If You Give a Guy a Condom…Teach Him How to Use It!
With increasing STD rates and sexual assault cases, how can the sexual education curriculum in schools better educate young men to create a safer society?
In Canada, more than two-thirds of chlamydia cases reported in the country occur among those aged fifteen to twenty-four and eighty-seven percent of women ages 18–25 have endured some form of sexual harassment (Weissbourd, 2018, para. 4). What do these two statistics have in common? Young men who are sexually undereducated.
The current sexual education curriculum in Canada focuses on abstinence and pregnancy prevention which places sexual responsibility solely on young girls, who are expected to ward off sexual advances and maintain a method of contraception.
Unfortunately, this does not hold young men accountable as it often leaves out the importance of using condoms which help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The Ontario curriculum has also omitted teaching young people about sexual consent which is an important lesson that removes the crutch of “boys will be boys” when it comes to sexual harassment.
Why are Canadian schools teaching limited, abstinence-only sexual education curriculums which fail to teach young men about preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, engaging in healthy relationships with their partners, and understanding consent? Changing the curriculum to include detailed lessons on contraception, healthy relationships, and consent would create a safer environment for young people and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Condoms, which protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, are the most accessible form of contraception. However, the word contraception is often tied to more female-focused forms such as the pill. According to Rachel Giese’s essay, The Talk: A New Sex Ed for Boys, young heterosexual males are the most ignored demographic in terms of sexual health because of the lack of information they are given in schools.
In the 2018 Interim Edition of the Health and Physical Education for Grades 1–8, the key focus is on menstruation and fertilization but does not outline ways to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV, are prevented with the proper use of condoms which are worn by the male in the act of intercourse. As a result of not being properly taught how to use condoms or why it is important to do so, young men do not wear them consistently, which leaves them and their partners unprotected. As such, this could lead to more new cases of STDs.
However, there are some programs that are dedicated to improvising sexual health education specifically for young men. For example, WiseGuyz is a program that meets with students in northeastern Calgary and takes a more direct approach to this issue and teaches sexual education specifically to boys in the ninth grade. They not only teach the students how to use condoms but also detail why it is important that they use a condom every time.
WiseGuyz creates an open, judgment-free zone for the students so they can ask questions and remove the stigmas and awkwardness of using condoms. If this program, or one similar to it, were taught in all schools young men would no longer be the most ignored demographic when it comes to sexual education. More young men would learn how to protect themselves and their partners, keeping everyone safe.
Understanding how relationships work and what it means to have a healthy relationship is a key step to keeping everyone safe. Furthermore, with eighty-seven percent of young women ages 18–25 having endured some form of sexual harassment, it is evident that some females may not feel safe when it comes to the opposite sex.
There are even pages on Instagram, a social media app, that share stories, quotes, and artwork about consent, or the lack thereof. @projectconsent, is a non-profit organization that posts content that demonstrates the simple yet complex conversations around consent that women of all ages endure. In a multi-paged post by Alisa M. Taylor (see below), there is a poem that includes the phrase,
My naiveté was my consent,
in reference to a sexual assault that happened when she did not explicitly give her partner consent at a young age.
The sexual education curriculum needs to instate lessons on sexual consent so young men will learn that they must ask for permission to touch another person and be respectful of that answer. Teaching this will significantly reduce the amount of sexual harassment females are subjected to including, but not limited to, being catcalled, being touched without permission, or having a stranger say something sexual to them.
In his article, Let’s Take a Stand Against Sexual Harassment in Schools, Weissbourd justifies this by saying,
We can’t stop sexual harassment and misogyny in adulthood without addressing its deep roots in gender role and expectations in childhood.
He goes on to offer a few poignant solutions for tackling the problem so that young men will learn how to empathize with others, particularly their female counterparts which could help create healthier relationships.
Consent is not only a valuable lesson in learning what your partner is comfortable with but also learning what you are comfortable with. Giese illuminates this by referencing Michele Chai, a health promoter who works for Planned Parenthood and runs their programs for young men, saying,
they [young men] are seldom asked if they ever want to say no themselves[…]if they get in touch with their wants and needs, they will show more respect for their partners’ wishes, too.
This is noteworthy because every person should have their boundaries respected, sexually or otherwise. Teaching consent is a great way to help young men understand its importance.
With Canadian schools teaching limited, abstinence-only sexual education curriculums the school system is failing to teach young men about healthy sexual behavior, how to have healthy relationships with their partners, and how to prevent sexually transmitted disease. By changing the curriculum to include detailed lessons on consent, contraception, and healthy relationships the education system would create a safer environment for young people while preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Teaching young men how to and why they should use protection will help to reduce the pressure that is currently placed upon to their female counterparts and make sex safer. While teaching young men how to be safe physically, they should also be taught how to create a safe environment emotionally with their partner. Lessons on consent and healthy relationships will help create this environment.
Unfortunately, the current Ontario curriculum on sexual education will remove detailed lessons on these issues. You can help fight against these changes by submitting your consultation online to the Ministry of Education. Let’s educate these young men for a better society!
