This class has opened my eyes to a variety of issues that need to be addressed on campus. I have always been passionate about reproductive health, and ever since coming to college, I realize that there is a very small number of people on this campus who truly understand reproductive health and how important it is. Also, when I think of reproductive health, I am also thinking of sexual health education, more commonly known as Sex. Ed. I think that students need better access to reproductive health and sexual health education resources.
I think that incoming college students do not understand the importance of reproductive and sexual health education in college. Many people view “hook-up culture” as an important part of their college experiences. To be able to safely participate in “hook-up culture,” students need to have a good understanding of sexual and reproductive health.
Incoming students to Davidson have to complete a Sexual Health and Sexual Misconduct course for orientation. However, this course only touches a certain parts of sexual health, and focuses on it through a very cis-gender, heteronormative lens. Davidson has a strong population of LGBTQ+ identifying students. Davidson claims to have and support a “number of student-led organizations that promote advocacy and acceptance of its students, faculty, and staff as well as members of the greater community.” All of these organizations, such as Queer and Allies, provide a great support system for LGBTQ+ students on campus, but the college is still lacking support in the area of sexual health for LGBTQ+ students.
Most Davidson students also come in with little sexual health education. I went to a very progressive high school and still only recieved a week of sex ed. freshman year. It promoted abstinence by saying that “the only way to truly prevent pregnancy is by not having sex.” To create a sexually healthier population, people need to acknowledge that college students have sex and create resources that make sure they are practicing safe sex and understanding reproductive health.
Davidson has the health advisors program which focuses on sexual health, while also teaching students about mental health and safe drinking culture. This program is an amazing resource. However, I think that Davidson needs a specific program for sexual education. It could be a subprogram of the Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) club on campus, or a completely separate organization. It would be called Davidson Sex Ed (DSE) and would be comprised of students who are passionate about sexual and reproductive health who would work, in collabortion with administrators, to put together an inclusive and informative sexual health education program. DSE would then go into PCC organizations (it would count as an EDU credit) and educate members on sexual health. These conversations would include how to practice safe sex, forms of birth control, support systems on campus, and where to find STD testing. Students would be able to request topics to learn about and DSE would make an anonymous form where students could submit questions related to sexual health and reproductive health. DSE can also redo the orientation sex. ed program to make it more informative and inclusive.
Once the program gets up and running on campus, it could possibly be expanded to local middle and high schools, so these students head off into the “real world” with a strong sexual education.
I think that having a strong sexual health education program on campus will make our campus a more comfortable and healthier place!
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