Writing and Press Coverage
The Future of Sex Education in a Post-Roe America
Shafia Zaloom and Christopher Pepper, KQED Forum, 2022
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, many sexual health educators and advocates are calling to enhance reproductive education – for people of all ages. A discussion about the state of sex ed in a post-Roe America. LISTEN
Book Bans and Controversy in the Classroom? Sex Ed Teachers Have Been Here Before
Christopher Pepper, Greater Good, 2022
I’m a sex education teacher, and I am worried. I’ve been watching the wave of book bans and legislation restricting what teachers can say in class roll out across the country—and I’m worried that we’re starting to treat other subject areas the way we’ve treated sex ed. READ MORE
Weight Bias Hurts Kids, and We’re Not Talking About It
Paige Tutt, Edutopia, 2022
“Language evolution around body acceptance and around fat shaming is still in its early stages,” Christopher Pepper says. “Teachers need to get some practice about how to intervene when they hear fatphobic things in their classrooms, and how to do so in a way that’s truly supportive.” READ MORE
3 Things Schools Can Do to REALLY Improve Student Health
Christopher Pepper, SHAPE America, 2022
If you were to travel across the United States asking schools how they approach health education, you’d get a VERY wide range of responses. Luckily, some new remarkable research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is helping clarify what actually works, with clear examples schools can emulate and start implementing immediately. READ MORE
Can We Protect Our Kids From Abusive Relationships?
Joanna Schroeder, YourTango, 2021
Can we ever really protect our teens and grown kids from potential abusers — or from becoming abusers themselves? Here are 9 things I want my teens (and yours!) to know in order to avoid high-conflict & abusive relationships. READ MORE
Sex Ed Needs You
Christopher Pepper, Slow Chat Health, 2020
We need advocates who can speak up about how LGBTQIA-inclusive sex ed lessons make our schools better for everyone. We need educators who can help the public learn that realistic, skills-based sexuality education is one of the best tools we have for preventing sexual assault. READ MORE
SF was smart to add health education to middle school
Christopher Pepper, San Francisco Chronicle, 2019
I’ve always been surprised at the gaps in students’ basic knowledge about health. They often enter ninth grade with many questions about their bodies, their development and their feelings. That’s why I am thrilled that the San Francisco Unified School District has a new initiative to make sure all students get to take a health-education class in middle school. READ MORE
How High School Sex Ed Can Help Prevent Rape In College
Christopher Pepper, ETR, 2019
Comprehensive sexuality education helps young people make informed decisions, prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce their risks for sexually transmitted infections. But can it actually help prevent rape? A groundbreaking new study says it can. READ MORE
Health Education in Conversation
Christopher Pepper and Scott Todnem, Life Is the Future Podcast, 2019
In August 2019, I was thrilled to be a guest on National Health Teacher of the Year Scott Todnem’s “Life Is the Future" podcast. I talked about how I got into this work, my passions, and shared three recommendations for living a better life. Listen to our 37-minute conversation.
The History of Sexuality Education in California
Crosscurrents, KALW, 2019
According to a Harvard study, more than 40 percent of parents didn’t have “the sex talk” with their kids. But California — especially San Francisco — is leading the way in making sure kids get the sex education they need. Things weren’t always this way. LISTEN HERE
The Reckoning: Teaching About the #MeToo Moment and Sexual Harassment
Natalie Proulx, Christopher Pepper and Katherine Schulten, The New York Times, 2018
I worked with The New York Times to create this guide to help teachers for address the #MeToo movement in their classes and deepen students’ understanding of sexual harassment and sexual assault. READ MORE
The Teen Campaigning for Better Sex Ed
Christopher Pepper, Scholastic Choices, 2018
As a high school teacher, I’ve heard lots of students complain about what schools are teaching, but I’ve never seen a student do as much to change it as KC Miller. Dissatisfied with the sex education in his home state of Pennsylvania, Miller, a senior at Westtown School in West Chester, wrote legislation that aims to change it, and founded a non-profit organization to push it forward. READ MORE
How to Find Your Purpose in Life
Jeremy Adam Smith, Greater Good Science Center, 2018
Sometimes, another person’s pain can lead us to purpose. When Christopher Pepper was a senior in high school, a “trembling, tearful friend” told him that she had been raped by a classmate. “I comforted as well as I could, and left that conversation vowing that I would do something to keep this from happening to others,” says Christopher. He kept that promise by becoming a Peer Rape Educator in college—and then a sex educator in San Francisco public schools. READ MORE
Sex Education in Schools Needs an Upgrade
James Paterson, NEA Today, 2018
“In the wake of recent sexual harassment scandals, many schools and communities are examining how they talk about consent and healthy relationships. Health class is the perfect venue for those conversations, and now is the time to make sure sex ed is taught sensitively, thoughtfully, and comprehensively in every school in our country,” explains Pepper. “Teachers shouldn’t be shy about this.” READ MORE
Teaching About Human Trafficking in Health Class
Katie Morell, The Imprint, 2018
The first day of October 2015 was a good day for Chris Pepper. As content specialist for health programs at the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Pepper and his team had been working on a revised health education curriculum for the city’s high school students when news broke that California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 329. READ MORE
Want Better Sex Ed? Talk to These Teenagers
Christopher Pepper, 2018
You’ve probably heard about the amazing students from Stoneman Douglas High School, who’ve been raising their voices for gun control and saying #NeverAgain. Did you know there is a similar movement of teens and young adults pushing for better, more consent-based sex ed in schools? READ MORE
Setting Limits Takes Practice
Christopher Pepper, 2018
“JUST SAY NO!” That’s often the advice parents give teens about how to deal with peer pressure. It seems simple, but sometimes saying no isn’t so easy. Young people might be worried about being teased, feeling embarrassed, or losing their friends. Setting limits — and sticking to them — can actually be a major challenge for teens. Doing it well takes consideration, skill and practice. READ MORE
How Do We Teach About Consent in Schools Now?
