Spring Break
Wrap it up
Lauren Collins
Issue date: 3/26/09 Section: Opinion
Someone recently said that when the weather warms up, people immediately start thinking about sex.
Though the idea of an intimate embrace or a flirty fling seems appealing, sexual health and safety are sometimes forgotten.
This semester I am taking a sexual health course and it is interesting, overwhelming at times and informative. The course offers an array of information about sex, sexuality and sexual health, and the bulk of what many students thought they knew before entering the classroom was just a tiny slice of the pie.
Though talking about the subject varies from person to person, every student at ECU has had some experience with sex. Let's not confuse sexual experience with the act because they are two completely different things.
When it comes to sex, we all have a choice, and it is a personal decision affected by any number of factors. Regardless of sexual histories and futures, every student should be required to take this sexual health course. Aside from learning about one's own body and sexuality, the class offers the chance to familiarize oneself with the opposite sex, how to safely satisfy sexual interests and how to develop an overall awareness about sex and sexuality.
With far more than 100 students enrolled in the course, the students do not pour out of each class hungry for sex or experimentation. I personally tend to walk out of each class eager to share some random new fact with a stranger. On the first day of class, the professors assured each student that, regardless of what we think we know, there is a world of information about sex that we would discover over the course of the semester. Until this semester, I had no idea that Mr. Goodyear (yes, the tire man) designed the first condom, or that it is actually legal for men to have sex with female animals in Lebanon. Though interesting, these facts have little impact on a student's sexual decisions.
The statistics are the most imperative part of the course, and the facts don't lie! Though I have found myself holding back laughter and sometimes blushing in class, the brutal facts about sexual health have found many students reconsidering their sexual partners and interests. Statistically, women who use birth control, in efforts to prevent pregnancy, are less likely to use protective barriers during sex, but the pill will not protect a woman or her partner from transmitting STDs/STIs.
Though the idea of an intimate embrace or a flirty fling seems appealing, sexual health and safety are sometimes forgotten.
This semester I am taking a sexual health course and it is interesting, overwhelming at times and informative. The course offers an array of information about sex, sexuality and sexual health, and the bulk of what many students thought they knew before entering the classroom was just a tiny slice of the pie.
Though talking about the subject varies from person to person, every student at ECU has had some experience with sex. Let's not confuse sexual experience with the act because they are two completely different things.
When it comes to sex, we all have a choice, and it is a personal decision affected by any number of factors. Regardless of sexual histories and futures, every student should be required to take this sexual health course. Aside from learning about one's own body and sexuality, the class offers the chance to familiarize oneself with the opposite sex, how to safely satisfy sexual interests and how to develop an overall awareness about sex and sexuality.
With far more than 100 students enrolled in the course, the students do not pour out of each class hungry for sex or experimentation. I personally tend to walk out of each class eager to share some random new fact with a stranger. On the first day of class, the professors assured each student that, regardless of what we think we know, there is a world of information about sex that we would discover over the course of the semester. Until this semester, I had no idea that Mr. Goodyear (yes, the tire man) designed the first condom, or that it is actually legal for men to have sex with female animals in Lebanon. Though interesting, these facts have little impact on a student's sexual decisions.
The statistics are the most imperative part of the course, and the facts don't lie! Though I have found myself holding back laughter and sometimes blushing in class, the brutal facts about sexual health have found many students reconsidering their sexual partners and interests. Statistically, women who use birth control, in efforts to prevent pregnancy, are less likely to use protective barriers during sex, but the pill will not protect a woman or her partner from transmitting STDs/STIs.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Dr. Stephanie Buehler
posted 3/27/09 @ 11:24 PM EST
But it sounds like your class has a lot to do with "plumbing and prevention." Sex has so much to do with emotional attachment and bonding, self-expression, and play. (Continued…)
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