The Case for Sex Ed in College

Think: everything you want to know minus being awkwardly at the climax of puberty

More and more college campuses are getting on the beautiful wave of sex positivity- thinking about and teaching about sex as a healthy, natural, and pleasurable part of life. (The free condoms everywhere may have clued you into this movement already.) Chances are, even if you’re from a liberal part of the country, this wasn’t the case in high school.  The majority of high schools still teach abstinence only, and here’s a fun fact, only THIRTEEN states require that information taught to students in sex ed be MEDICALLY ACCURATE. I’ll let that sink in.

via: olivermunday.com

Aside from that absolute buffoonery, the timing of most students’ sex education doesn’t exactly line up with when they need to be educated about sex.  I mean hey, maybe there are some frisky 6th graders out there who benefited from all of the overhead projected diagrams and Lifetime movies about getting pregnant at 14. But for the vast majority of us, going through this torturous class was more about counting down the minutes until your gym teacher would stop saying the word ‘penis,’ than jotting notes for future reference.  

Now that we’re at the most sexually active age in our lives, I’d say it’s a pretty good time to get the facts straight.

And possibly the most important argument to stress, education means de-stigmatization. Which just sounds like a bunch of word play, but it’s good stuff, I promise! When sex becomes something that people are educated about, feel free asking questions about, and can happily engage in, the taboo around this “dirty” act disappears. Sex ed doesn’t mean just naming the body parts and looking at graphic nightmares depicting every STI under the sun. It can be learning about different types of contraceptives available (often times for free at student health), learning about what consent is and isn’t (which far too many could stand to be educated on), or learning about the importance of pleasure in sex (don’t think I need an explanation for this one.)

Just think, most of the people sharing a campus with you, going to parties with you, and potentially going home with you, never even learned about practices of safe sex. And if you’re one of those people yourself, there is no better time to learn about all the juicy info that your catholic school teachers were holding back from you! If you think you’ve already got it all mastered, maybe you’re right, but just keep in mind, taking sex ed can only lead to healthier, safer, sexier sex.

Source: https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education