I just assumed everyone had the same crummy sex education classes I did; I didn’t realize that other schools had better information and other states had much better programs. As soon as I found out there was something I could do to get better programs in my area, I wanted to help.

Brittany works with Advocates for Youth and Tell Them as a State Activist in South Carolina.

Throughout school I felt like my sex education classes were a joke. I didn’t really learn anything and some of the things I did learn I later found out were inaccurate. I just assumed everyone had the same crummy sex education classes; I didn’t realize that other schools had better information and other states had much better programs. As soon as I found out there was something I could do to get better programs in my area, South Carolina’s upstate, I wanted to help. Being a Christian in the bible belt of America and advocating for better sex education programs don’t really go together and my views aren’t always accepted by others, but I decided I had to join Advocates and Tell Them SC regardless of what others thought. I wanted to be heard and make a difference. It’s not that I want to go around telling young people to be promiscuous; I want them to have as much information as they possibly can before they make important decisions such as when to have sex and what type of protection to use.

The battle for more knowledge on sexual health sounds like it should be easy. We all know that the majority of teens are not waiting until marriage, let’s face it, so we need to talk about how to be safe. Shouldn’t we want our youth to be educated in every area, especially areas that can affect their futures? Many of South Carolina’s senators and representatives want to turn a deaf ear to this subject, but it is a real issue that’s really affecting all South Carolinians.

I feel like it is important for me to fight for better programs to better our state. We live in a really nice area with lots of friendly people; we shouldn’t taint it by being on the top ten list for high pregnancy and std rates. More and more young people are dropping out of high school and college to start families because they didn’t have more knowledge. Adolescents are having to put their dreams on hold or give them up completely because they became infected or had children, both of which are preventable. I believe it’s important for me as a voter to speak up for those who cannot vote yet, to alert law makers to issues that really affect our communities and to help provide our youth with a proper education. That’s why I joined the cause, and that’s why I’m sticking with it.