Sex ed is required by law: have you taken it Carrillo?

AI-generated image depicting education on the world (Image generated by Kevin Wei using Bing AI Image Creator)

By Heyman Luong, staff writer and, Kevin Wei, staff writer

For all Maria Carrillo High School students out there: Have you ever received any formal sexual education at MCHS? You may notice a troubling trend—very few students in our school have received high-school-level sex education. And that’s a problem, one that can have severe detrimental effects on the development of students.

Sexual education is not simply telling students to abstain. It should teach a student how to be safe. Sex is risky; everyone must know how to avoid possibly life-threatening sexually transmitted infections, enforce important moral concepts like consent, and allow students to explore gender and sexual orientation.

The importance of sexual education is even stressed on a legal level. On January 1, 2016, the California Healthy Youth Act was passed. It “requires that students in grades 7-12 receive comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education at least once in middle school and once in high school.” We’ll say it again: California public schools are required by law to provide comprehensive sexual education at least once in middle and once in high school. But MCHS has only started teaching Sex Ed in the mandatory freshmen Physical Education classes this year, seven years after the act was passed. So what happens to the people who never received any sexual education?

One of the first things that comes to mind regarding sex education is safety. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 650,000 people died of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2021. HIV is described as a “major global public health issue” by the WHO. Despite the danger of HIV, data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) says that only “34% of young people around the world can demonstrate accurate knowledge of HIV prevention and transmission.”

When students were asked whether or not they have gotten sexual education, MCHS student Ryan Li stated, “No [I have not gotten Sex Ed]. I [have been] here since freshman year, and I’m a senior now.” When asked about how much he was educated in high school about HIV/AIDS, he replied, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing…[The] last time I was educated was in seventh grade, and that was the last time we talked about sexually transmitted diseases.” And a middle school education is not nearly enough to keep students safe, protected, or educated. Many other students share Li’s experience. By not providing any option for formal sexual education to these students, MCHS is cheating hundreds of students out of education more widely applicable than, for example, knowing the unit circle or how to calculate angular momentum.

A secondary concern is that people often believe that sexual education is a topic that can be learned on one’s own; however, this can often give incorrect information. Multiple anonymous students from MCHS even admitted to Puma Prensa reporters that a significant source of their sexual education came from pornography. Learning how sex works through porn is like learning about family dynamics through Game of Thrones: everything is exaggerated and can set up unhealthy views of just about everything. Pornography can enforce gender stereotypes and harmful behavior, and the inadequacy of a thorough education, especially in these scenarios, can be a severe detriment. Without proper sexual education, solely viewing pornography can drastically warp their perception of a healthy relationship—according to a report by New Zealand’s Education Review Office, they found that “that many young people in New Zealand are learning about sex through pornography,” which “creates unhealthy views about sex and relationships, and is leading young people to engage in physically and emotionally risky behaviors.” And regardless of the location, the effects of pornography will be similar. However, quality sex education is designed to educate people constructively and counter this. One of the goals of the California Healthy Youth Act is to “develop healthy attitudes concerning adolescent growth and development, body image, gender, sexual orientation, relationships, marriage, and family.”

No information regarding accurate and accessible birth control is a third concern with the lack of sexual education. In the U.S., just under 150,000 teen births occurred in 2021, as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Often teen pregnancy comes with a difficult decision: abortion or raising a child that could be difficult or impossible to support. Teen pregnancies can be devastating, especially without proper education.

MCHS puts many students at risk of consequences from a lack of education—something that should never happen in a school. They are at risk of life-threatening STIs. They are at risk of unhealthy views of sexuality, relationships, and their own body. They are at risk of unwanted pregnancies.

As a student grows up, their missing sexual education becomes more and more apparent. They lack information, gender awareness, safety, resources, and relationship preparedness. It becomes a severe problem. It is unacceptable. So what can be done?

First and foremost, MCHS should at least offer an optional, high-quality sexual education resources for all students, not just freshmen, because hundreds of next year’s juniors and seniors haven’t gotten proper sexual education. And we cannot just be letting them go. At least for next year, easily accessible resources encourage students to learn more than if they were forced to learn independently. Without the proper resources, it’s difficult for students to learn even if they want to. One is much more likely to read a book in the middle of their study table than a book locked away in a library. This truth applies to sexual education as well. If MCHS gave all students clear opportunities to learn sexual education, students would greatly benefit. Even if freshmen go through sexual education, it is essential for them to be able to easily review what they learned if they forget something and need reliable information.

Along with this, Carrillo should have a brief, mandatory sexual education mini-course, possibly during Advo—not enough to take up major amounts of time and put students behind, but at least the significant concepts and information in sexual education that establishes a bare minimum of education, spread over a few weeks or months to not burden students.

Without further education, many MCHS youth are set up to fail. And to ensure the safety of hundreds of students, now must be the time to demand sexual education.