Birth Control – Where did you learn the facts?
We were taught about sexually transmitted diseases, though I don't recall HIV-AIDS being among them at the time. We learned about reproduction, how the female body works, and how the male body works, though in a simplified version from what I know today. What has to happen for pregnancy to occur, and how to prevent it by using proper birth control or not having sex at all.
Nothing earth shattering was divulged to the class, and I think that many of us had a good working understanding of everything already. So there I was, thinking that we had learned what we needed to know should any among us decide to have sex. All bases were covered, we had been educated.
Now let's jump ahead to 1987, my senior year of High School. Sex-Ed is still being taught, but they don't split up the girls and the boys. Everything is still pretty much taught the same way though.
I spoke to my old health teacher, and asked if she would allow me to present a lecture to one of her classes. I proposed creating a questionnaire with simple questions that required either a yes, no, or age for an answer. I would pass the questionnaire out to junior and senior students, all of who should have taken the Sex-Ed course their freshman year.
I asked how old they were when they first had sex and the average answer was 15*. Good, a year after Sex-Ed. I also asked if they always used proper birth control, many said no! I asked them to choose from the multiple-choice answers when a girl cannot get pregnant. Most got this one correct, answering that a girl can get pregnant at any time during her cycle, but some still answered incorrectly. Uh-Oh, what went wrong in the Sex-Ed class that these students were answering incorrectly?
As it turns out, nothing went wrong. These students chose to believe myths, rumors, and 'school gossip' instead of what was taught in Sex-Ed. To me this is a scary thought. Although the students that answered the questionnaire took the Sex-Ed course from this High School, I wonder about other High Schools that either teach only Abstinence or nothing at all. What are other kids learning?
I went to, and graduated from Clarkston High School, located in Washington State. Currently there is legislation before the Washington State House, House Bill 1178, which would require "...all sex education courses paid
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