Looking at Education, KALW, 2017
Wondering how we teach about consent, sexual health, and human trafficking in San Francisco schools? Asking how we handle this differently in our elementary, middle and high schools? Hear all about it in this 12-minute radio interview I did with my co-worker Erica Lingrell for KALW’s “Looking at Education” show. LISTEN NOW
Teaching “Yes Means Yes” in High School Health Classes
City Visions, KALW, 2017
SB 695 “requires public high schools to develop curriculum that covers “yes means yes,” the consequences of sexual violence and how to develop healthy peer relationships built on mutual respect.” As this bill was being rolled out, I was thrilled to be part of a panel on KALW’s City Visions. LISTEN NOW
Yes, You CAN Say That in Class
Christopher Pepper, 2017
When I first introduce myself to students, I make a pledge to them – I will never lie to them, I won’t exaggerate things to make them seem worse than they are, and if they ask about something I don’t know about, I will do my best to get them a real answer. READ MORE
Sex Ed Now Required in California Public Schools
Ana Tintocalis, KQED, 2016
San Francisco Unified has one of the most comprehensive sex education curriculums in the state, covering everything from sexual orientation to abusive relationships. Health educators in the district say seventh grade is the best time to start teaching students about sexual health. READ MORE
Here’s the Problem With California’s Expansive Sex Ed Law
Madison Pauly, Mother Jones, 2016
When the Healthy Youth Act passed last fall, California joined 23 other states in requiring that all schools teach teenagers about sex. But California’s law goes further, mandating that comprehensive lessons start in middle school and include information on abortion, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. READ MORE
California’s New Sex Education Requirements
Emily Bazar, California Healthline, 2016
California schools are revamping their lesson plans to comply with a new state law that requires them to teach a sex education program at least once in middle school and once in high school. READ MORE
California Schools Scrambling to Comply with New Sex Ed Laws
Lynn Graebner, California Health Report, 2016
Many middle and high schools across the state, plagued with cases of sexual harassment, assault and even sex trafficking on campus, are embracing two new laws making sex education mandatory for the first time in California. READ MORE
The Key to Curbing Campus Sexual Assault Lies in High School Health Class
Marie Solis, Mic.com, 2016
Despite colleges’ best efforts to prevent campus sexual assault by trotting out crash courses on consent during freshman orientation, by then the lack of comprehensive sex education has already done its damage. “If you want to prevent sexual assault you have to get in front of it and that starts with talking about it in high school.” READ MORE
‘Yes means yes’: Teaching teens affirmative consent
Geraldine Ah-Sue, KALW, 2016
Christopher Pepper was a primary editor for SFUSD’s sexual health curriculum called “Be Real, Be Ready.” As a health educator, he says that starting these conversations about consent early—in the ninth grade in San Francisco schools—is important so that when the time comes, young people will be ready. READ MORE
Serving Up Food Justice at School
Michelle Israel, Learning for Justice, 2013
“Teaching about food justice helps make nutrition classes more engaging,” says Christopher Pepper. “Learning the story of where our food comes from is really interesting, and it involves some real critical thinking about how our world works.” READ MORE
Students Deserve Real Sex Ed
Christopher Pepper, Edutopia, 2012
Health education includes a lot of topics — nutrition, fitness, substance use, mental health, violence prevention and communication skills, to name a few — but the one that always gets the most attention is sex ed. And lately it’s not just getting attention in class. READ MORE
Help Students De-Stress for Success
Christopher Pepper, Edutopia, 2012
Drug addiction, pregnancy prevention, and eating disorders are all part of the curriculum in the high school health education class I teach. As attention-getting as those topics may be, I like to start the semester by focusing on a health issue that affects almost all teens in high school today: stress. READ MORE
Teen Depression and Suicide
Christopher Pepper, 2012
I spend the first four weeks of health education class teaching about mental and emotional health. We cover a lot of topics, but they’re all geared around helping the students get to know one another, clarify their own values and look out for one another. One of the big things we address in this unit is teen suicide. READ MORE
Teachers Need Coaches Too
Christopher Pepper, 2012
Several times a year, I get asked to introduce new lessons or to talk about class planning with the health teachers in my school district. Meeting with them is always a blast. In fact, it’s one of my favorite things to do as an educator. READ MORE
Who’s Your Teacher?
Christopher Pepper, 2012
Several times a year, I get asked to introduce new lessons or to talk about class planning with the health teachers in my school district. Meeting with them is always a blast. In fact, it’s one of my favorite things to do as an educator. READ MORE
The First Day
Christopher Pepper, 2012
The bell rings promptly at 8:05, and I watch the first round of students stream in, some looking confused, some looking tired, a few trying to look tough. All students are required to take my Health Education class during 9th grade. It’s a one-semester class, so I will teach half of the freshmen this semester and half during the second semester, which starts in January. READ MORE
So This is The Job
Christopher Pepper, 2012
When I tell people I teach 9th grade Health Education in an urban high school, I get a lot of sympathetic looks. People tell me they could never do it, that they would get too embarrassed or too scared, or they just wouldn’t know what to say when kids start asking them about drugs or sex. When I hear this, I usually just smile and tell them how lucky I feel that that’s my job. READ MORE