Making Sexual Education Less of a Taboo One Class at a Time

SEX
Noun: sex; plural noun: sexes
(Chiefly with reference to people) sexual activity, including specifically sexual intercourse.
Synonyms: sexual intercourse, intercourse, lovemaking, making love

Are you able to use the word without hesitation or shame? Even in today's very open and free culture, sex is a very taboo topic. I want to change that fact!

Many young people engage in sexual risk behaviors that can result in unintended health outcomes. According to the CDC's 2015 survey on teen sexual risk behavior, many young people engage in sexual risk behaviors that can result in unintended health outcomes. For example, among U.S. high school students surveyed 41% had ever had sexual intercourse, 30% had had sexual intercourse during the previous 3 months, and, of these 43% did not use a condom the last time they had sex.

My favorite task as a Health Educator at Erie Family Health Center - Clemente and Westside is coordinating and teaching sexual education. This service term, my fellow Erie NHC Chicago members and I have been working very hard to break down the taboo of sex. We want youth to be educated about the topic of safe sex before they engage in unsafe sexual practices, and even after. It is never too late to learn about sexual health.

After teaching a class on safe sex and contraception, I was pleasantly surprised by two students wanting to learn more about birth control. I was able to answer questions that they had and offer some of my own personal experiences with birth control. I let them know that it was okay to wait and think about what method was best for their lifestyles. After the conversation, we parted ways. The next day, one of the providers at the clinic let me know that several other students had come to the clinic and decided to start birth control and stated they had learned about them from me! I was absolutely elated that I could reach these students and that they are willing to trust me enough to value and retain the information that I am able to supply them.

During the remainder of my service term, I plan on working with Clemente to introduce more opportunities for students to have safe and open discussions about safe sex and healthy relationships. One resource that I hope to use is Between Friends. Between Friends is a nonprofit agency dedicated to breaking the cycle of domestic violence and building a community free of abuse. I also will continue to work with my fellow Erie AmeriCorps members to provide the best sexual education classes that we can.  I have learned so much more from the students that I work with than I could ever teach to them. I am so very excited to see the lessons that I will learn in the New Year.

This blog post was written by NHC Chicago 2016-17 member Patricia Braboy.

Patricia is a Health Educator at Erie Family Health Center - Clemente and Westside.