I’m 22, our fine school program remains fresh in my mind. And my friends and I have been there through the good and bad. School, in it’s own nature, is not the kindest social environment. Thankfully the opportunity for education, often wins out over the uglier elements. Of course, teachers, like students, can only do so well with the tools provided. Talking with my friends and their opinions, we all agree that the Sex Ed course is in need of a massive update.
I’m relieved to hear that the new course will be less vague and more neutral on topics like abstinence, pregnancy, puberty, condoms and consent. All with the goal of making sex safer, not more confusing.
But to me, the most needed change is the addition of same sex relationships. By the time a student reaches grade 7, he is already hit with a barrage of homophobic slurs (that I won’t print here) that sadly form a dangerous mindset that being gay is abnormal and “freakish”. Of all the changes that need to be made to Sex Ed, it needs to assert that being gay is okay. Same sex marriage is legal nationwide, our education should act accordingly.
Nathan Carter Gatten