Naked in School-Kevin and Denise
When I awoke Friday morning it felt like I had not slept at all. Groan. This must be a post-adrenaline reaction, the body’s gotta come down from the high. I think listening to the news report must have had something to do with my delayed recovery. When I picked up Denise, she told me that the press had rung her for a statement but she told them that she had fallen, didn’t see much, so she couldn’t tell them any more than the clerk did. Smart girl. She saw the news report too and wondered how I had escaped from the press, so I told her.
“Kevin, did you forget your superhero’s invisibility cloak? You should have used it, you know.”
I slapped my forehead. “Oh! You’re right! What was I thinking? See, I need to keep you around to remind me of stuff like that.”
She giggled (oh, boy, that wonderful sound...). “You dummy...”
Soon Denise and I arrived at school and even found a great parking spot.
I slunk with her into the building and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible—I didn’t want to see either Fletcher or (ugh) Abover today, especially not first thing. Nor was I interested in speaking to any hero-worshiping students. I dropped off my disability letter at the office and then we continued on to our home room unremarked.
Home room at last. Routine announcements were made. At the end, “Will Denise Roberts and Kevin Coris please report to the main office, please. Miss Roberts and Mr Coris. Thank you.”
NO! Effin’ NO! What now? We got to the office; Denise was badly shaken. I tried to cheer her up but she was thinking the worst. We went into Fletcher’s office.
“Denise and Kevin, we need to talk to you two for a bit but first I have some private news; please don’t let anyone know about this. I think I can trust you, but if you let this information slip, it could adversely affect any hope of a Program exemption for you. Ok? Yes, I know you’re agreeing to something before you know what it is, but I assure you it’s for your benefit. Ok? Good. Now, I did find a copy of precisely the kind of ‘alternate Program rules’ that you, Kevin, told me about.” Denise gasped. “I also confronted two of the teachers on your list and they confirmed that Mr Abover had assured them that the Program office approved those class procedures. I don’t know what’s going on, but this is making me very uncomfortable.
“I contacted the district Program office and asked to have Mr Abover replaced for lying, unprofessional conduct, and misrepresenting the Program rules. I was told that all assignments are national and they would relay the request. Last evening I heard the request was denied, that the information I supplied was insufficient to warrant a replacement. This is all so highly irregular I’m not sure how to proceed, but I want you to know not to be concerned about what you will hear in a few minutes when we go next door. So I need your promise that you won’t tell anyone about the Abover matter?”
We agreed, but Denise was trembling. Fletcher led us to the conference room. In it was a scowling Abover, who still sported a puffy face and now a cast right arm in a sling. The school’s attorney, Raymond Overland, and Mr Merotta from the district Program office completed the group.
After we were seated, Fletcher introduced them to Denise and then nodded to Merotta to continue. I reached into my pocket and activated the digital voice recorder.
“Students, I see that you’ve both requested Program exemptions based on a disability. Our policy is that student health is demonstrated by the ability to attend classes. If you are healthy enough to attend class, then you are healthy enough to participate in the Program.”
Denise gasped and turned white. I squeezed her hand and whispered, “Shhh. Sit tight.”
The attorney broke in, “Mr Merotta, this will place us in violation of the ADA and make us subject to both federal sanctions as well as civil liability. I can’t allow the district to expose itself to that level of sanction.”
“Just exactly how would this be an ADA violation?”
Mr Overland gave him a detailed analysis of how enforcement of Program policies for a disabled student would violate the ADA. He certainly had done his homework; it was an excellent analysis. Merotta didn’t seem convinced, so Overland told him the school, rather than be subject to certain and extremely expensive civil litigation, would observe the ADA before the Program guidelines. After all, he pointed out, the rules of the Program were derived from its enabling act and not embedded in the law itself while the ADA provisions were actually part of the law. Thus, in a conflict between a law and conflicting regulations, the law always had priority. This guy is good, I thought.
