I don't know how many of you remember Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, who served during Clinton's presidency. Well I had never heard of her, until last week in my Human Sexual Behavioral Psychology class. Basically, Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders was fired for suggesting to teach masturbation in schools as a form of safer sex.

I don't think the Surgeon General should have been fired because in our society masturbation is looked upon as a bad thing, and children should know that masturbation is ok and has benefits. Masturbation is a win-win situation teens can have sexual pleasure anywhere, anytime, learn what he/she enjoys or doesn’t enjoy sexually, and it doesn’t require having another person, thus there is no risk of pregnancy or STIs because there is no exchange of semen or vaginal fluids with another person. Despite the negative view people have about masturbation due to religion or discomfort when talking about sex, it is very much so an activity people engage in. By teaching teens about masturbation, perhaps students will be more willing to masturbate rather than engage in risky behaviors. As humans, we are naturally sexual beings and there’s nothing we can change about it. If people don’t want teens to engage in sex or masturbate, what other choice do teens have? The best choice we have as parents, teachers, counselors, and elected official is to tell teens to masturbate rather than have sex.

More importantly, as Surgeon General it is her job to adhere to sexual health issues, such
as increased teen pregnancies and STI infections among teens, by suggesting masturbation be taught in school she is merely offering an alternative solution to decrease teen pregnancies and STI rates. So, why is she being fired for doing her job? There are many elected officials who break the law, steal money, and propose discriminatory ideas, such as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” but they don’t get fired. So, why should she? It's only because people in our society are so afraid of talking about sex that anytime someone brings it up it is deemed inappropriate, especially when talking about teens and sex. This is ironic when sex has such a major role in our society. People (including teens) are having sex, people use sex to market products that have nothing to do with sex, we have strip clubs and adult stores, and a spread of STIs because of sex. Because of all of these influences, we should educate teens about sex, including how to enjoy sex without having to engage with a partner and worry about STIs and pregnancy. Teens are entitled to this information, they should be taught the complete information so that they can make wiser decisions about sex.

Furthermore, Oprah had a show about “How to Talk About Sex to Your Child,” where she too suggested parents tell their children to masturbate when they have sexual desires--word of this didn’t make it to the news nor was Oprah fired.

Visit the link to see how parents and teachers should teach/talk to children about sex: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Dr-Laura-Berman-Helps-a-Mom-Explain-Sex-to-Her-Daughter-Video .