What I Didn’t Learn in Sex Ed
I wish my teachers had talked about more than just pregnancy, disease, and God
The entirety of the sex education I received growing up can be summed up like this:
- Sex can lead to pregnancy.
- Sex can lead to disease.
- Sex is a gift from God.
I always had trouble reconciling the third point with the tone of admonishment of the first two, but I assumed I’d eventually figure it out.
I guess there are limits to what I could have reasonably expected my teachers (and, I suppose, my parents) to teach me about sex, but I — and my eventual partners — would have been much better served with a more well-rounded approach. If I could go back and rewrite the curriculum, I would include the following.
Sex requires consent
It seems hard to imagine now, but the theme of consent — and all it includes about respect, equity, communication, and partnership — was nowhere to be seen during my sex education. My education simply covered the mechanics — and then a little bit on the dynamics of trying to figure out when or if you were ready for sex.
On the playground, kids were admonished for inappropriate contact. But we were never taught that the…
