If you opened this post then we have your attention!
“Sex Ed” as it was called back in the day was “the talk” where teachers pulled all 6th grade male students in to one room and all the 6th grade female students into another room to talk about the physical and chemical changes that happen to us all during puberty. In this day and age sexual health education is now more comprehensive and spans topics such as sexual orientation, contraception, and prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, which has caused some schools to opt out of these conversations. Comprehensive Sexual Health Education has become a highly politicized topic, and many schools no longer have these classes as, at a federal level, there is no mandate for sexual health education to be taught in schools.
So how do young people learn about sexual health? Who is having this conversation with young people as they start to develop and start to have questions? I think no matter how old or young you are, we can all agree that perhaps the internet is not the best place for our young people to get factual information about sexual health education…or is it? Studies show that many youth are not receiving formal sexual health education and are exposed to sexual content on social media and online platforms. Research shows that social media can be an effective way to educate young people about sexual health. Platforms such as Facebook have been utilized to promote safe sex and the reduction of HIV in certain communities, successfully. There have also been studies where OBGYN offices have used TikTok to post videos to engage youth with medically accurate sexual health information.
An important take away about sexual health is for youth (and the adults that support them) to have good, accurate resources. Youth, if you have a trusted adult in your life, ask them about having this conversation. Give the the adult you turned to some time to gather themselves for the conversation. If you trust them, you can navigate a discussion and learn something together (trust us young people, most adults will feel just as awkward about this conversation as you might!).
If YOU are a trusted adult supporting a young person that wants to have this discussion, be open to it! They selected you to have this conversation with. There are local supports such as your family doc, the local public health department and online resources to help navigate the conversation. You don’t have to be an expert in all things and that’s OK!
Check out our local resources list to connect and learn more.
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