Sex Education

Name : Thi Tong

PHE 335U Human Sexuality

SEX EDUCATION

I learned and shaped the meaning of sex from many sources in my life except my parents. In my twenty three years of existence, I have never talked with my parents and other family members about sex. Because I have lived and grown up in an Asian family where sex is never mentioned or discussed in an open way, I learned and looked for information from my friends, school and the internet. From my family, the topic of sex is considered taboo and it is a sin to have sex before marriage. By doing this, one loses the family’s honor. That is the main reason why I have always though of sex as inappropriate and only acceptable when people are married. However, began to learn about sex when I reached 14 years old, at the same time I learned about menstruation, female and male sex organs in my first sex education class. I also grasped knowledge about sex from my friend who told me many real experiences of theirs. Last but not least, the internet is one of my favorite sources where I was able to find a lot of helpful information about sexual safety and health.

Sexual education was first introduced to me when I was in high school. My high school sex program talked a lot about puberty and some types of remarkable problems I might experience while going through puberty. Specifically, they talked a lot about menstruation which is one of the signs that girls are becoming women. Also, breasts develop as the result of the stimulation of hormones in the body. In addition, my school emphasized abstinence over sexual activity. They also mentioned sex is one of many dangerous activities that can lead to severe consequences such as sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), AIDS or even pregnancy. In this class, I was given condoms and shown how to use them. Teachers also provided information on birth control and disease transmission in sex. This class helped prepare me as I matured into a sexually healthy...