No.2 Op-Ed: Why Colleges Should Teach Sex Ed - Women Compus - Women Campus

There is the always-popular argument that teaching young people about sex will inspire students to have sex. This, however, assumes said students weren’t already thinking about sex. Interesting. Here is a list of things that make teenagers think about sex: homework, nail polish, Smurfs, the State of the Union address, toothpaste, literally everything in the universe. What’s more, when the National Campaign To Prevent Teenage Pregnancy analyzed 250 studies of sex education programs, they determined that "the overwhelming weight of evidence shows that sex education that discusses contraception does not increase sexual activity.” As you likely know, this finding ended the debate over the dangers of sex ed once and for all, just as the Roe v. Wade decision   ended the dispute over abortion.
 

 If you are a teenager, there is a 100% chance you are thinking about sex right now.
 
You could say that, upon arriving at college, most teenagers have already received some form of sexual education in high school. Michael Gold, a University of Pennsylvania senior who went to a magnet public school, said of his high school sex ed experience: “[My sex ed class in high school] was very comprehensive. We were taught about spermicides, IUDs, diaphragms. Abstinence was discussed but condoms were emphasized a lot. I know that I had friends [who bought] condoms with spermicide because they learned that a condom with spermicide makes it much less likely you’ll get a girl pregnant.”
 
Still, while plenty of schools provide excellent sexual education courses, there are schools with inadequate sex ed curricula. Some teach abstinence only; some teach nothing at all.
 
“For me, now, the most important thing about sexual education is how to have safe sex and how to say no. I think the hardest thing, and most important thing, is learning how to have a two-sided consensual agreement, where both people understand what the other person wants. I would call what we had reproduction education, not sex education,” said Hannah Ware, a University of Pennsylvania senior who attended private high school in Alabama.