By Meagan Ginnaty-Moore, Editorial editor
OPINION
As human beings, a major part that shapes our lives and experiences is our relationships with other people. We learn to be kind, share, and to be hon- est with others as children, and maybe we will nd friends in those people we execute those practices on.
Those lessons are vital in becoming a good friend and can carry over into more intimate rela- tionships people will inevitably have as they ma- ture. A major aspect of our lives and experiences is our romantic relationships with other people. These relationships may become sexual but learning the lessons to make sure it’s a healthy emotional and physical relationship isn’t always as easily accessi- ble as the lessons we learn as children. This is dan- gerous. People need to know how to be safe during sex, and the best way to make sure everyone is on the same page is through the public school system. Teens deserve to know about safe sex.
In Wisconsin, sex education is not required, nor is the curriculum required to be medically accurate in schools who decide to provide sex education. While KUSD does try to provide accurate informa- tion for its students, that may not be the case for all schools in Wisconsin. The very fact that two students from the same state may have completely different perceptions of what consensual sex is or what an IUD is is absurd.
But what does an ideal sex education curriculum look like? First off, de ning consent is an absolute must. Knowing that you and your partner are okay and enthusiastic about what both parties are about to participate in is the difference between enjoying a completely normal, healthy activity and commit- ting a crime. Consent is incredibly important and needs to be a standard all across the country. This is way too important of an issue to leave up to states and the lack of this being a required lesson in every classroom in America leads to some adults ignorant of what consent is, which is terrible; if someone doesn’t know what consent looks or sounds like they could commit a very serious crime with-
out even realizing.
Within the lesson of consent, the age of con-
sent needs to be explicitly stated. is age var- ies from state to state, but in Wisconsin the age of consent is 18. is means that anyone 18 or older cannot have sex with anyone 17 and un- der. Even if an 18-year-old is dating a 17-year- old, the 18-year-old can be deemed a sexual predator for life and if the 17-year-old sends sexual pictures, they can be charged with distri- bution of child pornography. ese facts needs to told to students in a sex ed class because ig- norance will not be an excuse if students are caught. Teachers are mandatory reporters and if they overhear a minor talking about sexual acts they did with their adult age partner, they will report.
Next, is the topic of sexual and gender iden- tity. People are afraid and even hostile toward things or people they don’t understand. From this ignorance grows hate. Teaching people about the di erent kinds of genders and sexual identities will foster understanding and an en- vironment of acceptance. It could even put an end to homophobic and transphobic based bul- lying. If students see that teachers and admin- istration are committed to teaching students about these people and what their identities mean, any prejudices held by the students will be undigni ed. Couple this with education and everyone is now in a school that will welcome people of di ering identities with open minds and warm hearts.
While there are many ideas that would need to be abandoned, the idea of teaching an ab- stinence-only program is not the best way of teaching sex education. Abstinence of course is a valid choice and should be respected by any partner, but telling teenagers that they need to
wait for marriage is not as e ective as people want to believe. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) on average, Americans have seven sexual partners before marriage and the average American will have lost their vir- ginity by the age of 17. e whole idea of just telling teens to wait obviously isn’t working.
Schools are supposed to inform students on things that they will encounter in real life and sex is de nitely something teens are encounter- ing. Teaching safe sex as a normal thing and how to use contraceptives is vital to preventing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. e problem with only teaching abstinence is because of how easy it is to quickly turn the health lesson into an anti-sex, shame fest. ere have been many reportings of students being told that losing their virginity before marriage is something to be ashamed of, something that devalues them, a philosophy that is normally geared towards girls. Girls deserve to be able to enjoy their sexuality and future relationships without the memories of their teachers telling them that pre marital sex is damaging to who she is as a person. (Now, just to be clear, this isn’t something that the KUSD does, however it is something that happens elsewhere in the country.)
Sex education is necessary for a society of people to safely interact romantical and in- timately with each other. Students need and deserve a consistent curriculum that will keep them safe not just physically, but mentally as well. Schools need to be a place of educating young people about sex and relationships, this topic is too important to just barely gloss over in a few days. Students and society deserves to learn about safe sex and healthy relationships with other people and themselves.