Week 7 – Sexual Health
Sexual health is so incredibly important because it is important for us to be aware of what does and doesn’t cause sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Being equipped with this kind of information will allow us to be safer when, or if, we are being sexually active. For example, some people assume that STIs and STDs can only be passed on through vaginal and penis intercourse and they don’t realize that they can be transmitted through oral sex also.
What surprised me the most about this lecture was learning about the different kinds of sexual health education that my peers went through. I was shocked to hear how little education was provided in some schools and how it was essentially taboo in other schools. Hearing about the various “activities”, such as passing around colored water to represent the number of people in the class who, theoretically, have an STI, STD, or were pregnant, was funny but also a little concerning. Making that topic taboo does not prevent kids from being exposed to it and it is better if they are well-informed rather than ignorant.
I think sexual health education needs to be made more transparent and extensive. For example, in my school, we talked about sexual health for 1-2 days before moving on to other topics. That isn’t enough time to make sure kids understand every aspect, positive and negative, about sexual health. By not talking about it, you can’t prevent kids from being exposed to it. The best thing you can do is to be completely straightforward and informative so that when they are exposed to it, they are able to handle any situation that they are in. My question is, how do you guys think sexual health education should be changed and what are ways that we can implement these changes?