Are the senior sex ed modules really effective?
Cover of online sex ed modules (Madeleine Smith/ The Puma Prensa)
Written By: Madeleine Smith, staff writter
From stereotypical cartoon characters to limited explanations of necessary topics, the sex education modules for this year’s seniors hardly met the mark for enjoyment and education. Seniors were required to complete these online lessons to meet the sexual health education standards set by the state, but how much did they really learn—or even listen?
As a part of education requirements for students, the California Healthy Youth Act (CHYA) states that students must be provided sex ed once in middle school and once in high school. The CHYA also commands that students receive a comprehensive education, which includes discussions of anatomy, consent, abstinence, sexual orientation and gender, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and much more.
Despite the state’s dedication to sexual health, this year’s seniors have not revisited the topic since their elementary years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the classes of 2025 were only in middle school for six months, and missed the health traditionally taught in seventh grade. Going into high school, students are meant to participate in more health education lessons in freshman year. Seniors did not receive any sex ed until this year with these online modules. All grades before the class of 2024 were not taught any sexual health lessons in high school.
The digital lessons were first offered last year, to cover those seniors’ required education before graduation. To do so, the Santa Rosa City Schools District made a deal with Planned Parenthood to use their online instruction for two years – for the classes of 2024 and 2025. This was meant to ensure that these students were educated correctly – and that the SRCS high schools were meeting the state requirements – and following those grades, students should be receiving sex ed in their freshman PE classes. However, that sex ed may not be comprehensive at all.
The modules offered by Planned Parenthood do meet the state requirements for comprehensive education, but the format of the lessons is off-putting to many Maria Carrillo High School students. Parts of the lessons were taught in cartoons, which many seniors felt were unnecessary and awkward. Max Cook, a senior at MCHS, said the cartoons were “dumb enough that I didn’t do [the lessons].” Another senior, Stella Lightheart agreed and said, “In trying to make it more palatable… they removed the actual important bits.”
Character from sex ed modules picking out new clothes (Madeleine Smith/The Puma Prensa)
It wasn’t just the format of content that made these modules less effective, but the lack of detail in certain explanations. Lightheart says, “I felt like they didn’t go as in depth as they could have… The overview of anatomy was so basic. The point of the course is to teach us about our bodies [but] I feel like they need a better diagram and labeling.”
If students don’t want to pay attention because of awkward characters and are not learning details of essential topics, the modules aren’t doing as much as the District thinks they are. This senior class especially needs this education because they haven’t learned any of it in a school setting in seven years.
Education is proven more effective in person than online anyway, so if these modules aren’t working, why rely on technology to teach students such a fundamental topic? Students should be receiving the best schooling possible, but SRCS hasn’t shown any real dedication to teaching students about sexual health. If kids are expected to be prepared for adulthood by the time they leave high school, the higher-ups need to put more effort into providing the education necessary to be successful. As Lightheart explained, “We live in a society that demonizes sexual health… but that’s why we need to learn about it.”