“You realize that failing to follow the national Program policy will result in the revoking of your federal aid?” Merotta asked mildly.
“This is a risk we’d willingly take,” Overland said. “Any change in our funding couldn’t happen in the next two years and that’s plenty of time for policy changes to happen.”
A thought occurred to me but I’d need Denise’s backing and I wasn’t sure how she’d handle this.
“A moment,” I interjected. “Since we’re the subjects of this discussion, I have an idea of a possible compromise that could obviate any unpleasantness and avoid litigation. But I need to discuss it with Denise privately, first.”
She looked at me doubtfully. I wondered if I could get her on board.
Dr Fletcher quirked his lips. He knew I was going to try to pull a fast one. “We should listen to the young man; he’s given pretty astute advice before.”
Abover grunted, “No, don’t listen to the kid. He’s a stuck-up troublemaker.”
“That’s enough, Mr Abover. You’re here to listen, remember?” Mr Merotta chided. “That seems ok; will this be quick?”
“I hope so, sir. If it isn’t, we’ll just be back at our impasse, so let’s just try, ok?”
They agreed and Fletcher led me back to a little prep room behind the main office.
“You’ll be private here; I’ll close the door.”
“Kevin, what kind of compromise? You know I can’t do anything like this at all!”
“This is a stretch but I first thought of it when we were in Bob’s office. I told you after that meeting that I had felt your qi, remember?” She nodded, wondering where this could possibly be going. “I also saw how you handled Bob’s questioning about your molestation and believe me, those questions bothered me a lot but you handled them without breaking down. Denise, you may not know it, but you have come a long way—psychologically, but not physically—from that terrible incident. You really are healing. And your internal strength is immense, you just radiate it and I’m attracted like a moth to your flame.”
She was blushing now and staring into my eyes. “I can’t believe you’re saying that about me, Kevin. I don’t feel any different...”
“I think that’s because you’ve lost contact with your essential self. Sometimes when people go into shock, they kind of do something, uh, let’s see, I think it’s called ‘disassociation’ or something like that. They step away from their essence and become almost like a second personality that observes events in a disinterested manner. I’m putting it really poorly, but I think that’s approximately what happens.”
“Kevin, that’s amazing. That’s almost what my shrink told me had happened. And I think I’ve been more remote and detached since the incident, too. He said that somehow I needed to get back in touch with my feelings, to feel me. But we haven’t found a way to get me to do that.”
“Yet. Denise, I’m no way a psych person, but I told you I studied a little Eastern philosophy and learned meditation exercises. Sometimes to have a breakthrough, you need to face an uncomfortable challenge. Remember that therapy method Bob wrote down for you? Well, I looked it up. It involves having really, really uncomfortable challenges. And this brings me to my idea.
“Denise, I think that we can offer to go halfway on the Program with them for the week. My idea is to use the necessary safety equipment to protect our private areas from injury. As Bob said, the definitions and the list of protective items and who can choose to use them is so open to interpretation that they can’t reasonably refuse without looking like obstructionists. And the fallback is the ADA. It seems that we’ve got the school on our side. We’d get an immense amount of cred from Fletcher and the school board that they would do anything for us to avoid a lawsuit. You know my mantra—always negotiate from a position of strength? The strength here is having our whole school in our camp and pits the school against the Program. So we can make the guidelines work for us, following them to the letter according to our interpretation, not the Program officials’.”
“So what’s your idea? What do we do?”
I explained my crazy idea. At first she was very dubious, but then saw the humor in the situation.
“Oh my god, Kevin. You’re evil. And you’re sure you can protect me?”
“Denise, you saw what I can do. And if I’m not at your side we’ll make sure that two or more Guardians will be. And if it looks like it’s not working, I’ll pull the plug immediately and we’ll be back to the ADA.”
“Well, I reluctantly agree—god, I don’t believe I’m saying that! I’m trusting you with my life, Kevin, you know that.”
