May is Sex Ed For All Month. This month is used as an opportunity to “voice our commitment to a world where all young people—no matter who they are or where they live—get the sex education they deserve.”
Formerly: Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month
This month was not always known as Sex Ed For All month – it used to be called Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. Why the change? Because sex ed isn’t just about preventing teen pregnancy, and we don’t want to perpetuate stigma against teen parents.
Young parents are not inherently bad parents, and this has never been our mindset when promoting adolescent sexual health education. But all young people deserve the right to learn about their bodies, their choices, and how to prevent pregnancy if that is the best option for them.
Not only that, but sex ed itself is not strictly focused on educating youth about prevention strategies. Comprehensive sex ed includes lessons on puberty, healthy relationships, consent, and decision-making. For this reason, an awareness month focused exclusively on teen pregnancy prevention didn’t fully encapsulate the powerful and positive impact sex educators pursue.
The Importance of Sex Ed For All in Oklahoma
Oklahoma does not require sex ed, and this poses a problem for all young people in our state.
Young people thrive when provided with empowering education in a safe and healthy environment. While that could be considered a universal statement, a few Oklahomans believe this empowering education should not include sex ed.
We LOVE the idea of parents having a substantial knowledge base on sexual health and the resources to educate their own children on those topics at age-appropriate stages. However, this is an unrealistic ask of most parents. Sex ed hasn’t historically or accurately been provided in this country, so we can’t expect parents to have that substantial knowledge. We also can’t expect parents to know what qualifies as “age appropriate,” because parents might have bias towards what is age-appropriate for their own kids. Comprehensive sex ed offered in schools often uses evidence-based or evidence-informed curricula, which determines what is age-appropriate based on research and evidence.
If sex ed is not offered in schools, young people may not be able to safely access this information anywhere else. Some parents may not be keen on having these conversations with their kids and prefer it to be done at school. Some parents may not have the capacity or may be absent from the home for various reasons. This is why the Sex Ed For All movement, and sex education itself, it so important.
How to Be an Advocate This Month
While we are always encouraging Oklahomans to learn more about sex ed and share information on the importance of sex ed, this month is especially important. By educating yourself and advocating for sex ed this month, you will be joining a national effort to see comprehensive sex ed implemented, supported, and mandated across the country.
So how can we make a difference?
- Educate yourself – Learn about what sex ed is currently like in Oklahoma, including policy limitations and the amazing organizations putting in the work to ensure young people are educated regardless of those policies. These groups include Teen Clinic by Variety Care, It’s My Community Youth Program and Teen Empower.
- Spread the word – Tell everyone. Tell them about what you learned and about restrictive and uninformed policies. Tell them about the work currently being done and about the organization spearheading direct service and making an impact in our state. Tell them about the hope for the future of sex ed and the greater power we have when we all work together.
- Donate what you can – If you don’t have the money to donate to a sexual health organization, that’s okay! Donate your time and energy by advocating and getting involved. Reach out to elected officials and stress the importance of promoting inclusive, medically accurate, age-appropriate, and accessible sexual health education. And if you can donate, any amount of money goes a long way for the collaboration!
