Students are Most Affected by Sex Ed, So Why Aren’t Our Voices at the Center?

As I approach my high school graduation, I have been considering the role sex education has played in both personal and academic sides of my life. Between my own experiences receiving sex ed, serving as a peer sex educator, and advocating for better sex ed policy statewide through committee participation and legislative testimony, much of my teen years have been shaped by sex education. Drawing from these experiences, I have learned that real improvements to sex education policy and teaching practices must include student voices. We are the ones with questions and we are the ones who deserve answers that serve us as real, whole people in an increasingly difficult world. 

I was lucky enough to receive a fairly decent sex education through the Our Whole Lives program at my church, but my health education experience within my public school system was grossly inadequate. In middle school, I received no health education whatsoever. In 10th grade I was enrolled in a required every-other day health class, taught by a non-certified teacher. During this semester-long course, we spent one day on sexual health. We briefly discussed STI’s, birth control and consent, all in 70 minutes with very little time for questions.  Like many sex education experiences kids get in Minnesota, mine contained a mix of high and low quality conversations and no consistency whatsoever.

Even though I am lucky enough to have received a great health education through my church, Minnesota students should not rely on luck and circumstance to dictate the level of health education they receive. 

As a peer sex educator, I often saw huge disparity in the knowledge my peers had. Once, while teaching a puberty class I had a 4th grader tell the class about how she had been developing breast buds and how that was a sign that her body was nearing puberty. In that same class I had another student ask if it was ok to tell his auntie that he didn't like being cuddled anymore, and if that would hurt her feelings. These two kids, in the very same class, had two drastically different knowledge about consent, anatomy and puberty. It was my goal in that class, and in every class I enter to bridge that gap for Minnesota students. 

My background in sex ed made me a good fit for the Minnesota State Health Standards Development Committee. In this group assembled by the Minnesota Department of Education, we were charged with developing the state’s first ever set of academic standards in health (only one other state in the country lacks these statewide standards in health education–get on it Ohio). 

While on the committee, I was faced with the reality that oftentimes youth voices are not considered in the shaping of their education. Even the best intentioned (and largely middle-aged white women) groups of education leaders cannot create standards or benchmarks for students today because they are not students today. The value that students—elementary through college—bring to these conversations about their own education is far more than symbolic, it is truly essential to shape sex education that meets us where we actually are. 

Students bring lived experience to the table, and when considering health education, lived experiences are one of the most valuable elements to the equation. Additionally, student voices are better equipped to break through to other students, when talking about sensitive subjects, oftentimes people prefer to hear things from their peers rather than an outside presence. 

The best thing about sex ed advocacy is that it doesn't have to be hard! Within your own communities I encourage young people to take action that feels possible for you.

Consider some of these ideas:

1. Have conversations with your peers about what you would like to see in classrooms.

2. Sign up and speak at your district’s school board meetings. 

3. Write a letter to your administration asking for accurate health education! 

4. Don’t let adults speak for you!

5. Find reliable health education resources and share them with your friends.

6. Follow @honestsexedmn on Instagram to stay up to date with sex ed policy in Minnesota! 

Minnesota students should not have to rely on luck and circumstances to receive the education they deserve. We are the ones sitting in classrooms, and our lived experience is the most valuable tool we have to change the system. 

Consider this your invitation to speak out. Talk to your peers, your families, your teachers, your friends. Today, tomorrow, everyday. Your voice has power. It is essential to this work we do.