The Talk

When I was in 4^th grade, my mom had to attend a meeting where they distributed period kits and explained to the mothers how they were supposed to talk to their daughters.  Awkward? Yes.  Then high school came along, and our gym/ health teacher decided that it was unimportant to talk about sex education.  However, we were required to talk either “Childcare” or “Family Living.”  In the childcare class they did they whole “this is how babies are born” thing, and then in the family living class, we learned how to handle joint issues like money.  What I learned about sex education came mostly from my peers, but I have a great relationship with my parents so I felt comfortable having mature conversations with them.  At this point in my biology career, I think they knew that I understood what happened. 

As in the New York Times article, Sex Ed in Washington, the debate continues as to what type of sex education program the government should be investing in.  The two main types of programs are abstinence-only and contraceptive-orientated.  I think that the best approach is to do a combination of the two because you are going to have students that respond better to each of them.  No one program is going to meet each student’s needs.  With a combination approach, you are more likely to meet the needs of each student.  This way they realize that it is okay to abstain from sex, but at the same time if you are going to be sexually active, it is important to be protected.  They also need to learn what is protection and what protection is protecting you from what.  I think that it is important to have role models in each of these groups so students can see that being a virgin is cool or that you can have responsible sex and not be a labeled a slut.  It would also be beneficial to have someone come in and talk that had a child at an early age so that the students understand the consequences of making the decision to be sexually active.  I know that some of the shows on TV like 16 and Pregnant are a little racy, but I also think that it is important for those stories to be shared so that teenagers can be educated when making a decision about sex.