Include teens in the sex ed discussion

By Caitlyn Caruso, Las Vegas

Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 | 2 a.m.

As a Clark County School District high school student, I know our current sex education is failing us. I joined the Nevada Teen Health and Safety Coalition to ensure youths in Clark County are better empowered to stay healthy by making informed, responsible decisions about their lives. Schools have a responsibility to provide medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education in Nevada.

Recent conversations about sex education have been overcrowded by parents. The numbers and the faces of this issue are being ignored. This isn’t about teen sex but teen health. According to the Southern Nevada Health District, in 2012, females ages 15-19 living in Clark County had sexually transmitted infection rates five times higher than adults.

Nobody is more affected by this than youths. In 2013, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey reported that 63.7 percent of Clark County students in the 12th grade have had sex. Teaching sex ed in school is the only way some students will learn about their sexual health.

Sex education is more than preventing pregnancies and STIs. A balanced conversation must include topics such as rape and violence prevention; delaying/refraining from sex; establishing boundaries; and receiving updated, accurate medical information. Even further, it is about healthy relationships and how to understand consent. We are being denied life-saving information we are desperately in need of.

Every student matters. Our voices are being left out of this conversation. We need updated and improved sex education because, quite frankly, our lives depend on it.