The Greener Grass

The Greener Grass

A Blog by Jessica Nino

June 30 2021

Tip Of The Day: Understand others and be as compassionate as they are willing to be towards you.<3

How Sex Ed In The US Has Failed To Be Inclusive and Realistic

Over the past few weeks, I’ve realized that sex ed has failed so greatly in the U.S due to its lack of inclusivity, weak methods of teaching and disregard for the LGBTQ+ community and women. My first approach was to ask those around me about how they felt regarding their sex ed classes and effectiveness. Here were their responses:

Disclaimer: I hope you understand these experiences vary based on communities, districts, income, and every student's cooperation.

“Honestly I don’t think it’s sex ed, it’s abstinence ed. They teach you about the diseases and how it’s better just to wait but they never teach about protection like condoms and birth control. I think it also fails to represent everyone because they mainly teach it with a guy and a girl. Also I think it would be helpful to teach how to do certain things and how to make experiences more fun and pleasurable so everyone can have a great experience. Also teach about not sexualizing everything, goes for both guys and girls, learn to keep it in your pants and how to give/ask for consent.” - Stephanie (16) (public High School)

“There's a lot that sex ed doesn’t talk about when it concerns to the LGBTQ+ community. They only talk about straight couples so it leaves the rest to not understand that you can get STI’s from gay sex too. It makes those kids also not understand the importance of protection when it comes to same sex intercourse and it makes those kids not fell included in being considered “capable” of contracting those STIs and being considered important when they do fall ill. You never hear about gay sex until you’re older and by then people have already contracted something they weren’t told about when they were supposed to. It belittles gay kids because the education system doesn’t ever talk about it. They never teach lesbians that there’s protection for women too. Boys aren’t told about pills to prevent HIV or about how African males are more likely to get HIV or AIDS...Another thing education has failed at is that they teach girls to hide their periods from men and be ashamed if anyone finds out about it, but why not teach men that it’s normal? Everyone should be taught about periods because that's the way the human body works. Why not teach children their skin color is normal, but so is their reproductive system. It would be better if the education system taught kids more about transgender intercourse.” - Layla (16) (early college student in the nursing program)

“Personally, I was taught nothing except basic abstinence because I went to a catholic high school. There was no discussion about LGBT people or sex at all. You might find this resource helpful as a survey of the different sex ed policies by state:

https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-policies-on-sex-education-in-schools.aspx” -Sean Payne “everydaylawofficial’’ (lawyer)(also tiktok famous lol)

Personally, I think that the school system fails many students everyday by only teaching about straight intercourse and overall favoring men. The first time I had any health-related class was one singular lesson in my p.e class. We watched a video on how the reproductive system in women works including the menstrual cycle. From what I heard from the boys, they watched a similar video referring to their reproductive system and how it worked. The next time I heard anything regarding our bodies and intercourse was during my most recent semester as a sophomore. I had a 5 year gap where Iearned, heard, saw nothing related on how to be safe or for that matter, sex at all. I truly believe that I learned about it last semester because I go to school on a college campus and the college offered the class to us as high school students. The class was 30 minutes long. It wasn't a weekly/monthly or hourly course. I remember learning about using condoms and how they were free over at the health and science building, how there were different types of STIs, and how they could be very detrimental to your health. I did not learn reinforced information about periods, sex that involved the same gender, or how to even make it fun. As a country with one of (if not the most) teen pregnancies, I think a way to help control this is that our education system needs to stop shaming women from participating in intercourse, teaching men the reality of it all (including periods), teaching everyone about consent, how to say no, how to react when told no, and how to stay safe. I think our country doesn't do us any favors either by having free condoms accessible to anyone in colleges and medical spaces, yet they sell a pack of pads or tampons for 7-15 dollars each. You can control your urges, you can’t control your bleeding reproductive system.

Contact me

Hi! I would love to hear your ideas, suggestions, and feedback on the content I am regularly publishing! I believe it is important I stay connected with yall and am able to positively connect and learn from yalls criticism and suggestions to help me improve as a writer. I encourage you to send me ideas and suggestions based on what you’d like to read about so that I can regularly connect with you all as well as better understand your interests, and help y’all destress, learn, and enjoy my content. -Love, J

You can contact me through the following links and medias:

Gmail: jessicanino2004@gmail.com

Twitter: 1andxnlynino

And

Instagram: jjessicaninoo (also found at the top of the page next to the title, you can reach my profile by clicking the IG icon or looking it up through the username)

The best way to reach me would be through either Email or instagram, I am constantly checking both. Don't be shy! Even if you don’t have suggestions, if you need a safe space, feel emotionally/mentally stressed, are feeling anxious, depressed, or just need a friend, I am always available!

FAQs

Who Am I?

My Name is Jessica & I am a blogger for the CPSB (college prep student bubble) I was given the wonderful ability to create content for you all as a way to relax or entertain/learn while you prepare for AP/college.

What Are My Interests?

My interests include painting, volleyball, discovering music, reading (mostly sci-fi or romance), writing about absolutely anything and interacting with new people! I believe having hobbies and consistently participating in them helps you mentally and physically destress, so if you haven't done something you enjoy today, take the time to do it :).

What Do I Intend For This Blog?

This blog was created for you as a student to get some daily reading in on something that interests you. This became a resource because AP and college can very often be stressful and a handful, my purpose is to entertain you and help you stay motivated. My writing can be seen as a brain break or relaxer to those who are interested in it. I intend to make this a very chill spot for you all and to bring weekly content on any topic imaginable you suggest/want.

What Grade Am I In & What Courses Am I Taking?

I am an incoming Junior for the 2020-21 year, and will be graduating with the class of ‘22. I am an Early College High School student, so half of my classes are highschool and the other half are college. My classes this year will include: English 4 dual credit, Geometry PAP, Environmental Systems PAP, US History, (high school). For my first semester in college I am taking College English, Texas Government, and Philosophy.

More About My Writing: How did I come up with ‘The Greener Grass’? Very often I heard the saying “the grass isn't always greener on the other side” I decided to name my blog after this to give it a positive connotation: it doesn’t matter what side of the “grass’’ were on, sure it may not be the greenest, but I think that by being positive & interacting we can make our grass greener. To me this means we can help each other out, we can teach and learn from each other; we will all eventually feel stress, pressure, & frustration, but together we can make the most out of it and encourage each other & grow.

Cites used, referenced and helpful related to this content:

https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-policies-on-sex-education-in-schools.aspx

https://www.seeker.com/which-countries-have-the-best-sex-education-1792604688.html