Why Everyone Needs Sexual Education
Why do we shy away from talking about something so natural and so very very necessary?
Sex is such an intimate act, it brings up so many different emotions, sometimes insecurities, hopefully feelings of pure euphoria. It’s messy, it’s not always amazing, it’s real, it’s raw, it’s sex! And with sex comes so much more: sexual health, sexual wellbeing, assault, harrassment, preferences, and a whole host of topics that more often than not, people want to talk about.
So let’s talk about it. Openly. Proudly. Loudly. And here’s why:
- Schools teach about the iron age, the solar system, gravity, bumble bees, so why is it taboo to learn about our own bodies? Imagine a world where it was perfectly normal to discuss your bodies from an early age. Where children didn’t descend into fits of giggles at the mere mention of the word ‘penis’ or ‘vagina’ or ‘orgasm’. Imagine that for a second. What if we made chat about sex as normal as talking about Pluto and Mars?
- Social media and access to online porn (which did you know can also be found on sites that aren’t just porn sites?) is exposing teenagers and even younger children to so much more than we realise. What they see as real life is more often than not, a totally wrong perception of what happens during sex. Imagine if we all grew up thinking that we had to fit in as much girth as Debbie who at some point did Dallas? What it creates is such an unrealistic view of sex and how teenagers are supposed to ‘perform’.
- The teenagers of today are on a different level in terms of their sexual maturity. But, their emotional and mental maturity is falling way behind this. It is this imbalance which highlights the necessity to educate children from as early an age as possible. What they then see on social media can then be processed with emotional intelligence not, from a position of ignorance, miseducation or fear.
- Find us a teenager that doesn’t want to talk about sex! Their bodies are changing, they begin to feel attractions towards other people, chemicals are sending signals from the brain never experienced before. They need a safe space to talk about all these changes and feelings.
- Teach children the facts and they’ll grow up with the knowledge and power to make their own informed decisions.
Here’s just a few topics that we should all be talking about.
Reproduction / puberty / sexual orientation / gender identity / communication / decision-making / families / romantic relationships / dating / abstinence / contraception / STIs / pregnancy / sexuality in the media / gender roles / body part names / periods / masturbation / the g spot / chlamydia / HIV / AIDS / periods / gonorrhoea / syphilis / hepatitis b / trichomoniasis
Let’s get talking. Smash the taboos. Open the dialogue.