Sex education in the United States is failing us. This doesn’t exempt Chesterfield County Public Schools.

Chesterfield County Public Schools put students through a sex education course for two years in high school – sophomore and freshman years. In middle school, sex education starts in sixth grade. However, when it comes to pregnancy and STD prevention, experts found that the best year to start sex education is kindergarten.

Eva Goldfarb and Lisa Lieberman, Montclair State University professors, introduced a new study that shows sex education from a young age can “prevent child sex abuse… intimate partner violence, [and] increased appreciation for sexual diversity.” 

Goldfarb and Lieberman found that, a lot like subjects like English and Math, “sex education [is effective when] creating an early foundation and advancing with developmentally appropriate content and teaching.” This means that by talking about age appropriate subjects at a young age and as they get older, it can increase comprehension of the subject matter, therefore decreasing aforementioned problems. 

The study finds that children are able to discuss gender conformity, diversity and oppression at a preschool age. This can promote things like being more open towards LGBTQ+ communities, and a better understanding of sexual relationships as children get older. It promotes other things like intersectionality, the belief that gender, race, and sexuality can tie into the disadvantage of people. 

“Waiting until eighth grade algebra to first introduce the subject of math would be absurd. The same is true for sex education.” Goldfarb says that basic concepts like personal boundaries, varied family structure, healthy relationships, respect, and social-emotional skills “need to be introduced early in elementary school. These become the building blocks for more sophisticated discussions in later grades.”

Comprehensive sex education in high school can increase bystander intervention and decrease intimate partner violence. According to the trevor project, “LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers.” LGBTQ inclusive education showed less reports of suicidal thoughts, less drug and alcohol abuse, and higher school attendance. 

This study also improved “media literacy,” making it easier for teens to understand how media affects sense of self and “perception of teen ‘norms.’” This is incredibly important. It helps teens understand why they feel the way they do about themselves. It allows them to dissect teen “norms” and break the mold, if need be. 

To attach this back to home, after experiencing our sex education course, I believe that it is not adequate at all. Not only statistically is it too late, however, it isn’t inclusive of LGBTQ people and other topics that are important to sex education.

The primary teachings of our school are abstinence, and pregnancy prevention. However, without giving information on how to access condoms, birth control, or other things used for prevention, it decreases the likelihood that teens will be able to find it.

Sexual assault and healthy relationships is touched on, however, not nearly enough. They exercise what is consent, not what isn’t consent. One slide from the sex ed presentation stated that uncomfortably saying yes, maybe, or i guess isn’t consent. Which doesn’t make the point clear enough due to how little time is spent on it.

Finally, LGBTQ sexualities are slowly being introduced as a normality into society. People in this group are being accepted more widely than ever. Teaching inclusiveness and the relationships LGBTQ+ people have is best when trying to ensure that everyone respects each other.

This information needs to be more accessible to students, and it needs to be taught as soon as possible. Where to get contraceptives and how to use them safely, sexual assault, consent, and healthy relationships need to get more attention. STD prevention should include the places where you can get tested. People of different sexual orientations should be introduced into the program. It increases openness to these types of relationships, as well as acceptance.  Why do we learn about the anatomy of the uterus more than we learn about how to stop unplanned pregnancies and sexual assault? 

If all of these changes could be made, it would make having sex safer. It would increase healthy relationships, as well as the understanding of sex education as a whole.