Video Transcription
SEX ED: What topics do we need to talk about more?
In Latrobe, the latest national survey on sexual health found that more than half of high school students thought that sex ed at their school wasn’t very relevant. A similar survey found that many teachers feel like they’re not given enough time to teach sex ed. Topics they’d like to see covered more include respectful relationships, same-sex attraction, pleasure, communication, decision-making, and contraception.
Now, Project Rockit is Australia’s youth-driven movement against bullying, and we know that the topics not covered in sex ed can lead to bullying. So, while we’re obviously not experts, we reckon that a great place to start is for us to at least list the important concepts so that you can start the conversations.
We’re gonna fly through this. First up is sex. Often, we’re taught that only one physical act counts as sex, but really it’s different for different people. It depends on your generation, your culture, your religion, your gender, your sexuality, your ability, and obviously, there are heaps of personal factors as well. But even just naming that can reduce some of the shame or unhealthy competition or pressure around sex.
Which brings us to consent. Whether someone agrees to sexual activity, it’s obviously never cool to pressure them. So, do chat to your friends or a trusted adult about what consent, or lack of, might look like. Learn ways to seek active consent, which is just asking, “Do you want to do this?” or “Do you want this to stop?” There are also ways that you can slow things down, like saying, “Hey, let’s take a break for a sec,” as well as indirect ways to stop someone who’s pressuring you, like pretending you’ve got to vomit.
Remember, not saying no doesn’t mean yes. They might want to say no but not be sure how or be saying no in other ways, like through their body language. Yeah, and consent plays out online as well. For example, if someone leaks a sexy pic that you sent to them privately, that person has violated your consent.
So, online sexuality could be another topic. Next up, bodies and puberty. What’s normal? Who knows? Often, we get this really narrow idea of what normal changes to our body throughout puberty look like. But the truth is, so many of us feel awkward or weird about our bodies while they’re changing, and that’s the part that is normal, right?
Then, sexual health—STIs and how to prevent them, safe sex, contraception, where and when to get sexual health checkups, that kind of thing. Next stop: sexual pleasure. What feels good for you? And this can be taboo for different people and cultures as well. Topics like masturbation, which is just one way that some people first work out what feels good for them.
I reckon it’s really important that you know what feels good for you, too. Then there’s relationship values, and there may be a clash between who we think’s hot and whether they treat us right. Remember, we don’t just choose relationships based on attraction, but also based on what’s healthy for us as people.
Finally, sexuality more broadly, which covers a spectrum of attraction or non-attraction to different people, genders, or the same gender, as well as the way you feel about yourself sexually. It might be an identity that you really connect with or a choice not to identify at all.
Yeah, and sexuality is different from gender, which is sort of the relationship you have with yourself and how you identify. But the way we express our sexuality can be influenced by gender norms, which is a really interesting conversation. And there are heaps of examples of how we expect different genders to behave sexually. For example, guys getting celebrated for things other girls might get shamed for.
Sex and sexuality can be huge themes throughout our lives, and we’re only just scraping the surface. But genuine conversations about these topics are so helpful in breaking down any shame. Yeah, sometimes bullying comes from keeping things unknown. So, the more we understand others and are cool with ourselves, the more accepting and inclusive we’ll be.
So, let’s talk about sex, baby. Let’s talk about you and me.
Video by Project Rockit
