The Carrier editorial reflects a consensus of the editorial board
In middle school and high school, you probably learned what sexually transmitted diseases were. You also were most likely taught that abstinence was key. How many of you were taught about birth control, how to properly put a condom on or when to seek healthcare if you needed it? Were girls taught that they were supposed to go to the bathroom after sex to prevent urinary tract infections?
Although it is common for people to think that they had a good sex education, some people realize that their education wasn’t as comprehensive as it should have been to adequately prepare them for life.
According to WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows an overwhelming majority of Georgia high schools and middle schools aren’t teaching all of the agency’s recommended sex education topics. While almost all schools covered topics like the benefits of abstinence, less than 40 percent of students were taught how to acquire and use condoms. The problem, says WABE, is that Georgia law requires schools to teach sex education and AIDS education, but it doesn’t lay out specific requirements on how schools go about it.
Now as college students, most of us are left with mediocre knowledge about how our own bodies work and are struggling to find the information and services we need. At least twice a week there are posts on Yik Yak asking where to get free condoms, STD testing or pregnancy tests. Tina Bucher, associate professor of English, Rhetoric and Writing and member of the Rome AIDS Resource Council board of directors, puts out free condoms on the second floor of Evans, but why is it that students can walk in and grab baggies full of medicine in the Ladd Center, and yet there are no free condoms that could prevent pregnancy and the spread of STD’s?
The lack of free condoms isn’t the only problem. Berry should be providing a way for students to learn about sex education with a much stronger emphasis on empowerment, respect and the importance of making wise decisions.
There are a few different options for this. During Viking Venture, there could be programming that discusses sex education either in an informal session with the Peer Educators or in a setting like MAD theater, which already touches on consent. If we have the “Can I Kiss You?” event, I think it would be equally important to also have an event that discusses sexual health topics. If not an event, this information could easily be developed into a classroom kinesiology class.
Marie Cartier, a gender and women’s studies professor at California State University (CSU), said that teaching women how their bodies work will not only encourage responsible sexuality, but also help to prevent unwanted pregnancy.
“I have seen way too many students for me to count who got in sexual situations that got over their head,” Cartier said in the Sundial, CSU’s student newspaper.
Whether or not you are sexually active, everyone has a body and needs to understand how that body works. Berry can improve in this area to better serve its student population and their personal well-being.