Dear President,

I am a senior in high school. I will be graduating in May. I have gone to public schools, a private school, a public charter school, brick and mortar schools, online schools, I’ve been homeschooled, I’ve been taught by so many people in so many ways. Yet there is one thing no teacher will teach me, and that is anything related to sex.

I’ve taken 3 health classes since my 8th grade, in 3 different ways. 8th grade was in a classroom with a “real” teacher, face to face. 10th, I was going to an online school, and took health through recorded lectures and videos. This year, through a doctor online. What is in common between these three classes? I learned nothing about sex ed. All three had an abstinence only view on teaching sexual education. I have seen girls drop out of classes because they end up pregnant. I have seen an ex-boyfriend ruin his life, who is 17 now, and has three children with three different women.

Why is it, that even though everyone knows that teenagers will engage in sexual activity no matter what they are taught, they are still taught abstinence? There are so many better ways, and requiring good sexual education is the only logical first step.

Instead of getting this knowledge in a class with an instructor and correct teachings, teens turn to the internet; a place with some many incorrect ideas that this country ends up with misconceptions that don’t need to exist in the first place.

I urge you to bring up this issue.

Thank you,

Janie