Pacer Pillowtalk: Let's talk sexual health
Sexual health tends to be a delicate topic, but the lack of education and voices on the subject have the potential to be harmful.
There are differing opinions on what is classified as sexual health, causing potential problems when trying to educate others on the topic.
When addressing sexual health, a few misconceptions need to be clarified: what is sexual health, what is included and why is it important to discuss?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the definition of sexual health is the “physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality.”
Sexuality is the act of having sex or partaking in any sexual activity. Sexual health is not limited to diseases, dysfunction or infertility.
When learning about sexual health, people need to be open-minded, respectful and have a positive attitude towards sex.
Sexual health is used to educate people about sexuality, sexual relationships, pleasure, safety, coercion, discrimination, violence, diseases, dysfunction, and infertility. With that in mind, topics such as STI’s, contraception, protection, sexual products (for example: sex toys, lubricants, washes), safety, cleanliness, consent and violence prevention are important.
The goal of sex education is to inform individuals about STI’s, reduce unplanned teen pregnancies, know what is and is not consent and to help keep sexually active people safe: physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.
In the United States, STI’s have increased at alarming rates. According to the CDC, Chlamydia has had a 19% increase since 2014. Gonorrhea has increased 63% following 2014. Both primary and secondary strains of syphilis have increased 71% after 2014 and congenital syphilis has increased 185% since 2014.
“Sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates in the U.S. are at a record high for the fourth year in a row, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
Also according to the CDC, “ … the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations.”
Instead of ignoring the topic of sexual health and hoping that it goes away, people should be more open to educating and being educated about the topic. Discussing the different areas of sexual health could potentially save lives, reduce teen pregnancy, reduce the spread of STI’s and help people be safer when engaging in sexual activities.
A survey was created and posted to allow the students of USC Aiken the opportunity to express their view on discussing sexual health. Here are the results of that survey.
