The theme for the sixth and last round of the Summer 100 Blog Challenge is Sex Education. Sex education seems to be a hot topic, both in the UK and in the US. Sadly, the people clamouring the most about sex education are the people who want to limit what our children will learn about sex. And that is a bad trend.
I grew up in a very conservative household. I went to a Christian school and only had Christian friends. My sex education, such as it was, was limited to my mother explaining in the vaguest terms possible what sex entailed and what it was for. I also received the standard biology lesson about human reproduction, although I would hardly consider that sex education. By the time I was 18, all I knew about sex was that it was necessary for having kids and you could only do it when you are married.
As you can imagine, this did not prepare me at all for when I had my first boyfriend. Of course, as luck would have it, my first boyfriend was not a Christian and was significantly older than me. He soon disabused me of the notion that sex was only for getting pregnant. He was not a bad boyfriend by any means, but my first foray into sex would have been so much better had I actually known what I was getting into.
These days I am awash with good sex advice thanks to many knowledgeable sex bloggers. Super Smash Cache has a great post with tips for a basic blowjob and Carly from Dildo or Dildon’t expands on that with her post on deepthroating. Fairy Cake’s Land provides some tips on roleplaying, which I really wish I had known years ago. But I had to navigate the world of sex without a map, and that is not great, to say the least.
People who are opposed to comprehensive sex education often seem to be afraid that good sex education will encourage their children to go out and have more sex. That is a fallacy, of course. Teenagers are going to have sex sooner or later. No amount of abstinence-only education is going to stop this. What sex education achieves is providing your children with some tools and safety advice so that when they embark upon their sexual journey, they are equipped to make their journey safe and pleasurable.
I firmly believe that bad (or non-existent) sex education contributes to the amount of sexual harassment women endure in their lives. If you never teach your girls how great sex can be, what feels good and what doesn’t, how to have bodily autonomy and how to fight for their rights, you are doing your daughters a great disservice. Likewise, boys need to be taught the importance of obtaining consent, the ways in which to give girls pleasure and the fact that sex is a two way street.
Sex is a big part of our lives. No matter how much you would like to deny it, we all have sexual encounters in our lives. We should therefore make sure that everyone has the tools and knowledge to make their sexual experience as positive as possible. You may not like the idea of your son or daughter having sex. You may be worried about the amount of teenagers who are sexually active. You may frown upon the teenage pregnancies you see around you. But you can’t stick your head in the sand and pretend sex doesn’t exist. That will only lead to misinformation and it will put your kids in harm’s way.
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Absolutly wonderful post. I just don’t understand the attitudes that still prevail about sex being taboo and how women are still not being taught about our right to sexual pleasure. It’s 2018 . Get mad and do this talk about it a lot. The Netherlands seems to be much more ahead with this and there teenagers and couples are much happier and the teen pregnancy rate is the lowest. Goes to show that even with clear evidence the USA at least still wont lift the ridiculous abstinence only advice. I really do hope the UK has this sorted and the new RSE is going to be spot on. I do think it would be better delivered by professionals in the filed rather that teachers in school . It would be way better and more consistent.
Great content! I definitely understand your point of view. I will check out the links too.