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How to Teach Students About Testicular Cancer

According to the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation, testicular cancer is the leading cancer in men aged 15 to 35, and it has a higher death rate in this age group than breast cancer. If detected early enough, it is a very treatable type of cancer. Educating students about testicular cancer is important because it facilitates early detection. There are easy educational methods to help you get important points across, and they might help you save a life.

  1. Overcoming Barriers

    • Some people may feel awkward teaching minors about testicular cancer. In fact, some doctors even admit to discomfort when teaching their young male patients about testicular self-exams. According to the official journal of American Pediatrics, "Pediatrics," testicular self-examination, or TSE, is not emphasized in residency training. The journal recommends increased physician training to help overcome barriers to TSE instruction. These barriers arise from lack of education, skill or comfort level when teaching young patients how to perform self-exams. If some medical professionals face these teaching barriers, then surely non-medical individuals, such as teachers, may face them as well. To combat this problem, make sure you understand the facts and approach testicular cancer education without reservation.

    Teaching the Self-Exam

    • When teaching students how to perform self-exams on their testicles, you will want to give practical instruction and provide an object to simulate testicles, like filled water balloons the size of ping pong balls. The American Cancer Society instructs men to hold their penises out of the way and check one testicle at a time. Tell students to perform the self-exam when they are home and have privacy. Instruct them to hold the testicle between the fingers and thumbs of both hands and roll it gently. Tell them to be on the lookout for any hard lumps, changes in size or smooth, rounded bumps. Hand out water balloons and have your students demonstrate your instructions on the object.

    Visual Aids

    • In some cases students learn better with visual aids. Since testicular cancer has visual symptoms like lumps, showing images will be beneficial to their education. A medical library is a good place to find books that show cancerous lumps on the testicles. There are even photos and drawings in Google Images that may suffice. Also, depending on the maturity level of your students and the school’s policies, you might be able to show a video demonstrating a testicle self-exam. There are videos on YouTube that are broadcast for health purposes that tastefully demonstrate a testicles self-examination.

    Guest Speaker

    • Bring a guest speaker into your classroom who detected testicular cancer at an early stage and was successfully treated. Some students might feel weird touching themselves, so listening to another person talk about his experiences might make this type of student feel more relaxed about the process. A guest speaker might also help stress the urgency of self-examination and encourage students to take the subject as a serious preventative healthcare routine. There are a number of organizations, like Premier Speakers Bureau, that have guest speakers on hand for almost all scenarios. Some organizations might be able to find local speakers to serve your educational needs.

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