Question 128: Knowing Too Much Too Soon?

"When I was in high school I had health class and learned about sex and then I wanted to have it all the time. My 14 year old niece is having sex ed this year and I'm worried it may make her want to have sex. Can school's teach our kids how to have sex?"

I've had this conversation with people before and some of them tend to think along the same lines - that Sex Education classes will lead to kids having sex. To that I ask them the same question: Where did you learn about sex?

Before you say you learned about it in school, really think, most likely (unless you were completely sheltered as a child) you learned about sex long before it was brought up in classes at school; you just didn't know the in's and out's of it. All Sex Ed. does is make teenagers more aware of the facts about sex and how to be properly prepared should they decide to have sex.

As much as you worry about your niece learning "too much" about sex, the truth is she's going to learn about it one way or another. Which would you have? Learning that life lesson at the hands of her first boyfriend and having no clue how to protect herself or having the knowledge to greatly reduce her risks for STD's and pregnancy?

Sex Ed. isn't gonna "make" her wanna have sex - that depends on her own wishes. Sex Ed. (done proper) is there to prepare our sexually motivated youth prevent the consequences of unprotected sex; it ain't gonna show them all the positions of the Kama Sutra. Instead of worrying about her having Sex Ed., you (or more preferably her parents) should be more concerned about how well the class informs her.

If you still have any fears bring it up to her parents. Don't go to her yourself; way too creepy uncle.

Good Luck.