Sex ed is taught in middle school as a singular unit of our health classes, but is that really enough? No, not in particular. They teach us what sex is, what STD’s we can get and why we shouldn’t have sex until later in our lives, but now that I’m in high school simply “staying abstinent” is nearly a non-existent concept. Teen pregnancy is relatively common, and as of 2014, for every 1,000 young girls, 24.2 gave birth to children during the ages of 15-19.
Many base this act of having unprotected sex completely ridiculous, and here’s why I can agree to disagree. As most classes just teach abstinence, they in turn, never teach teens anything about safe sex. At about age 15, teens begin to come into their own as they figure out their own bodies and sexualities, and of course, along with that comes a sex drive. Some are stronger than others, and many begin to act on it, often under unsafe conditions. Teen boys don’t know how to use or don’t recognize the importance of protection; teen girls think that they can’t get pregnant. There is a sort of invincibility complex when put into a situation like that. Learning the reality simply comes with education.
Teen girls deserve to know their own anatomy as well as boys. They both need to know how protection and birth control work and what benefits come with using Planned Parenthood. Simply having “the talk” at age 11 won’t be enough, whether it’s from a protective parent or a health teacher.
Even more importantly, teach teens that sex and a sex drive are normal. Society frowns upon a simple instinct, and while it is understandable that many fear an early pregnancy, babies should not be punishment for having sex, which is why protection and education are so important. While I am a strong advocate for body confidence and a certain amount of bodily independence, I would like to see myself and my peers be the generation that gets the proper education about sexual activity and in turn lowers the teen pregnancy rate through educating our children and so on.
This is a very pressing matter, and it needs to be recognized to the fullest of our abilities. Our generation not only needs but deserves to be fully educated on what precautions we can take as we grow up and have our own children (hopefully later in life). It is definitely better to be safe than sorry.
