Teen sex. It occupies the airwaves of high school health classrooms, hallway gossip, and awkward family discussions.
However, not everyone is on the same page about how it should be discussed and addressed. One approach to this conversation is found in the progressive movement for “sex positivity,” and it’s an outlook that may bear significance in the Roosevelt High School community.
In an October survey conducted by The Roosevelt News — 44.9% of students identified themselves as familiar with the concept of sex positivity, and 29.6% of students agreed with its aims and methods.
Sex positivity is a term that was coined by psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich in the 1920s. As Heather Woodford MSW explains in a 2013 paper for California State University, “Sex positivity … refers to a way of thinking that embraces and promotes all forms of sexuality and consensual sexual experience, placing these values on equal footing with the choice not to engage in sexual activity.”
Woodford expands that the sex positivity movement aims to curb fear, medical misinformation, shame, and secrecy about intercourse, sexual orientation, and sexual preferences through positive and open dialogue.
According to proponents of sex positivity, such as the consent education non-profit Speak About It, this approach to sex provides many benefits for teenagers. The organization says that “one’s ability to control, enjoy, and understand their own sexual and reproductive behaviors” ensures that “everybody is having safe and pleasurable sex, if they want it.”
Others argue that teaching sex positivity to teenagers perpetuates distorted sexual ideals to minors. According to Alexa Avila Montaño in her article, “Sex Positivity is Not as Positive as We Think,” the push for sex positivity online has led teens to engage in actions that “compromised their emotional and physical safety by consenting to things they might have not been completely comfortable with that they encountered online.”
Sex positivity is not unanimously popular within the Roosevelt community. In the survey by TRN, 42% of students said they were not familiar with sex positivity. Fewer than 1% of students who were familiar with sex positivity reported disagreeing with its aims and methods, and about 1% of students were somewhat familiar with the concept and believed they disagreed with its aims and methods.
Teens’ Sex Lives in the Modern Age
Research done by the Institute for Family Studies shows that American high schoolers are having less sex than ever before. This research shows that sexual activity has decreased in every grade. In 1991, 54% of high schoolers reported having had sex. In 2019, that number dropped to 38.4%.
Popular culture, media, and understanding of modern teens’ sex lives do not necessarily reflect this decline in sexual activity. The institution placed emphasis on the media’s representation of the sex lives of American teens. Shows like “Euphoria” depict extremely sexualized high school experiences even though, according to the institution, “America’s teens today are more buttoned-up than ever before.”
In the student survey, boys were more likely to receive most of their information about sex from pornography, almost 8% — while no girls reported getting information from pornography. However, the majority of students reported getting their information from the internet (20.4%) or from health class (38.4%).
Sex Education at Roosevelt
Students in Washington receive some form of sex education starting in elementary school. In Seattle Public Schools, this curriculum is called Family Life And Sexual Health, and it is taught through eighth grade. Washington State curriculum standards require all high school students to complete a semester-long health class to graduate. At Roosevelt, the class covers topics ranging from physical and mental health, drugs and alcohol, to sex education.
Each state has its own unique curriculum requirements for sex education. According to the Guttmacher Institute, as of 2022, 25 states require some form of curriculum about sexual health. 17 states require sex education to be “medically accurate,” and four states prohibit sex education from “promoting religion.”
According to Laurie Dils, Associate Director of content, health, and sexual health education at the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, sexual education “promotes healthy behaviors.” “That’s really what we are aiming for as educators,” said Dils. “Equipping young people with education and skills so that they can make healthy decisions that fit with their own values and their families’ values.”
Research published by “The Journal of Adolescent Health” shows that thorough, culturally sensitive, and inclusive sex education programs aid in the prevention of intimate partner violence and help with developing healthy relationships among young people. Roosevelt students may be craving more of this in-depth style of health curriculum, and its associated benefits.
Kara Macdonald is a health teacher at Roosevelt and the staff advisor for the Consent Culture Team. She stated, “I think a lot of students at Roosevelt feel like there’s not enough [thorough sex education], we’re not open enough, we’re not talking about it.” While Macdonald explained she believes that it is valid for students to want a more robust sex education program, she added, “We also have to take a step back, and look at, there are lots of places, most places in the country that are not getting this. Even in this state we weren’t getting this until two years ago.”
