COLUMN: Information is the safest
Many of the assumptions and opinions expressed in the recent arguments about sex in The Statesman are the reasons why we even have such arguments. Many opinions have been stated as fact, and that is a dangerous thing.
No matter what your beliefs, the only safe “way” is information. All too often, people mistake their beliefs or opinions for facts, ignoring other possibilities.
One person in this argument stated that “armed with condoms, one could conceivably have sex with everyone on campus and none of these encounters would end in an STD or a pregnancy.
That is a dangerously misinformed assumption.
There are some STDs that don’t need any fluid contact, which is all the condom really prevents.
Remember, this is not to say don’t use them, or that they aren’t effective, just that no one should assume that nothing can go wrong if they do use them.
One of the biggest mistakes society has made regarding this subject is lack of sexual education in schools, which is exactly how these assumptions begin.
Everyone has different beliefs on the subject, and some parents may not want their child to learn about it in school, but that’s why they have permission slips. My own experience has made me realize the importance of teaching about sex in school, and at an early enough time.
At my elementary school, kids started hearing and talking about sex on the playground in the third grade. Some of us had heard the word before, but it was often censored around us. That just made it more interesting to find out what it was all about — like it was some kind of big secret, or a game of some type.
Yet, somehow, through all the rumors on the playground (some of which turned out true, many of which were way off) no one ever mentioned pregnancy or diseases, we just knew that we knew something that we weren’t “supposed” to, and it sounded like fun. It wasn’t until around sixth grade that a lot of us realized that pregnancy had anything to do with sex.
That’s about three years of knowing how to do it, without knowing the consequences, and there have been many cases of 12-year-old girls, or even younger, who managed to get pregnant because of that gap in knowledge. Even though most of the kids had figured things out by this point, it wasn’t until five years later — 11th grade, junior year of high school — that I had the first actual sex education in a classroom, probably a little too late for the pregnant girl in the class.
Far too many people think that if kids aren’t taught sex, they won’t do it. Those are the same people who somehow don’t realize that if one kid on the playground knows, they all know, and if someone wants to have sex, they will. The part that doesn’t get spread around the playground is the aftermath — whether it’s the physical repercussions, or the emotional consequences. If kids aren’t taught these things by someone responsible, such as a teacher or a parent, they’ll figure it out for themselves — probably by experience.
For people who live in Utah, religious beliefs come heavily into play any time sex is mentioned in public. If you believe in that, more power to you. No one should be pressured into sex if he doesn’t feel right about it, whether for religious reasons or personal ones.
However, religious rants, and quotes from religious publications only mean anything to people who believe in that particular religion. For the rest of us, some wait until marriage, some wait until love, some don’t wait for anything. That’s their own business.
Whether trying to start a family, or sharing something with someone they love, does it really matter if they’re married? Only if that particular couple believes it does. Does it really matter if a child is born into a loving family before or after the couple is married? Again, only if that particular couple believes it does. When you meet someone, and ask him his name, where he’s from, his hobbies, do you also ask him if he was born in wedlock? Would his answer change who that person is? I really hope not.
Jason Robey is a senior majoring in public relations. Comments may be sent to jasonr@cc.usu.edu.