“Yes, I do. And I’m absolutely serious about this. Let’s go and break the news.”
We returned to the conference room and everyone looked at us expectantly. We sat down and I pulled out the updated Program booklet.
“Here’s my thought. We need to refer to the booklet so does everyone have a copy?” Some didn’t, so Fletcher fetched a few extra. “Ok. Let’s look at each provision and do a fact check.”
I began going through the booklet and, taking my cue from Don’s legal instructions, confirmed that the Program officials agreed that every word and every sentence in the Program booklet meant precisely what it said.
“Exactly why are we doing this?” Merotta asked when we got about a third of the way through it.
“I just want to be sure that the official Program reps are on the same page with us and agree that the words mean what they say. Sometimes people read something and come up with meanings that differ from what the words say.”
I saw Fletcher try to hide a grin at that comment and Abover’s scowl deepened.
I continued, “Ok, if you agree, then we can stop—oh, well, since we didn’t finish the whole thing, if you’ll just sign a statement that stipulates that the Program officials accept that the rules in the booklet will be applied precisely according to their plain meaning, that’ll work.”
Now Overland was trying to hide a grin. I think he saw where this was going.
“Well, this is really irregular, but I guess there’s no harm; it does mean what it says, after all. Give me the sheet; I’ll sign,” said Merotta.
He did.
I looked at Denise. “Can you try to write down what I say next? Thanks.”
Then to the others, “What Denise and I are willing to do is to permit ourselves to be drafted into the Program for our week and we agree to follow every rule element listed as well as take advantage of all the participant protections the rules state that participants are entitled to. Nothing more and nothing less. We will use this booklet as our bible. If it’s written in there, that’s how we’ll follow it. However, if someone requires us to violate any of the rules or conversely, ignore any provision, we are entitled by the statement Mr Merotta signed to decline that request. If any attempt is made to force either of us to do something that is NOT in the rules, then this agreement ends and we will immediately invoke the ADA and commence the various legal actions we’ve already communicated.
“Denise, did you get it?”
“I think. Here.” She handed me the sheet. I made a few corrections, but the way she paraphrased a few parts didn’t change the overall meaning.
I looked at the group. “Is what I said acceptable? The two of us are making an enormous effort, in spite of our legally recognized disabilities, to participate in an activity that will cause us tremendous stress and discomfort, pain even, and you can read in our doctors’ letters the details about the nature of our individual disabilities. We’re doing this to demonstrate that we’re not being obstinate and intractable and trying to avoid doing something that we find disagreeable; we just don’t want to see the school become involved with the national Program in an unpleasant dispute. We know that the school seems to support and agree with our ADA disabilities. We want to show the school that we appreciate that support and will be willing to do our best, within our individual capabilities, to participate. Is this an acceptable offer?”
Fletcher and Overland shot me an incredulous but grateful look. I really had them in my camp now. Now we’ll see if the Program people will accept the offer. For us it’s a win-win regardless of whether Merotta agrees or not.
He agreed, somewhat reluctantly, wondering aloud why he had to agree to allow us to do something we could be forced to do anyway. Ok, bait taken, time to set the hook.
“Ok, thanks, Mr Merotta. This will be tough on the two of us but we’re willing to try, and trust that the Program people as well as the school will support us, right?”
Nods around the table. Except Abover.
“Then no one will object to signing the sheet that Denise wrote, ok?”
Head shaking around the table. Except Abover. Merotta glared at him and he grunted, “Ok.”
The sheet was passed around and got all of our autographs. As Overland signed the sheet, it seemed as if he was having a hard time not laughing. Fletcher thanked everyone for their time and ended the meeting; I had copies made of the signed sheets—but kept the originals, obviously. Can’t be too careful. I turned off the recorder, very glad that I had bought it.
On the way out, Overland pulled me aside.
“Son, you play chess?”
“No sir, why?”
