The real sex ed
Source: The LaCrosse Tribune By KJ LANG Sarah Frey emptied her large bag of condoms, spermicide and other contraceptives on the table in front of her. "This is all the stuff Mary Poppins doesn't carry in her bag," she joked. Frey, a nurse practitioner and medical service manager with Options Clinic, prides herself in speaking frankly with students about sex education. She did just that Wednes-day during a panel discussion at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. "Not teaching children about sexuality, contraception and sexually transmitted infections is leaving them unprotected," she said. Abstinence is just one part of comprehensive sexual education, which a lot of students aren't getting, said Frey. To prove her point, she asked the approximately 30 students in the room if they knew what abstinence means. All raised their hands. But when she asked if they had heard about Implanon - a form of contraception inserted just under the skin of the arm - only two raised their hands. "This is the problem. There is one message - it's abstinence, and you didn't get the rest of the story," she told students. The lack of information in high school about sex education led the UW-L student group Students for Choice to organize the panel discussion. "The idea for this event started because a lot of freshmen in the dorms didn't understand where they could get contraceptives because there is not a lot of awareness or knowledge about it," said Elizabeth Ward, Students for Choice president. She also hears a lot of misinformation, such as that people can't get sexually transmitted infections from oral sex. It's not safe to have those myths circulating when the Centers for Disease Control reports almost one in four females age 14 to 19 has a sexually transmitted infection. Ward said Students for Choice supports the Healthy Youth Act, a bill the state Assembly passed in early November that would require any school districts that provide sex education make it a comprehensive program, including proper use of birth control. In other words, they can't just teach abstinence. A companion bill is in the state Senate. It also would need Gov. Jim Doyle's signature to become law. Frey and Tracy Caravella, associate professor in UW-L's health education and health promotion department, said schools aren't the only ones responsible for teaching kids about sex. Parents need to start out talking with their kids at a young age, and then continue the conversations about relationships and sexuality as they get older as opposed to one monumental "sex talk," she said. Simply saying, "Don't do it because you'll get an STI" isn't helpful, said Frey. Kids are tired of hearing about what is dangerous and bad, she said. "We are all sexual beings," said Caravella. "Saying you need to put this part of you on hold - for some people that works. For others, it is not going to work."
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