By the time I was old enough to have sex education in school, I had already learned quite a bit. No I wasn't molested in any sort of way. I just stumbled upon masturbation kind of early. It was very innocent. I wasn't wearing any underwear with my jumpsuit, so the seam began rubbing me in a spot that to me, felt good. After that, I looked for ways to touch that same spot, never using my hands.
Now before the gasping and the "Oh my Gods", let me assure you that this doesn't happen to everyone, but indeed it happened to me. My next home lesson was by accident as well. I found a cool deck of cards in my older sister's duffel bag. These weren't just ordinary playing cards. These cards had no numbers or suits, but instead were replaced by a couple posing in various sexual positions. After taking them to school to make a few new friends, I showed them to my mother and told her I was grossed out by what I had found in my sister's bag. I must have ran off at the mouth for hours on how disgusting it was for men and women to be naked and doing such things for hours because eventually, my mother decided to sit me down and explain sex and human nature. It wasn't a cute kid story either. No it wasn't raunchy. It was just technical and to the point. I guess she didn't want me to become some asexual weirdo who thinks reproduction should only exist in tubes. Although the sex talk satisfied my curiosity about the taboo subject, I knew I still didn't quite understand but that was okay. I knew what sex was.
By the time I started receiving sex education in school, it all seemed sort of watered down. I was such a big know-it-all, that additional information didn't benefit me. I knew what a penis, a vagina, a period and the fallopian tubes were. No one could tell me anything new. What was left out was the emotional baggage and consequences of having sex was. No one at school or home really talked about why people have sex and that you don't have to do it if you don't want to. When I reached thirteen and fourteen, I was just taught not to do it or else you go to hell. Hormones where something to be controlled until marriage and then you could let loose with your spouse. My parents pretended that teens didn't sneak off to be alone and eventually get caught up in kissing and grinding. Although school teaches the basics and technicality of sex, I feel that it is up the parents to go deeper into the subject. Positions and such are not necessary, but from my experience, I think that several good talks from both mom and dad could have spared me a few bad decisions. Had dad told me himself that a guy loses interest in a girl afterwards if she gives it up too soon, I might have held out much longer before giving in to the cute guy instead of having sex because I felt I had to. He should have told me not to feel guilty for giving a guy, blue balls and to never feel obligated to do anything. Part of sex education should be about self-esteem as well. Moms and dads should let their daughters know that a guy who claims that he's no longer interested because he couldn't have sex with you was never interested in you in the first place. Moms should let their daughters know that it's okay to feel bad if a guy rejects you for holding out, but not to have sex just to please him. Dads should let their sons know that they don't have to cave in to peer pressure and that girls have feelings to, so not to mistreat them.
As far as STD's go? I think a few blow up pictures of those nasty little side effects would've helped a bit. No one really made a big issue out of herpes, HPV, or PID. They mostly spoke about AIDS. I remember when I was in high school we got a visitor to speak to us horny teens. She was HIV+ and didn't fit the image of an infected person not one bit. After hearing her story we were all shook up and I remember being extra cautious of who I slept with and using double protection. Although HIV remains to be the main disease topic of choice, I feel more emphasis need to be made on all of them because you assume the others aren't as serious. That is until you get a case of an ugly and painful break out.
All in all, I feel that sex education needs to be well rounded. It's a subject definitely not to be ignored at home or in the schools. A big chunk of it should be taught from the parents, especially the emotional strain of it. The positions, you can learn on your own. No one wants to hear mom and dad's top ten, but that's just my two cents.