👀 Of the birds and the bees
#141 | When the only teachers are online
Hey there,
Heard of Sex Education? Not the Netflix series, which I confess to not having watched. (Sorry, Scully, it really should have been called Sex Files.) But the actual process of educating young ones about sex, sexuality, anatomy, reproduction, the whole shebang.
If you’ve been following Just One Thing for a while, you’ll probably know that I’m the resident senior citizen. Sex education is a term I became familiar with much later than I should have.Â
We had ZERO sex education in school. At home, conversations about sex and everything associated were taboo for parents and extended family. So, no, we didn’t get taught about the birds and the bees.
Even today, across the sub-continent, sex education in most schools is either absent or better left absent, leaving young people no option but to get their information from dubious sources. Globally too, increased radicalisation, like in the US has led to cancellation of sex education as a topic across schools.Â
Societal, cultural, and, lately, political mores have made sex education increasingly distant for newer generations of young people.
Thankfully, we have the Internet where there still are forums talking sensibly about sex.
One of these forums, one of the oldest in this space is Sex, Etc. It began as a print newsletter in 1994 before migrating to an online avatar in 1999. The best bit about Sex, Etc. is that all the content on the site is written by young adults who can only contribute until they turn 20. It’s all very thoughtfully done, though – writers undergo training and counselling sessions with sex ed professionals before generating content for the site.Â
Primarily focussed on issues relevant to the YA population in America, Sex, Etc. is nonetheless an excellent resource for young people everywhere to learn more about their bodies, desires, and safe and consensual sex.
If you have a teen or pre-teen in your life, I encourage you to share this with them so they can expand their knowledge. Because schools and society are failing them miserably.
Baaa.