Let's Talk About Sex Ed: Examining Its Place and Purpose in Higher Education

About This Episode:

In many parts of the U.S., comprehensive sex education is startlingly absent. With only 16 states mandating contraception education, 34 states focusing primarily on abstinence, and 13 states lacking age-appropriate and evidence-based standards, the current landscape of sex education is fragmented. This disparity becomes even starker when considering that seven states legally prohibit LGBTQIA-inclusive sex ed.

The implications of this patchwork system go beyond high school. As a significant number of students enter college unprepared to address sexual health, relationships, and consent, universities are now faced with a pressing dilemma: Should they take on the responsibility of providing sex education? Could this potentially mitigate the issue of sexual assault on campuses?

Join us on Higher Ed Rewired as we delve into this critical topic, asking the question: “Should college students receive sex ed as a part of their collegiate education?”

Featured on This Episode:

• Dorian Solot is a sexuality and relationship educator who has written for and taught students of all ages, from kindergarten to senior citizens. She has given over 1,000 presentations around the United States on sexuality. She is the co- author of several forthcoming books for young children about bodies and reproduction and the creator of the Under Your Wing sexuality education video series for parents and caregivers of children ages five through seven. 
• Jennifer Hirsch is Professor and Deputy Chair for Doctoral Studies in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences and co-Director of the Columbia Population Research Center. A medical anthropologist and a 2012 fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Hirsch’s research agenda spans five intertwined domains: the anthropology of love; gender, sexuality, and migration; sexual, reproductive and HIV risk practices; social scientific research on sexual assault and undergraduate well-being, and the intersections between anthropology and public health. 
• Jessica Adams Nelson is the Program Director for the Wellness Promotion & Violence Prevention Center at St. Norbert College (SNC). Before SNC, Jessica worked in a variety of places around the country. She has been housing coordinator and victim advocate at Wise Women Gathering Place, program director for a transitional home in Baltimore, Md., and victim advocate in Door County. 
  
  co-author-director

Resources for This Episode:

• SPACE toolkit
• California State University Title XIX Resources
• National Sexual Assault Hotline