“Well, you just pulled off a ‘fool’s mate’; go look it up,” he chuckled. “Like your style. Set ‘em up and then go in for the kill.”
I was right. He had an idea about what I had in mind. Well, Denise and I were committed now. We were gonna be on the Program.
Fletcher spoke to us briefly before we could go back to class.
“Both of you. I can’t express my gratitude strongly enough to you for your willingness to try to participate. I want you to know that I’ll be here for you if you run into any problems, so keep that in mind, ok? Oh, Kevin. All this other stuff pushed it right out of my mind. I saw the news last night—what you did. I’m impressed despite myself because I’ve seen you in action, but taking on two men? armed? All I can say, my boy, is please be careful; don’t get hurt, now. Ok? Back to class, guys! See you at assembly.”
Heading to our second-period class, late slips in hand because we were once again late, Denise reminded me that Fridays were short schedule days in order to accommodate the assembly period. When we handed the teacher our passes, we were again treated to some dumb humor about the number of passes we were collecting. Yawn.
The rest of the morning was uneventful except that I had to fend off kids who had heard the news (it seemed every single person in the entire school had watched) and wanted to know all the gory details. I demurred, giving the plausible (but unlikely) reason that I might be called to testify against them so I couldn’t say anything. Eventually the word went around that I wasn’t talking and I stopped being bothered.
At lunch, the group filled us in on their progress. The website would be up sometime during the weekend and the publicity committee had videos ready, stills and clips from official NiS sites but with voiceovers that touted the special features of our site. They were also getting social media postings set for the rollout. The blogging committee had written the main page, the objectives of the site, and posting and connection procedures for anonymous connections. The writing committee had done a number of “first person” articles. So when we went live, it would be with a bang.
Sarah waved her hand at the table. “I’m really apprehensive, you know. The next time we sit here we’ll be naked, you know.”
The others nodded gloomily. Then Andrew spoke up.
“Hey, you know, the kids who’re doing the guardian corps were asked to go to Fletcher’s office after school. They’re getting their caps and stuff and an orientation. Why not let’s go too? We can see what kind of instructions they get.”
We all thought that was a great idea, but Denise couldn’t go, her first meeting with her new therapist was that afternoon.
~~~~
On Fridays our health class topic was psychology and the teacher was Miss Herndon. She would be covering basic psychology including its principles, examples of abnormalities, and modern research techniques. She gave us a reading assignment about methods of research into measurement of bodily functions that were governed by the mind, for example, research in the effectiveness of using biofeedback in physical therapy.
The remaining afternoon classes passed quickly and then it was time for assembly. This was the first time I would get to see all of the students in the same place at once and I wondered what it would be like; the largest school I had ever been in had about 75 students. I tried to extrapolate from my lunch period but that wouldn’t work since the lunchroom clearly never held more than maybe a hundred and I think the school has about 400. Students eat in various places, like the Commons, activity and meeting rooms, on the playing fields, many different places.
The auditorium looked huge to me since I wasn’t used to such large spaces. Kids were flowing into it in a never-ending stream. Wow. Lots of kids all in one place. Everyone got settled down when the bell rang and Fletcher came out of the wings with a few teachers. I recognized Abover; Mrs Raymond, the counselor; Mr Wilbur, my Biology teacher; and Miss Stevens, my Health teacher. There also were a few additional men and women and I supposed that they’d be introduced eventually.
Dr Fletcher began. “Welcome, students. We’ve only got one topic on this assembly’s agenda today; when the sports season gets going we’ll be using part of the assembly time for pep rallies plus the normal information and answer session. Today I want to talk about the slightly revamped Program rules.”
There was a hissing sound that moved across the student body.
“Please stop that. We’re quite familiar with the fact that the Program is highly unpopular here and we’re making a strong effort to change perceptions. We’ll need to earn your trust; all the staff knows that.
