Young people are continuously recording high rates of STDs

What Should Sex Ed For You People Look Like?

There are a number of examples where graders have taken part in extracurricular activities meant to educate them on sex matters. The most recent example came this spring when eighth-graders from Highland Community School participated in a play pretending to be a couple that could not agree on the use of condom.

Hannah, one of the eighth-graders, said “Babe, I think we need to use a condom.”

Elsa, the pretend significant other, quickly responded “But why? My older sibling said we don’t have to.”

"Well, your older sibling is dumb,” Hannah retorted.

The back-and-forth exchange continued in front of other 20 classmates before the pretend-couples eventually decided to use condoms.

This is how the students wrapped up their 8 weeks of sex education with instructor Alie Kriofske Mainella. Among the things they talked about included consent, contraception, abstinence and consequences of engaging in sex.

Kriofske explained that these eighth-graders would soon be going to high school where they would have to deal with various issues, including the pressures of relationships. “They would be faced with tough decisions such as having sex that they have never had before as well as negotiating in their physical relationships.”

Impact of Sex Ed on Students

A study done on Wisconsin’s high school students revealed that 34% of them were sexually active. This could be compared to 47% of students in 1993. Furthermore, the sexually active students also reported that they were having fewer partners.

As much as the number of sexually active students at the school is fewer, data indicates that the 15 to 19 year olds throughout the United States had an increase in the number of sexually transmitted diseases.

The United Way provides funding to sex educators to train public schools across the country.

The impact of these trainings so far has been positive, with various schools showing a significant reduction in the number of teen pregnancy. Milwaukee is one such area, which was once the second-highest in cases of pregnancy. Today, sex education has helped slash that number by half.

Kriofske said that as the rates of teen pregnancy decrease in Milwaukee, you would expect cases of STDs to also decline. However, that is not the case. Instead, these reductions are not moving in the same direction as sexually transmitted diseases.

According to Anthony Harris, the program director of 414ALL, stigmatization of STDs and lack of resources may be the main reason why young people have high rates of STD.

“It may take some time before we see a decline because the teens, and adults in general, have developed thinking that using condom makes you a certain type of person that no one should be,” says Harris.

To change this, we must encourage informed education.

What Should Sex Ed For You People Look Like?

 

 

There are a number of examples where graders have taken part in extracurricular activities meant  for sex education. The most recent example came this spring when eighth-graders from Highland Community School participated in a play pretending to be a couple that could not agree on the use of condom.

Hannah, one of the eighth-graders, said “Babe, I think we need to use a condom.”

Elsa, the pretend significant other, quickly responded “But why? My older sibling said we don’t have to.”

"Well, your older sibling is dumb,” Hannah retorted.

The back-and-forth exchange continued in front of other 20 classmates before the pretend-couples eventually decided to use condoms.

This is how the students wrapped up their 8 weeks of sex education with instructor Alie Kriofske Mainella. Among the things they talked about included consent, contraception, abstinence and consequences of engaging in sex.

Kriofske explained that these eighth-graders would soon be going to high school where they would have to deal with various issues, including the pressures of relationships. “They would be faced with tough decisions such as having sex that they have never had before as well as negotiating in their physical relationships.”

Impact of Sex Ed on Students

A study done on Wisconsin’s high school students revealed that 34% of them were sexually active. This could be compared to 47% of students in 1993. Furthermore, the sexually active students also reported that they were having fewer partners.

As much as the number of sexually active students at the school is fewer, data indicates that the 15 to 19 year olds throughout the United States had an increase in the number of sexually transmitted diseases.

The United Way provides funding to sex educators to train public schools across the country.

The impact of these trainings so far has been positive, with various schools showing a significant reduction in the number of teen pregnancy. Milwaukee is one such area, which was once the second-highest in cases of pregnancy. Today, sex education has helped slash that number by half.

Kriofske said that as the rates of teen pregnancy decrease in Milwaukee, you would expect cases of STDs to also decline. However, that is not the case. Instead, these reductions are not moving in the same direction as sexually transmitted diseases.

According to Anthony Harris, the program director of 414ALL, stigmatization of common STDs and lack of resources may be the main reason why young people have high rates of STD.

“It may take some time before we see a decline because the teens, and adults in general, have developed thinking that using condom makes you a certain type of person that no one should be,” says Harris.

To change this, we must encourage informed sex education.