I can barely recall my sex education in during my primary education. I went to private school from K-3rd grade and then again from 9th-12th, so that luxurious gap in a public middle school is what supposedly gave me the how-to on sex.
I am was probably better off heading into high school straight out of public school sex ed than many of my incoming classmates who had to suffer through sex ed in a private school… with a nun as their teacher. I probably remember LESS from my private high school education than middle school. Although our high school didn’t have a nun who was willing to teach a bunch of 13 year old freshmen, my high school still managed to ignore most of the small stuff (the important stuff) and taught abstinence-only education.
All this taken into account, my research on sexual activity in college has brought me back to my high school and middle school sex education classes. I have realized that looking at research of STDs, STIs, pregnancy, condom use, etc., is all fine and dandy except for the fact that it is missing the fact that everyone learns about this a little differently. Some schools don’t teach it at all – saying no sex is the only sex you’ll get to have until you’re married.
This is a dental dam.
Safe sex may seem like common sense, but I know so many people who don’t do it. Many of my girl friends think birth control is the way to go because then you’ll never have to use a condom – bare is better! Or my friend who is allergic to latex and throws out the idea of condoms all together (latex-free condoms are just too hard to find). Oh… and no one has ever used dental dams except at the dentist. I think the issue, the gap, in my research is that people are stupid.
This is a condom.
But why are people stupid? The answer: because they aren’t educated.