“Now you’ve all received a revised copy of the Program booklet; these are a little bigger than the old ones and are on light blue paper. If you don’t have one with you, raise your hand and we’ll pass one to you.” There was a shuffling of papers as copies were passed while Fletcher continued, “Now you’ll note that the section on Reasonable Requests has been expanded. These are the revised rules.”
He began with the Reasonable Request rules, pointing out the no-touch and partial touch days; requesting touch permission; face-to-face encounters only; that touching was limited to a maximum of ten seconds extendible by the Program person only; and that if any touch resulted in pain, that touching session terminated at once. The use of the whistles was covered. The role of the Guardians was explained. Guardians would protect Programers and arbitrate whether a Reasonable Request was reasonable. He mentioned that there would be a new bell schedule; there would be an additional bell three minutes into the class change time and the warning bell would still be at four minutes. At the three-minute bell, all Request activity should begin to wind down. Students would lose the right—become banned—from making Reasonable Requests if they hurt a participant or touched without permission, and if a banned student touched a participant, he or she could be suspended from school for up to five days.
“Remember, the Program objective is to have the participant become comfortable with their own body and sexuality, not for everyone else to get their rocks off at the participant’s expense.” Laughter. “Every participant will be assigned one or two Guardians; at first we’re a little shorthanded but soon we should have enough people to do this. Generally we’ll try to assign a boy and a girl to each participant so that the interests of both genders are represented for resolving disputes. As the year passes, if we see that students are truly respectful of each other and there are no incidents, we may try to go to a single-guardian model.
“The next part is about class participation. Teachers are under the same rules as students; they need the participant’s permission to touch them. No coercive means to obtain permission may be used and any demonstration use of the student in the class must be directly related to the class. So if a boy participant is in a history class, for example, it’s inappropriate to have him demonstrate an erection.” More laughter. “Teachers may draft a non-Program student into the Program for that period but never for punishment. The rules state the limits to which a Program participant will be expected to cooperate with the teacher’s participation needs. If a participant feels that the teacher has exceeded the bounds, if there are one or more Guardians in the room, they can consider the request and recommend a resolution. If there is no resolution or if there are no Guardians, then the vice principal, assistant principal, or a counselor may be consulted but that demonstration will be halted or postponed until resolution is obtained. This was a problem area last term and we won’t tolerate any violations of this procedure.
“Next is the topic of Relief. Program participants may relieve themselves or select another student to help. No one, including the teacher, will be permitted to interfere with that choice. Finally is the topic of punishments. Only a direct Program violation can potentially result in a Program punishment. This means if you’re late for class, for example, you can’t be punished by being forced to spend the day naked. On the other hand, if you cover your body in an inappropriate way and do not correct that violation, you may be required to spend an additional day naked. All Program punishments will require the approval of the vice principal, assistant principal, or myself and will not commence until that permission is obtained. How are these rules clarifications sounding to you?”
There was a big round of applause and cheering. High school students like to cheer anything very loudly, actually, when given the chance.
“I’m glad you think so. There are many more provisions in the Program booklet and they mean precisely what they say. Nobody will be permitted to interpret any provision in the booklet that violates the plain sense of the language, and any provision that appears under one heading in the booklet may also be applicable under another heading, so a challenge to the reading of a provision will not be sustained solely based on where the provision is located in the booklet. All of the other provisions that I haven’t mentioned, such as volunteers and outreach, obviously remain part of the Program. In this assembly we wanted to familiarize you with the actual operation of the Program and clarify how the language in the booklet is to be understood. On Monday the Program will commence in this school. I expect, no I demand, that each and every person in this room, students, teachers, and staff, will treat each other with respect and courtesy as befits a mature person. Behavior that is less than courteous will be dealt with summarily.
“There are only two more matters to mention that are Program related and then we can take questions. First, let me introduce the staff and teachers here with me and they’ll briefly tell you about their Program roles.”
