Dear High School Teachers,
Sex as a topic can be uncomfortable for many, which is understandable because everyone is raised differently, have different experiences and so forth. Nonetheless, it is ridiculous that many young adults have to result to hearsay, trial and error, looking it up themselves, etc. in order to attain substantive sexual education.
Take away the fact that sexual education (if there is any at all) is excruciatingly hetero-normative (Elia & Eliason 29), it also tends to be very uninformative. A lot of high schools across the globe tend to focus on; sexually transmitted diseases (the effects on your body, what to do if you catch one, etc.), relationships (how to handle them, when it’s appropriate to be in one, etc.), parts of the body, and topics that graze the surface of sex but don’t quite delve into the details of the act itself.
“Substandard, as was everything else in public education”
-Jonah Gourlay, student at Queen Elizabeth Junior and Senior High School, Calgary, Alberta, Canada when asked how sexual education was at his high school.
In various countries across Europe, predominantly Scandinavian countries, (e.g.- Switzerland, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Italy) a very left wing and liberal connotation towards sexual education has resulted in the following countries having some of the lowest adolescent fertility rates in the world. According to the World Bank 2014 consensus on adolescent fertility rates per 1,000 young women aged 15-19; Switzerland (3 children per 1,000 young women aged 15-19), Denmark (4 children per 1,000 young women aged 15-19), The Netherlands (4 children per 1,000 young women aged 15-19), and Italy (6 children per 1,000 young women aged 15-19).
Considering the nominal GDP of the majority of HICs (e.g.- Canada, the United States, England, etc.) the quality of education(this including sexual education) should be prime because they can afford to put a substantial amount of money into the education system. This notion should be further amplified considering the fact that there are no religious factors that could abstain the discourse (e.g.- none of the countries in question are for instance Islamic nations which forbid certain topics from being taught in public schools, or strong religious influences which would impact the way of thinking of the locals). Nevertheless, there are political factors that influence how sexual education is taught in the United States- such as millions of US dollars poured into abstinence- based sexual education (Elia & Eliason 38).
“We got to use a toy and practice putting on condoms, all the different types of birth control, but this was in junior high so…” – Lars Burgundy
Generally speaking, the sexual education scale goes as such:
No education -> Abstinence only -> Abstinence based -> Comprehensive ->Anti- oppressive
Anything under “Comprehensive” on the scale deems itself as ineffective and more or less useless. Abstinence based, abstinence only and no education is as ineffective as it is pointless. “Sexuality education is perceived as one way to prevent unhealthy sexual behaviors” (Gowen and Winges- Yanez 787). Teaching kids that not having sex is the only type of sexual education they need is absurd and could lead to an increase in adolescent fertility rates, venereal diseases and potentially sexual assaults.
“I used to look forward to sex ed because I love it, but nobody else was enthusiastic about it and that was because of how it was taught” -Adela Montgomery
There is also this idea that “private school kids don’t really learn about sex ed because there are a lot less people and it’s a lot more awkward”. Almost as if to suggest that the only way to attain a comprehensive and anti- oppressive sexual education is to be taught in large groups- for the comfort of the teacher/instructor.
“My teacher embarrassed me about a question I asked and said “Irina watches porn you guys, she thinks sex only lasts 20 minutes”. We had a question box and I’m so stupid loud and silly and so I laughed she read my question but it was so useless her embarrassing me like that.”- Irina Roche
With reference to an earlier comment about the extreme hetero-normativity of sexual education in most high schools- it is unfair that those who do not categorise under the binary genders or conform to heterosexual activities have to remain lost and confused. “In class and in all discussion, love was heterosexual; marriage was the ideal… Gays were drag queens and lesbians were nonexistent.” (Elia & Eliason 30). For many, if they chose to let the world know about their sexual orientation it can be a very challenging and un-welcomed act. “In sex education classes homosexuality often is ignored or given tangential status to the main discussion of heterosexuality” (Elia & Eliason 29). Young adults use their youth as a way of exploring their sexual identity and preferences, however, without proper education, many of these teens find themselves in troubling situations.
Another issue is that, “some teens resist labels” (Elia & Eliason 30) because they are not really sure if their current sexual preferences are a phase or an identity. “Non-labelling of identity has implications for the design of sexuality education programs” (Elia & Eliason 31).
“You should get kids enthusiastic about sex, I wasn’t obsessed with having sex, I just wanted to learn. Make it comfortable so I don’t feel like I have to go talk to my parents when I get home.” – Edward Rodgers
Sincerely,
Unsatisfied and uninformed High School Students
References:
Elia, John P. and Mickey Eliason. “Discourses Of Exclusion: Sexuality Education’s Silencing Of Sexual Others”. Journal of LGBT Youth 7.1 (2010): 29-48. Web.
Gowen, L. Kris and Nichole Winges-Yanez. “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, And Questioning Youths’ Perspectives Of Inclusive School-Based Sexuality Education”. The Journal of Sex Research 51.7 (2013): 788-800. Web.
“5 Countries That Do It Better: How Sexual Prudery Makes America A Less Healthy And Happy Place”. Alternet. N.p., 2016. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Pictures:
(In order of appearance)
Long Division And Stis. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
A Case For Early Sex Education. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
Sex Education In American Schools. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
Was Ist Sex. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.
