Objectify This

The BBC reported in August that abstinence-only sex education programs are not working in the United States. Shockingly, studies found that avoiding education about sex does not reduce risks of teen pregnancy or slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

It turns out that sex is so good that even pretending it doesn’t exist does not make it go away. Kids want to have sex; they will have sex even if they don’t know what they’re doing.

And guess what? If they don’t know what they’re doing, they will make more mistakes. Just Saturday, the BBC followed up with a report about policymakers debating “whether to cut government funding for health education programmes that promote sexual abstinence until marriage.

“The move follows a report earlier this year from America’s leading health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which revealed one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease.

“Opponents of abstinence education say the approach ignores the fact that teenagers are sexually active and fails to give them accurate medical information or advice on safer sex.

” “We get sex-ed classes in school and that should be where teens get the right information – but that isn’t happening,” says 15-year-old Mildred, from Arizona, who volunteers as a peer educator with the pro-choice organisation Planned Parenthood.

” “They don’t touch on subjects like sexuality, STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), birth control – it’s not allowed because of abstinence-only education. It leaves you on a cliff-hanger – and a lot of teenagers become sexually active in their middle school years.”

” “Teens are curious and they want to experiment and if they know what’s out there and they have the correct information, they’re going to know how to protect themselves and prevent an unwanted pregnancy and an STD,” adds Maryland high school student Melissa.

“Putting up a wall and saying ‘don’t have sex’ makes them more curious and wanting to know what it is. But if you tell them the straight facts they’re going to know how to protect themselves. It’s about taking care of yourself.”

Sigh. I wish we had a government that was better at helping us do that.

The silence about sexuality is a silence about our bodies, our origins and our futures. Why should there be shame so deeply entwined with our identities? Sex is not dirty but natural, and not profane but sacred. The empowerment of kids to make their own decisions about sex can only result in more informed choices about sex. That doesn’t sound too bad to me.