The Fed Up Feminist

Hey y’all. Today I wanted to dive into the topic of sex education. In the United States 37 states teach abstinence only sex education, and 18 states require educators to discuss birth control.

To make matters worse, only ten states teach students LGBT sex education, and southern states this is not a conversation.

In 18 states it is a requirement for the material to be medically accurate. This means that other states can teach their version of what they think is right, and that could mean that students are learning about sex that is not medically accurate.

I grew up in South Texas, and I did not receive any sex education growing up. At my high school many students and staff tried to get condoms available to students, but that idea was shot down many times. I had to use resources from Planned Parenthood to educate my peers and myself on how to be a sexually responsible person. I am one of the lucky ones.

Recently I have had a few discussions with people about how Texas has the highest repeated teen pregnancy rates in the country. Which means that teens in the state of Texas are more likely to get pregnant twice before the age of 20.

To add on to that last paragraph young gay/bisexual men are at risk to HIV in South Texas. In the last few years a small clinic in Harlingen, TX has seen an increase of young men between the ages of 14 to 24 infected with HIV/AIDS. Only one district in the Rio Grande Valley offers sex education.

What people get wrong about sex education is that it encourages teens to have sex, and that all it talks about is sex. That is not true. I found a guide that helps guide teachers who are teaching the class, and what I found surprised me.

They talk about STIs and how to prevent them, what a healthy relationship looks like and how to practice consent, and puberty. Yes, they did talk about having safe sex, but that’s just one part of the curriculum. We need to realize that sex education is not just about sex, it’s about keeping everyone healthy.

Puberty can be traumatic for some kids, and having an adult just talking about it can make a world of difference. Also talking about what a healthy relationship is and what consent is can protect kids from getting hurt later in life. Many people do not know the signs that they are in an unhealthy relationship because it may have been normalized in their home life.

I would argue that not having medically based sex education in schools is hurting everyone. There’s a rise of misinformation being spread on TikTok, and many teens and even adults are falling for it. That’s why you are seeing a lot of unplanned pregnancies happening. You may have seen misinformation about contraceptives and abortion popping up everywhere.

If we start having honest conversations with teens, we could help lower the teen pregnancy rate. We could lower STI rates, and many issues regarding teen domestic violence and consent can be lowered. We as adults get to guide the next generation, so why not give them the best shot?

-Fed Up Feminist

Follow me on Instagram! @fedupfeminist333

Sources:

National Sex Education Standards. (n.d.). https://advocatesforyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NSES-2020-web.pdf 

YouTube. (2018, June 21). HIV crisis on the Texas-mexico border. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDNwIdfyUgo&t=683s 

In post-Roe Texas, pregnant teens have few options. Texas Standard. (2023, November 29). https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/amid-texas-abortion-ban-pregnant-teens-have-few-options/#:~:text=Texas%20leads%20the%20nation%20with%20the%20highest%20rate%20of%20repeat,pregnant%20teens%20have%20few%20options. 

Parenthood, P. (n.d.-a). Sex education laws and state attacks. Planned Parenthood Action Fund. https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/sex-education/sex-education-laws-and-state-attacks#:~:text=Decisions%20about%20sex%20education%20are,some%20guidance%20around%20sex%20education.