretch. Sometimes when it stretches there may be some small tears. Going slowly and using lubricant may help.
- Can you get a STI from a toilet seat?
You cannot get a STI from a toilet seat. The viruses and bacteria passed on sexually cannot live outside the body for very long. If you see any liquid on a toilet seat (including blood) and are worried either wipe it off with toilet paper or do not use that toilet.
Additional information:
Educator notes: Sexually Transmissible Infections
Educator notes: Blood-borne Viruses
- Can you get pregnant from a toilet seat?
It is not possible to get pregnant from a toilet seat. Sperm does not live outside of the body very long and then needs to travel into the vagina to fertilise an egg.
If you see any liquid on a toilet seat and are worried either wipe it off with toilet paper or do not use that toilet.Additional information:
Educator notes: Conception and pregnancy
- I heard a story about a baby being born holding an IUD - is that true?
IUDs are highly effective contraceptives, over 99% effective1. In extremely rare occasions, the contraceptive fails and someone can become pregnant, and the IUD is not discovered or removed until the birth of the child.
However, it is impossible for the baby to be born holding the IUD as there is no way for the IUD to get into the placenta.
References:
Additional information:
Educator notes: Conception and pregnancy
Educator notes: Safer sex and contraception
- Is my penis size normal?
During puberty most penises get longer and thicker. Usually by the age of 17 or 18, the penis will reach its full adult size. There is a wide range of normal penis sizes and shapes. The size of a penis when it is soft does not necessarily relate to the size it will be when it is hard (erect). There is a lot less difference in penis size from person to person when the penis is hard (erect) than when their penis is soft.
Additional information:
People may compare their bodies to those seen in pornography. It is important to know that porn has been made, and just like all movies, it often shows things that we don't see in real life.
Research that gives average penis length and circumference (girth) varies greatly and the internet and magazines are not always accurate sources of information.
A 2015 study of 15,521 men reports the following measurements:
soft (flaccid): length 7.59cm - 10.73 (average 9.16cm); circumference 8.41cm - 10.21 (average 9.31cm)
hard (erect): length 11.46cm - 14.78cm (average 13.12cm); circumference 10.06cm - 12.76cm (average 11.66cm)
(Reference: Veale, Miles, Bramley, Muir and Hodsoll. Am I normal? A systematic review and construction of nomograms for flaccid and erect penis length and circumference in up to 15,521. BJU Int. 2015 Jun;115(6):978-86. doi: 10.1111/bju.13010. Epub 2015 Mar 2.)
- Does a doctor have to look at your genitals or put a cotton bud inside of you for a STI test?
What happens during an STI test depends on what you are being tested for and if you have symptoms. The health professional taking the test will ask you questions about what kinds of sexual activity you have doing so they can offer the most suitable tests for you and ask if you have any symptoms.
Testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea involves a urine test and/or swan (cotton bud) which you do yourself. Testing for HIV, syphilis and Hepatitis B involves a blood test, which is done by the health professional or pathology provider.
A physical exam by a doctor or nurse will only happen if you have symptoms such as sores or bumps on your genitals and the health professionals may need to exam or take additional swabs for these.
Additional information:
STI Testing & Treatment - Sexual Health Quarters (shq.org.au)
