SEXUAL EDUCATION at the University does not come from judgmental teachers, outdated videos starring animated sperm or a strict policy of textbook-only, human anatomy study. Instead, the Student Health Center trains University students to present sex education in a casual setting in order to teach young practitioners and hopefuls about contraceptive options and safe sexual practices. The so-called "Peer Health Educators" hold programs such as "Sexfest" at fraternities, sororities, clubs, dorms and residential colleges. On the surface and in a certain light, this looks like a good program. However, if one steps back to examine the content and attitude of Sexfest, one discovers serious flaws.
No, Sexfest is not an orgy or a short course in masturbation, but in its own way it is inappropriate. Couched in humor, the casual attitude of the event mirrors the flippancy with which many young college students regard sex itself. Instead, to be effective this peer-led educational evening must take sexual activity more seriously and promote a standard beyond "whatever feels good for you -- oh and here are a few good tips so that you don't catch an STD." To talk about sex appropriately and in a way that is culturally productive, Peer Health Educators must promote abstinence and modesty as a serious and higher alternative to the hook-up culture.
Instead, the event I attended in Brown College started with the presenters asking the audience to shout out slang terms for the male and female genitalia. May I ask on what planet this is appropriate? If one of my professors or my dean or my advisor or any other respectable adult heard me say any of those words, I would be mortified. But because we are supposed to lighten the mood and make everyone feel comfortable by letting it all hang out, some of the most vulgar words the English language has to offer were thrown around like candy, laughed about and glorified.
Following that "icebreaker," we were asked to divide into two groups for Sexfest Jeopardy and to invent a team name. The names that each group used are also unprintable. But of course ice was broken, so we welcomed more crudeness with yet more laughter. Again, such practices do not reflect the gravity of sex education or talk seriously about the flaws and failings of a culture full of casual sex.
When I questioned this practice, Vanessa Amos, outreach intern for the Peer Health Educators, said, "I do not feel it cheapens the seriousness of the subject, but rather draws a focus to it, connecting the topic to each audience member's personal experience." I am doubly sorry then that these vulgarities are meant to connect with our personal experiences. It is quite a shame that our sexual lives are reflected and made clearer by publicly shouting "c*nt." This should not be the way to approach a serious and moderate education about sexual practices.
If this were just a bunch of friends hanging around talking about sex, my argument might be tossed aside as slightly crazy, if well-intentioned. But the University sponsors this programming, and the Student Health Center has an obligation to maintain standards of decency and to approach sex education with some amount of dignity. Just because sexual practices among University students have largely run amuck does not mean that University programming is obligated to lower its standards by throwing out free condoms and saying, "Have as much fun as you can, but be safe!"
As a point of pride, the Peer Health Educators offer no lifestyle judgments, no best way to live -- nothing beyond a lesson in minimizing risk. Everything is acceptable and above judgment if participants obtain consent and properly use a condom.
In a culture drenched in loose sexual mores many students applaud with uncomfortable approval, or say nothing, because to show any aversion to this "education" is borderline heretical. To question current sex education is also to question a deeply ingrained philosophy based on principles that laud absolute, unquestionable individual autonomy. Recognizing these faults requires major cultural and practical change which holds modesty, abstinence and accountability as higher social goods.
So yes, when reduced to mechanics and risk prevention, sex is something to be laughed about, taken lightly or without judgment, and practiced at the moment that whim or fancy beckons. In this way, the Peer Health Educators are simply reflecting the worst ethos our culture has to offer. But if this University wants to educate moderate, decent and nobler students, it must take sexual activity and sex education more seriously.
Christa Byker's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at cbyker@cavalierdaily.com.
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