Response to "When the Cellphone Teaches Sex Education"

"When the Cellphone Teaches Sex Education" by Jan Hoffam discusses the efforts of a North Carolina based grou using cellphones to educate you in the area, ages 14 to 19, about sex and answer any questions the have about sex.

I don't think the use of cellphones to teach sex education should be as controversial as people make it. I find this method similar to the archaic "teen hot-lines" of the early 90s. The Birds and Bees Text Line, as they call it,  "is among the latest efforts by health educators to reach teenagers through technology — sex ed on their turf."  They are using this method because research has found that "sex education in the classroom, say many epidemiologists and public health experts, is often ineffective or just insufficient."

This research makes total sense to me. What I remember from the sex education class in my small Lutheran high school was my gym teacher using a book to answer our "questions." I put questions in quotations because we asked very little. Most of us were too shy or embarrassed to ask the gritty and personal sex questions we had in front of the class and to our 4o something gym teacher who more like a stern father figure. They boys, of course, were more vocal. ( I always wondered why we had co-ed sex ed. Perhaps it was because my high school classes were made up of less than 40 students and sex ed was addressed under the umbrella of "Health Class.")

 I feel somewhat jealous of this generation. I wish I had an outlet like this (a practically anonymous one) when I as growing up.  Although we had hot-lines, I would not have chanced calling the number to have my parents see it come up on the phone bill and assume I was having sex, which would have been a far cry from the truth. Like most youth, I just had questions I did not feel comfortable asking the "parental figures." 

 The digital culture is more open with issues involving sex eduction now as well. MTV (which paved the way for many "inclusive" programs, meaning open to discussing once taboo subject matters such as sex/gender issues, homosexuality, drugs, disabilities, religious tolerance, etc.), like 16 & Pregnant (see clip below). It displays, in documentary style, how sex and pregnancy can change the lives of teenage boys and girls. It is emotional, gritty, honest, and rather entertaining. 

According to the article, the "parents haven’t complained yet, perhaps because they haven’t seen the exchanges." One staffer notes that if parents knew about the exchanges made, "It would highlight how much disconnected information kids are already getting at younger ages than we did.” This is exactly why this more direct method is needed. 

I think young people should have as many outlets available to them to find out about sex and how either abstain or have it safely. Some might still argue that this is the job of the parent or guardian. Realistically, most teens will not even ask their parents where babies come from. One thing has not changed with the digital, teens ask their friends about sex. Why not use a mobile screen to answer their questions more accurately?

MTV: 16 & Pregnant