Now that I have a better capacity to help confused middle and high schoolers, I want to go back and fill in the gaps their sex ed is missing, providing them with the knowledge of the physical aspect of their sexuality as well as the social and emotional impact that a lot of primary education programs leave out. 

Telania works with Advocates for Youth and the  Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (G-CAPP) as a member of Georgia Youth Understanding Pregnancy Prevention (G-YUPP). 

I first became interested in sexual health and education when I was in middle school. My school offered a semi-comprehensive, but mostly abstinence-only sex education, that was not entirely effective.  We always joked that physical education taught you how to be physical, driver’s ed taught you how to drive, but sex ed taught you the complete opposite! In high school, sex ed was no longer part of the curriculum, and it was very apparent that we needed it then more than ever.  Many girls in my community got caught up in the cycle of STIs, teen pregnancies, dropping out of school, etc, and to me, all of these things were related!  We needed to know! 

Now that I have a better capacity to help confused middle and high schoolers, I want to go back and fill in the gaps their sex ed is missing, providing them with the knowledge of the physical aspect of their sexuality as well as the social and emotional impact that a lot of primary education programs leave out.  I hope that future generations have the knowledge to appreciate, love, and protect themselves.

I believe that young people need to advocate for sexual health and rights, because if we don’t empower and educate ourselves, and then in turn empower and educate our peers, then how would we ever make the change that we want to see in the world?  I wouldn’t wish my sex ed experience on anyone, so wouldn’t it be wrong if I didn’t do anything to change it?