STD's and You

STD's & You: Learning From The Animals At The Zoo... A Public Health Curriculum With Field Trips

Dad had unprotected butt sex with a strange man. His visit to the doctor wasn't great. These are the opening facts of a book that has committed to an educational mission with more candor than most educational materials are prepared to match. The animals at the zoo have their own situations. The giraffe has information relevant to one area. The monkey has information relevant to another. This is a zoo visit structured as an STD awareness curriculum, and the curriculum is complete and honest in a way that the school system's version usually isn't by the time the lawyers have been consulted.

This adult parody book is sex education via zoo animals, with Dad's situation as the case study that opens the class. It is funny because it is honest. It is honest because the illustrated children's book format somehow creates more room for directness than the adult health pamphlet format, which spends so much energy being appropriate that it forgets to be informative. This book is informative. Dad is the cautionary tale. The animals confirm the science. Class is in session.

This Book IS For:

• Adults who received a sex education that left significant gaps and have since filled those gaps through experience they would have preferred to avoid
• Public health enthusiasts who believe information is the most effective prevention and want that information delivered via cartoon zoo animals
• Fans of dark comedy that is simultaneously genuinely educational and genuinely funny
• Gift-givers who want to hand someone a zoo book that is about the zoo and also about something the zoo is being used to discuss

This Book Is NOT For:

• Sex educators who feel their curriculum is being appropriated for purposes that undermine the clinical seriousness of the subject
• Zoo animals, who did not consent to being used as educational models for human health decisions
• Dads who recognize the case study and are not ready to laugh about it in illustrated form
• Anyone planning to use this as the sole sex education resource for an actual child without professional guidance

Appropriate For:

• Gag gifts for healthcare professionals who have seen the real-world version of this curriculum play out in their practice
• White elephant exchanges where the educational angle gives the gift plausible deniability as a health resource
• Anyone who grew up with a sex education that was so incomplete they ended up learning from less structured sources
• Gifts for the friend who has a specific story involving a healthcare professional that they've been telling for years

Why Buy This

The public health system spends billions of dollars on STI prevention education and the statistics suggest the spending has room for improvement. This book approaches the same curriculum from a different angle: Dad's experience, the zoo's supporting evidence, and illustrated cartoon art that makes the information memorable in a way that a pamphlet in a clinic waiting room has never managed. The information is real. The approach is not conventional. The conventional approach's track record is available for review.

Dad went to the doctor. The doctor had information. The zoo has been providing supporting educational content for years without anyone producing a book about it until now. This book is the book. The animals are ready. Dad's situation is documented. The curriculum is complete. For roughly the cost of the co-pay that preceded the conversation that generated this content, you get the illustrated version. Learn from Dad. The zoo concurs.