EDITORIAL: Sex literacy is a necessity

While there are programs that emphasize academic responsibility, there are a few, if any, that thoroughly provide sexual literacy and information for students. The brief skit performed at freshman orientation does nothing to pro9vide a clear picture of what consent really is.

It doesn’t explain that consent can be taken away at any point, that it must be explicitly provided when engaging in a sexual act, or that someone under the influence cannot provide consent.

It does nothing to include the narratives of LGBTQA students and address the issues they face.

While the freshman experience class does give students information on finding the clinic anywhere to get free condoms and dental dams, it does not go beyond these measures to inform students of the nuances of sex.

Student Health Services’ genital-shaped characters does little more than provide a comical representation of body parts. At the university level, it is imperative to provide students with more information about sex, consent and responsibility.

Too often a student enters higher education with nothing more than abstinence-only education. For the first time in many students’ lives, we are given complete freedom once we enter college.

Living on campus, we’re given the freedom to go out and invite whomever we want. Universities around the nation have already implemented sexual literacy courses that are mandatory for students.

This editorial board feels it is the University’s responsibility to implement one within its curriculum. We also demand an inclusion of LGBTQA specific information to be included in the courses.

As part of the It’s On Us campaign, the University has made a promise to students to do what it can to prevent sexual violence. This is a necessary step towards living up to that promise.

 

Photo taken from Flickr.

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