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I go to a high school on the west side of San Antonio, TX where there are many teen pregnancies every year. The type of sex ed i was taught in high school was, of course, abstinence-only. I took health my sophmore year only because it was required and during the course we went through Worth the Wait. Now i will remind you that since health was a required class for graduation, most students waited till their senior year to take the class. More then half the students in my class were seniors and most were already sexually active and were taking an abstinence-only sex ed class at the same time.
All I got out of Worth the Wait was "condoms can break and you're worth the wait," which is true but what Worth the Wait did not tell me was how effective condoms really are or how to use a condom the right way to increase the effectiveness of preventing STDs and pregnancy. We were taught about STDs, but all we did was go over them, and we were showed ugly and nasty pictures that no one even wanted to look at. We were not told how to take care of them or where we could go to get treated for an STD, and condoms were not even mentioned; everything was basically just a scare tactic.
When I took this class I had previously been through training on many different sexual health topics includinding medically accuate information on contraception and STDs. So when I had to sit through a class that only talked about abstinence I hated it. Abstinence is a great choice and should be taught in school but the reality is that it is not the only choice. Everyone is different and will not make the same "right" choices, so teens should be prepared and taught how to keep their bodies safe and protected from teen pregnancies, STDs, and so much more.
I'm sitting here, as a privileged European teenage girl, taking contraceptive pills and knowing everything worth knowing about sex. Everything from feelings to the actual physical act of sex has been taught to me, and I feel truly sorry for everyone who has not had that privilege.
I sincerely hope Sex Ed is going to get better soon. Real soon.
Nicole, your post is really good! When people like you speak up, we can really make a difference. Unlike you, my sex-ed experience at school was virtually non-existent. Yours was full of omissions and medical inaccuracies. I can't wait to read your next blog!