Growing up attending Catholic school, I obviously received no professional sexual education. That is, unless you count a priest teaching young boys about jerking off in the shower (“If the fluid of life comes out, just enjoy the feeling”). During the winter months in grade school we did have a few health classes, which tried to introduce our young minds to reproductive organs, however we were never taught the proper way to use their organs or keep them in perfect working order. In such a repressive environment, where you have children revolting at a younger age, you need to explain that kind of thing.
It’s 2011, and now my generation is getting older, and having kids of our own. We know kids will do whatever they want no matter what you instruct them to do. Instead of just drilling it into young minds premarital sex is wrong and you’re going to hell if you do it, tell them premarital sex is not a bad thing, but rather something you should wait on until you're older, and can make rational decisions, allowing time for their hormonal, developing teenage minds time to mature. Maybe that would've prevented some of my classmates from being parents before their high school graduation. (Also, premarital sex is obsolete. It's a term that only exists in the fictional world of religion.)
Luckily, Answer and Rutgers University decided to take matters into their own hands. Sex, Etc. is “sex education for teens, by teens”. According to the website:
Sex, Etc. is on a mission to improve teen sexual health across the country! Each year, five million young people visit Sexetc.org, and over 45,000 read our national magazine to get honest and accurate sexual health information. We've helped teens with answers to their questions about sex, relationships, pregnancy, STDs, birth control, sexual orientation and more!
Sexetc.org features 17 topic areas plus the following sections
- Stories written by teen staff writers and national contributors.
- Your Voice, Your Rights, which gives teens the opportunity to create a profile, share stories about sexuality education in their schools and speak up for the sex ed they want, need and deserve.
- “Take Action,” which gives teens the tools to advocate for comprehensive sex ed in their schools and communities.
- The Sex, Etc. blog—Beyond the Birds and the Bees—which addresses timely sexual health issues that are relevant to teens.
- Forums where teens can participate in moderated discussions with other teens.
- "Sex in the States," which is a state-by-state guide to teens' rights to sex education, birth control and more.
- Videos about sexual health.
- A Sex Terms glossary of more than 400 terms
- A mobile site that can be accessed on any phone with Internet access. It contains all of our FAQs, Sex Terms and Sex in the States information.
I was introduced to Sex, Etc. on this year’s Take Action! Tour. The tour’s proceeds are being donated to support the sex education movement and Sex, Etc. People are finally realizing the importance of instructing teens and young adults about being safe and realizing the consequences of their actions when it comes to safe sex. They’re no longer leaving the burden to be carried by lazy school systems and embarrassed parents. Sex, Etc. is giving teenagers a comfortable environment to go and discuss this new territory with their peers.
I find it unnerving to think in this day and age where sex is everywhere, there are still pockets of the country teaching abstinence as the only option. Teenage minds are constantly learning, exploring, and compiling information on the world, including being curious about their adolescent bodies. It’s inspirational to see a group like Sex, Etc. taking it upon themselves to not only give teens a place to go, helping them understand their curiosity, but also a space containing a lot of their sought-after answers.
And if parents don’t want to rely on a website and fellow teens to educate their children on proper sexual instruction and culture, maybe they’ll finally grow some balls, stop being so shy and self-conscious about it, and educate their kids their damn selves.
Shock and dismay, they affect what we say… We should bite our tongues, we should bite our tongues… 'Cause after all, it's only our lives anyway...
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