STDs in the classroom??

Earlier this week, I was talking with my class about the solar system, and we came up on the topic of asteroids and meteors. I explained to the kids that there is a theory that says that a huge meteor struck the Earth, and this is why all of the dinosaurs died.

As I should have expected, this immediately led to questions of, "Where are the dinosaurs now?" "Did King Kong live with the dinosaurs?" and, "Did you see Jurassic Park?"

Once we were on the topic of dinosaurs and lizards, one little boy saw fit to tell me about the time he picked up a lizard and put it in his cousin's sandwich. While all of the other kids in the class were making retching sounds, I try to explain that you should never touch a lizard, or any other wild animal for that matter, because of the diseases they carry. Without actually using the word salmonella, I told the kids that lizards carry a disease that can make your stomach hurt really bad.

A couple of the kids piped up with, "And you can get rabies!!" I agreed with them that rabies is a disease that some animals carry.

One of the boys in my class raised his hand and asked, "Do birds give you herpes?"

While the sarcastic side of me wanted to answer, "Yes, and those lousy unicorns will give you genital warts," I instead responded with, "Uhhhhhhhhhh, I don't think so."

How would YOU have answered?