Washington Referendum 90, the Sex Education in Public Schools Measure, was on the ballot as a veto referendum on Nov. 3, 2020. A veto referendum is a citizen-initiated ballot that asks voters to either uphold or repeal a law. There was a 57.8% vote to approve Referendum 90. This vote allowed Senate Bill 5395 to take effect, which made public schools require comprehensive sexual health education. Support was, however, not unanimous with 42.2% of people voting to repeal the law.
Spaces for Open Discussions on Sex
At Roosevelt, three clubs in particular aim to create a sex-positive space and to improve the school’s sex culture by facilitating student conversations and providing accurate information. These are the Sex and Snacks Club, the Teen Health Council, and the Consent Culture Team.
Lucinda Guthrie, co-president of the Consent Culture Team, said, “talking about issues such as a lack of sex positivity is huge and makes a difference in the lives of people who are talking about it.” They feel that being sex-positive improves people’s general sexual experiences. “Judgment is negative, and I think negative feelings surrounding sex make it not an enjoyable or consensual experience.”
Guthrie believes that avoiding the topic of sex only worsens the existing stigma, creating a positive feedback loop in which it becomes more and more difficult to discuss sex.
The School of Sexuality Education states in their article, “What is Sex Positivity?” that “the ability to engage in these discussions without shame or taboo is essential for sexual pleasure but it’s also essential for understanding safety and consent.” They add that talking about sex can remove mystique attached to it and ensure that young people know their rights to avoid negative and uncomfortable sexual experiences.
An article by Feminist Campus expands upon this, adding that “sex positivity combats rape culture by emphasizing and valuing consent, bodily autonomy, and sexual empowerment as an alternative to slut-shaming and victim blaming.”
The article explains that sex-positive education includes extensive discussion about consent, coercion, and comfort. These conversations can decrease the likelihood of sexual assault for a multitude of reasons. First, they inform participants on how to recognize enthusiastic consent from their potential intimate partners, or lack thereof, to prevent people from unknowingly engaging in coercive sexual behaviors.
Secondarily, the article states, they help participants recognize enthusiastic consent and lack thereof in themselves, which can give participants more confidence in setting boundaries when they are uncomfortable. These conversations also foster a general awareness and appreciation of consent and its significance, which can reduce the likelihood of sexual assault to occur. It is important to note, however, that there is no singular cause of assault.
Teens and young adults are disproportionally affected by sexual assault. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, people are at the highest risk for rape and sexual assault between ages 12-34. Women ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victim of attempted or completed rape and sexual assault, said the organization.
Guthrie explained that the Consent Culture Team doesn’t limit which topics are discussed in their meetings. However, she said, “If someone says something that isn’t correct, or is offensive in any way, we’re not going to just let it fly, we would probably have a conversation about it.”
From Boundaries to Open Discussions About Sex
Not all Roosevelt students hold the perspective that discussing sex openly is beneficial. In the survey by TRN, one anonymous student said, “Sex is something private, and while I do believe in sex education, I don’t believe it should be open as it is.” This student explained that they “do believe discussion should exist,” and remain centered around accurate information, however specifics about one’s sex life should be kept private.
Health teachers at Roosevelt are aware that some students share those concerns of privacy, and that every classroom contains a full spectrum of comfort levels around discussing sex. One way Macdonald aims to address any potential discomfort is through anonymous questions. She explained, “If someone asks [an anonymous question], I can talk about it in an accurate, health-related way.”
Macdonald expressed concern that participation levels for these anonymous questions are low recently. She said, “You’re missing out on an opportunity for us to talk about things that you’re interested in or that you have questions about.” Macdonald urges students to take advantage of opportunities like anonymous questions, especially if they feel uncomfortable divulging personal information to their teachers, trusted adults, or peers.
When students were asked if they are comfortable talking about sex, 84.7% felt at least somewhat comfortable talking about sex with their close friends, and 15.3% were somewhat uncomfortable talking about it. When asked about the nature of these student’s discussions about sex with their friends, most students reported these conversations to be making jokes about sex and related matters.
While some feel that sex-positive thinking may help with combatting rape culture, pregnancy prevention and general health for teens, others see sex as something private that should not be spoken about beyond necessity.
Whether one agrees with sex positivity and its aims or not, teens today are undeniably being impacted by the culture around sex.
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