Sex education is about so much more than just sex. A 4-year-old can learn that he has the right to control who touches him. A 6-year-old can learn the correct names of her body parts, so she is able to more accurately report abuse. We can teach 9-year-olds to understand that they can like a toy regardless of whether it's a "girl's" or "boy's" color.
At Advocates for Youth, where I lead creative programs to educate and mobilize youth, we believe sex ed should start early in a child's life as a critical component of their education, just like math and history. It should include topics like consent, puberty, body image, and healthy relationships. One health class in high school is not enough, and all students—including LGTBQ+ students—deserve to see themselves and their futures reflected in curricula.
Our curriculum is called "3Rs" (Rights, Respect, and Responsibility) and was designed in collaboration with medical professionals to convey age-appropriate information that helps young people develop the essential knowledge they need to navigate growing up. The most important components of sex education include lesson plans designed to help young people delay sex initiation, distinguish between healthy and unhealthy relationships, understand the concepts of consent and bodily autonomy, use protection when they do have sex, and build their communication and decision-making skills.
Advocates for Youth has also partnered with two other sexual health organizations (Answer and Youth Tech Health) to launch AMAZE, a set of animated videos about key concepts for 10- to 14-year-olds, parents, and educators, and amaze jr., a set of videos and resources for parents to watch with their 4- to 9-year-olds. The goal is to create more inclusive, factual, and engaging content to fill in the gaps created by our country's patchwork quilt of sex ed policies.
To read more of Lincoln Mondy's article, please click here.
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