Fletcher went on to introduce the other principals, who dealt with matters of curricula, discipline, and student services; the counselors, who advised students on academic and college prep matters plus Program responsibilities; the biology and health teachers, who used Program students for demonstrations of the human body and sexual function; and then Abover, who was only described as the school’s assigned Program official. No duties were mentioned. Wow, looks like Fletcher’s removed all of his responsibilities; no wonder he looks like he wants to murder someone.
“Now the final item I want to cover is somewhat controversial when combined with the Program rules but the school board has given me the go-ahead to put it in place on a trial basis. From among the ranks of the Program participants who have successfully completed their Program, we are establishing an advisory group. The students who will be invited to serve will be those who have demonstrated a commitment to the objectives of the Program and the necessary concern and empathy for students selected to participate in their Program week. They will unofficially hear any student complaints—they will not have an appeal function, however—they will evaluate student questions and complaints and any related details and facts, and make their recommendation to me. They may also initiate an investigation of a problem on their own, and I may consult the group for advice, but nothing they decide or advise can be binding under federal rules. That’s about it for the student advisory panel.
“Are there any questions?” There was a huge round of applause.
There weren’t many questions. Most had to do with details rather than policies; apparently Fletcher’s comments had been so detailed that most of the kids were satisfied with what they had heard.
Fletcher wrapped up the assembly with a final comment. “Students, next week the Program will start; there will be no additional postponements. We actually need to get back on schedule because we have to make sure that every student is selected to participate while you’re here so you can benefit from the experience.” Groans. “But I’ll send you off with this final thought. Listen to this and let it sink in because you’ll need to get used to the idea. As of next week, every single one of you will be on the Program until you graduate! It’s just that only a few of you will be naked each week, but you’ll all be participants in the Program. So reread your Program booklets keeping that thought in mind and remember, your treatment of your peers and your relationship with them will determine how they treat you when your own time to be naked comes up. Remember the Golden Rule. Enjoy your weekend, everyone.”
The auditorium began to empty. I headed back to my locker and checked my mobile while walking; there was a message from the doctor’s office. It was to confirm an appointment at the hospital on Monday afternoon. I rang back and made the arrangements. Then I headed for the office. Mrs Maples told me that the Guardians’ meeting was in a classroom in C wing, so I headed there and joined the group.
It seemed that most of the kids who were on the Program in spring term were there plus a number whom I didn’t recognize. I assumed that some were in the student council and some were on sports teams; Sarah whispered to me that she recognized many but not all. Then Fletcher came in and (shudder) Abover followed. Fletcher went to the front and Abover to the back of the room.
“Thank you all for coming...” Then he noticed us, the Programers-in-waiting. “Ah, I see we also have guests. Kevin, you didn’t tell me that your group would be coming.”
“Sir, I didn’t know we would be. I only found out a few periods ago and thought it would be helpful to come.”
Andrew spoke up. “Dr Fletcher, it was my idea that we should come. This way maybe we could pair up today since this is all so new and you’d be able to see the best way to work this for all the next weeks.”
“Andrew, excellent suggestion...”
Just then Abover interrupted. “Dr Fletcher, I object. They shouldn’t be here.”
There was a grumble from the group. Many of them had been exposed to Abover’s excesses last term.
“Mr Abover, I will note your objection but overrule it. The Guardians are a school function, not a Program function.”
“Fletcher, you can’t make up new rules as you go along, you know...”
“Mr Abover, I’m in charge of this school. I will run it as I see fit. I’ll appreciate your silence. If you think you’ll have difficulty with listening to us, then I suggest you leave now.”
Snickers echoed throughout the room.
Fletcher had made up a page that listed Guardian duties and the limits of their authority. He had berets to hand out and gave out whistles.
