As uncomfortable as it is to talk about sex ed, it is crucial to educate teens on the topic. 

As freshmen, we are introduced to a plethora of new sex ed material. From consent and healthy relationships to sexual development and sexual orientation to sexual health and interpersonal violence. These are important topics that benefit younger students. 

Yet, wellness classes often don’t cover topics in depth that are necessary to discuss.  

Here at Lake Forest High School, we are only required, by state law, to take one semester of health education, and coincidentally freshman year Wellness for Life fulfills that requirement. That is the only class where students are required to be taught to the National Sex Education Standard (NSES).  

But who is really going to remember all of this information years after 9th grade? 

An important concept I learned this year in my AP Psychology class was retrieval and retrieval cues. If a child is not rehearsing the information they want to retain repeatedly, the information will start to decay and they will no longer be able to retrieve the things they wish to remember.

In simple terms – if we are not reintroducing the important information contained in sex ed more than once in high school, the chances of us as students remembering this information is unfortunately low. 

I believe that the high school should implement another health requirement for students in their senior year as they are preparing to go off to college. Upperclassmen, many of whom are on the verge of leaving home for college, should be required to learn about sexual education more than once during their high school experience. 

The stakes are too high to simply provide the minimum one year, freshmen curriculum. 

Advanced health is an option for juniors and seniors but that should be a requirement. 

Students discuss parenthood, abortion, and sexual assault, as well as revisiting some of the important topics that we learned about during freshman year, like contraception. 

As a woman, I feel that those topics are imperative to review before entering a time of newly acquired freedom. 

Other topics I believe we should cover are date-rape, sexual assault on college campuses, roofying and drugs, and other unfortunate topics that young adults commonly face.  While I was introduced to some of these ideas in my junior year Law Honors course, I chose to take that class.

According to RAINN, among undergraduate students, 26.4% of women, and 6.8% of men experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. Male college students age (18-24) are 78% more likely than non-college students of the same age to be raped or sexually assaulted. 

Researchers analyzed survey data from multiple colleges: The University of South Carolina, the University of Kentucky, and The University of Cincinnati. 462 students reported being drugged at least once in their past academic year. 79% of these responses were by women.

 If we were to become educated on the topics of drugging, women could possibly become more vigilant of those around their drinks, and what their drink looks like. As most of the drugs used to spike drinks are colorless and odorless, learning tips on going out in groups/with friends or knowing someone who works at the place you are going to can help you if you end up in one of these horrendous situations.

Not only do these things affect someone physically, but also mentally. According to Dr. Kilpatrick, almost ⅓ (31%) of all rape survivors develop PTSD sometime during their lifetime,  survivors are also 6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD than women who have never been victims of crime. 

33% of rape victims have said they have seriously considered committing suicide, and they are 13.4 times more likely to develop major alcohol problems. 

Learning about how to protect yourself and others in these circumstances should not be an option. The number of women that can be protected from the statistics above by reinstating more health requirements could be vast. 

I understand that our school has adopted the national standards, but nowhere does it say there is a maximum on the amount of required health education credits we must receive. 

When students start to venture onto the web, they can stumble upon heaps of misinformation. 

It is essential to provide young adults with the information necessary to make safe, informed decisions. This can only be achieved through an increase in sexual education requirements at the high school.