Submitted by Courtney Cox
In my first year at Asbury University, I learned that some of my peers “abstained” from using tampons in order to save themselves for marriage. I was a witness to the shame felt by students admitting for the first time that they experience sexual urges; they were unaware of the biological normalcy of the hormonal impulses. In my three years as a student at a Christian college, I’ve found that misconceptions and myths such as these ones are just as prominent as they are problematic. With some students coming from backgrounds that have denied them basic sexual education and equated sexuality with shame, Christian campuses should work to foster cultures of openness and grant access to a holistic sexual education curriculum.
The space for such curriculum already exists at Asbury in its liberal arts foundational courses. Senior Phoebe Matteson and sophomore Leah Amarosa each suggested independently that sex ed be built into the Theory of Wellness course all students are required to take.
“This may require a new curriculum or new professors to teach it, but I think it’s necessary,” said Matteson.
“[Sex ed] should be taught by trained teachers and include topics such as anatomy, physiology, healthy relationships and safe sex, as well as addressing sexual orientation, contraceptives, pregnancy and [sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)],” said Amarosa. “Shame should never be a part of sex ed.”
Students of Asbury and other Christian colleges across the nation commit to abstinence upon enrollment at their respective institutions. Asbury’s community standards, which all students sign and agree to before beginning classes, state that premarital sexual intimacy is “almost certain to result in separation from the University for a period of time.” Perhaps an argument could thereby be made that the need for sexual education does not exist on abstinence-based Christian campuses. The reality, however, is that a comprehensive sexual education is learned over time, not in the day before your wedding.
Furthermore, because we live in a fallen world, we cannot pretend Christian campuses are free from the sins they prohibit. When you consider that, according to the American Sexual Health Association, one in every two sexually active persons will contract a sexually transmitted infection (STI) by age 25, it becomes crucial that all college students are properly educated on the different types of STIs and STDs, how each type is treated and how to avoid them.
Every student needs a firm knowledge of contraceptive options, how much pain is or is not normal, when to see a doctor, how STIs and STDs are contracted, how to perform breast self-examinations and when and how often to have Pap tests or prostate exams. Sexual education should teach what healthy relationships do and do not look like, the definition and cruciality of consent, how to spot and get help in an abusive relationship and basic reproductive anatomy.
And for each of these topics, we should provide resources for LGBTQ students. This kind of curriculum can be taught from a Christian perspective. Students deserve to understand fully God’s intentions for sex and marriage yet also the weight of His grace.
I grew up in a home that was very open in discussing sex. My mom is a nurse practitioner, and she has always worked to ensure that I am comfortable talking about sexuality. I’ve never been scared to ask questions about my body. I have been receiving an ongoing comprehensive sexual education (in age-appropriate ways) for as long as I can remember.
In high school, my mom wanted to help me explore birth control options so that no matter what I decided to do, I would be prepared. Once at Asbury, I realized I was accustomed to a luxury most of my peers did not have.
“My high school taught abstinence,” Amarosa said. “I had minimal knowledge of STIs, birth control and protection.”
I hear stories of college-aged men spiraling into self-hatred solely because of biological urges designed by God. I hear stories of women who feel traumatized by their sexual experience on their wedding night because it has been so ingrained in their brains that to be a sexual being is to be sinful. I know married couples who had babies sooner than planned because they did not know how to properly use birth control.
Sexual education on college campuses is crucial. Asbury is doing no wrong by “encouraging the standards the institution has set,” as Matteson stated, but we must understand that sexual education can coincide with these standards. “Because, shocker, [students] will need that knowledge if they ever get married,” said Matteson.
Comprehensive sexual education is not a permissive waiver for students to break community standards, but when so many students enter Christian college with toxic fire-and-brimstone perceptions of sexuality, it does become a responsibility of the institution to correct these perceptions by providing biblical truths and comprehensive sexual education for its students.
