Caitlin H.

A SYTYCB entry

“Later, hear about the woman who told her daughter that dirty towels could get her pregnant to keep her away from boys!”

This what what I heard on the radio yesterday afternoon, as I drove home from running errands. I was, of course, appalled. How could a mother spread such preposterous lies? I was enraged that a daughter would believe her. I was also annoyed that the daughter’s sex education must have been a complete waste of time and taxpayer money.

I was not, however, surprised. I live in Georgia, one of the 26 states which requires schools’ sex education classes to promote and emphasize abstinence. I have seen and heard peers my age believe ridiculous claims such as this one countless times. I know young women who have gotten pregnant because they did not know the facts.

In school, I heard only that condoms were rarely effective. It took two years of sex ed, which I started in the 5th grade, to realize the penis had to go in the vagina for “sex” to occur. I had previously thought simply being together, naked, in a bed was enough. I only found out the truth through the internet. My classes never taught how sex actually works. Is it any surprise that so many of my peers find condoms unnecessary? Is it any wonder certain universities in the area have reputations of being rife with STDs?