--- title: Dr. Ruth and How Others Learned About Sex description: Dr. Ruth and others share their stories canonical: https://time.com/3580786/sex-ed-dr-ruth/ author: Adam Perez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-12T14:24:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:16.587Z og:title: Dr. Ruth and How Others Learned About Sex og:description: Dr. Ruth and others share their stories og:url: https://time.com/3580786/sex-ed-dr-ruth/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c460834853a4196/69876857cd68485390097f2d/sex-education.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: sex education og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dr. Ruth and How Others Learned About Sex twitter:description: Dr. Ruth and others share their stories twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c460834853a4196/69876857cd68485390097f2d/sex-education.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch How These People Learned About Sex by [Adam Perez](https://time.com/author/adam-perez/) and [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) Nov 12, 2014 2:24 PM UTC  by [Adam Perez](https://time.com/author/adam-perez/) and [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) Nov 12, 2014 2:24 PM UTC In spring 2014, parents in the normally progressive Bay Area city of Fremont started a campaign to get a book removed from the 9th grade curriculum, arguing it was inappropriate for their 13 and 14-year olds. They hired a local lawyer and put together a petition with more than 2500 signatures. [Read TIME’s Special Report on Why Schools Can’t Teach Sex Ed](http://time.com/why-schools-cant-teach-sex-ed/) Their target was _Your Health Today,_ a sex-ed book published by McGraw Hill. It offers the traditional advice and awkward diagrams plus some considerably more modern elements: how to ask partners if they’ve been tested for STDs, a debate on legalizing prostitution. And then there was this: “\[One\] kind of sex game is bondage and discipline, in which restriction of movement (e.g. using handcuffs or ropes) or sensory deprivation (using blindfolds or masks) is employed for sexual enjoyment. Most sex games are safe and harmless, but partners need to openly discuss and agree beforehand on what they are comfortable doing.” “I was just astounded,” says Fremont mom Teri Topham. “My daughter is 13\. She needs to know how boys feel. I frankly don’t want her debating with other 13-year-olds how well the adult film industry is practicing safe sex.” Another parent, Asfia Ahmed, who has eight and ninth grade boys, adds: “It assumes the audience is already drinking alcohol, already doing drugs, already have multiple sexual partners…Even if they are experimenting at this age, it says atypical sexual behaviors are normal. ” But school board members contend that 9th grade students have already been exposed to the contents of the book—and much, much more. They argue that even relatively modern sex ed has even not begun to reckon with what kids are now exposed to in person and online. [Read TIME’s special report on sex ed in the age of porn with resources for parents and teens.](http://time.com/why-schools-cant-teach-sex-ed/) Dr. Ruth and How Others Learned About Sex ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3580786/sex-ed-dr-ruth/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3580786/sex-ed-dr-ruth/"},"headline":"Watch How These People Learned About Sex","datePublished":"2014-11-12T14:24:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:16.587Z","description":"Dr. Ruth and others share their stories","url":"https://time.com/3580786/sex-ed-dr-ruth/","keywords":["Living","America","us","Sex/Relationships"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c460834853a4196/69876857cd68485390097f2d/sex-education.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adam Perez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/adam-perez/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c460834853a4196/69876857cd68485390097f2d/sex-education.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sex education","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3580786/sex-ed-dr-ruth/","name":"Watch How These People Learned About Sex"}}]}] ```