“Here’s how we’ll work the whistles. The students on the Program will have them too. Their signal will be a long blast. The Guardian signal will be three short blasts; and means ‘Guardian needs assistance.’ Also, please don’t leave your partner alone ever, while in the halls. You’re there to support him or her during Reasonable Requests, so please meet him or her at their classroom and travel with them to the next class. There will be no Reasonable Requests allowed inside a classroom. This results in a timing problem so that’s why we’ve got the new bell schedule. Program students must remain in the halls between classes, but at the three-minute bell they can enter their next classroom. This should give you time to go to your next class, but if you’re delayed, your beret serves as your late pass and hall pass. Now, let’s review your duties.”
The kids who were on the Program last term had an excellent understanding of the problems to watch for, so they explained to the others what they had experienced as examples of what to watch for. One girl had experienced someone grabbing her and holding her while another pushed his finger into her vagina and a boy told of having a pen shoved into his anus. The kids in my group had turned pale at some of the graphic descriptions but Fletcher pointed out that the abuse they mentioned should be a thing of the past.
After the group broke up, Fletcher came over to me. “Kevin, so you know, there’s a news crew hanging out outside. They came in earlier asking to see you but I turned them away. They may have left since it’s long after school now, but if you don’t want to talk to them, first see if they’re still there.”
As we left the room, some of the kids from our website planning group told me that they wanted to get together on Saturday to flesh out some “first person” stories they had collected so I offered to meet at my house. We all agreed to meet at 11 am. I shot an email to Denise, telling her of the meeting if she wanted to come, telling her it would be about people’s experiences and that might be too disturbing.
Then I went to my locker, got my stuff, and went to look outside. Yep, news truck outside. Ok, flanking move. I hustled to the athletic wing and went out the door to the playing fields, then jogged along the fence away from the school and circled back around to the parking lot. No one noticed me as I got into my car and drove away. I was hoping that they’d give up, you know, old news? They hadn’t; there was a van on my street, so I again parked on the street behind my house and went in the back door. Aunt Helene greeted me and told me she hoped my day was less exciting than yesterday. I allowed that it was.
She went on, “After school hours ended another news person came to the door asking for you. I just acted like I couldn’t hear her, like I was partially deaf, you know?” I laughed. She’s really part of my family; we all seem to think alike. “Yeah, I can do a deaf imitation really good. ‘Huh? What’s that? You need to speak louder. What’s that name?’” she mimicked in a quavering voice.
I laughed. Then I went to my room and brought up our new website on my computer. It was starting to look good but needed lots more content. I noticed the menu item for the “First Person” section so I clicked it. This brought up instructions and a form. The instructions said for privacy and anonymity purposes, there was no need to set up an account to post a submission, but all submissions wold be moderated.
The form was certainly interesting! Judging by its content, the experiences that the kids here had last term must have been traumatic if all this stuff happened to them. These were the items to be completed: State of residence. Size of high school (students). Number of years Program run there. Your class (freshman-senior). Number of Program participants per class per week. Partner system used (y/n). Sexual activities permitted (check corresponding boxes). Sexual activities required (check boxes). Daily limitations (e.g., no-touch days). Safety measures allowed (e.g., protective equipment, hall monitors). Narrative.
Under sexual activities, the check-box choices were: manipulation of breasts, manipulation of external genitalia, insertion of fingers in vagina and/or anus (female: for non-virgin and virgin), insertion of foreign objects, cunnilingus, fellatio, full intercourse. Any forced sexual contact, list kinds. The instructions mentioned that any of the items in the list could be expanded in the narrative.
I couldn’t think of anything they missed...
I had an email from Denise. Her therapy session was ok today, it was just an education session that explained what she’d be doing during the therapy. She had a second session tomorrow and she said in that one she’d learn breathing techniques to help manage stress. That’s good, breathing control is an important part of the meditation procedures I learned, so this would give her a head start on that. Next week, she wrote, she’d be beginning the actual therapy exercises.
I did my school work and then spent the rest of the evening planning how I would deal with the coming week, Program week. Then I sacked out.
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