Sex Education in South Carolina Needs Some Work

And in the 32 other states that don't require it to be medically accurate

One of the more difficult things about teaching Women’s and Gender Studies in South Carolina for over a decade is hearing the same stories about the experiences of students in receiving (or not receiving) sex education in middle and high school. Only 17 states require that sex education be medically accurate, and you’ll be SHOCKED to learn that ours is not one of them. Sex education across the country is really dismal, and hasn’t changed much since John Oliver did this hilarious segment on it in 2015.

But y’all, it’s really bad here. And the need for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education is even more urgent now that we have no abortion access in the state. As Jessica Valenti has reported, Republicans are not stopping their campaign at abortion rights: they’re coming for birth control, too. The Republican candidate for governor in Kentucky just pledged that if he’s elected, he’ll work to criminalize hormonal birth control.

But you know, the war against birth control and bodily autonomy has been going on for a long time in these regressive sex education curriculums, where teens are taught that abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy and STIs, and that seeking out (and using) birth control methods is implicitly deviant. One student shared yesterday in class that the “good kids” in her school weren’t even offered sex ed, that it was only taught to the students who had gotten in trouble.

From the CDC.

Don’t even get me started on the fact that sex ed in South Carolina is heterosexist and homophobic (here’s a link to the current laws). Of course, abstinence to prevent pregnancy doesn’t make any sense if you’re having sex that does not involve sperm and eggs, so the very ideology of these programs completely erases queer teens’ desires and experiences. South Carolina is by no means alone in this—only 10 states require an inclusive curriculum. The Guttmacher Institute report on the state of affairs nationwide is a good (if depressing) read.

Summary chart of South Carolina sex education laws from the CDC.

Many children and teens are not getting the sex education they need at home, and clearly not in our schools. This leaves it up to individuals and groups to try to raise consciousness and help educate people on how to prevent pregnancy and STIs. But just as important, we need to embrace the agenda of queer and lesbian radical feminists and argue that sex is a normal and natural human activity, and that all people, and especially women, have the right to sexual pleasure on their own terms.

Planned Parenthood is obviously the go-to: here’s a great list of resources for parents. Others that are really fabulous include Bedsider and Sex Positive Families (thanks to my BFF Christine for the links, and for showing me early on how to be a radical feminist). Sane countries that care about public health like the Netherlands start sex education from age four.

This last legislative session, Democrats in South Carolina sponsored a bill to ensure reproductive freedom and comprehensive sex education, but I doubt it will ever get out of committee if we maintain the current power structures. Until the revolution triumphs, though, it’s up to small groups of us to help educate our children, teens, and adults on these topics. There’s a lot of disinformation out there, a lot of gross porn (good thing those fascist book banners are out there protecting us from book sex stuff, though LOL), and kids are learning about sex, just probably not in the way anyone wants. These are human rights issues, but they are also very clearly public health issues. To say these garbage sex education programs are a matter of life and death is no exaggeration in a state that bans reproductive care and pushes doctors to leave the state (Laurens County, where I teach, currently has ONE OBGYN).

Reach out to our Planned Parenthood South Atlantic community health educators to organize classes and outreach, and check out the list of their classes here. In the meantime, stock up on books for the young people in your life. I’m buying a couple of them right now for our kids (ages 7 and 5).

For ages 4 and up.

For ages 7 and up.

Get ‘em before they’re banned! And sex ed is not just for the young. According the New York Times, menopause is having a moment (another way to say this is that feminism has helped transform the medical establishment so that we’re now finally paying attention to older women, ffs it’s 2023). I also thought this piece normalizing sex in our elder population was great… don’t let youth culture and the demonization of old women rob you of sexual pleasure later in life, either. And one last rec… The Principles of Pleasure on Netflix is the model of what sex ed could be. Here’s to all the pleasure in our lives. These days, claiming it can be a radical act.