Students demanding sex ed

A particularly eloquent college student recently said to me something along the lines of, “I wish there was more sex education in schools, so there could be more safe, mind-blowing, toe-curling orgasms.”  Ah, youth and it’s optimism!

I recently read about a group of Alaskan teenagers and young adults who want to increase sex education.  This is highly notable because it’s rare enough for teenagers to want to ADD content to their already-full school schedule in these days of No Every Child Left Behind.  It’s also notable that they are publicly stating their interest in learning more about sex.  And all of this coming from the home state of that most-unqualified-VP-candidate, the executor of that state, the advocater of abstinence-only-until-marriage “sex education”, Sarah Palin.  (P.S. Apparently she’s a liar too!)

Here are a few snips from the blog about the Alaskan students:

Now Sawyer, a junior at the University of Alaska Anchorage, wants to do something about it. She, with other politically minded Anchorage college students and even some local high schoolers, are banding together to reform the way sex education is taught around the state. They’re reversing roles and telling their parents and school administrators that kids need more safety talk, not less. Their goal: mandatory comprehensive sex ed in high school.

…….

According to a statewide study, 63 percent of Alaskan high school seniors in 2007 reported having sex. And, while Alaska has about average U.S. rates on teen pregnancies, in 2006 birth rates for Alaskan and U.S. teens rose for the first time since 1991.

This isn’t the first time adults, teachers and administrators have heard from kids who say they need more “real” information. Anchorage high school students a year ago stood up in series of public forums at schools across the city and said they wanted more instruction, said Anchorage School District health curriculum coordinator Sharon Vaissiere.

We need to listen to the students, folks!  This is big, important stuff, and it can’t be ignored or hoped that they’ll learn it “organically” or “through experiencing the beauty of the sexual impulse” or “not need it until later.”  Teenagers are getting pregnant, getting sick, and living through far more emotional turmoil than they need to be because we adults are sitting on our laurels not teaching them what they have the right to find out from responsible and caring adults.  Kudos to the Alaskan students for realizing that and taking action to correct out blunder.