By EMILY O’LOANE
Sex. Even in today’s communication-driven society full of cell phones and social networking sites, there are some subjects that remain taboo and unbroached in daily, polite discourse. Sex is one of them.
When the staff decided to cover issues involving sex in the double-page spread this edition, it wasn’t in attempt to shock or to grab readers’ attention. We aren’t trying to become the Cosmopolitan magazine of campus or to scorn conservative ideals. Our staff decided to cover this subject for the simple reason that we care about you, the student body; we want to tell you everything a person needs to know about the negative effects of this prominent and life-changing subject.
Ignoring something does not make it go away or make it become any less serious. For example, in the Our View editorial this issue, detrimental abstinence-only sex education is discussed. Our staff takes the position that only teaching students to abstain from the act of sexual intercourse does not prepare them for anything. This is the equivalent of telling a person to avoid getting caught in a thunderstorm, but this is often an unavoidable circumstance; storms usually come fast and there is no clear forewarning as to when they will start. Without knowing where to take refuge or other precautionary measures, the situation could become dangerous. Sex is the same way; even if you aren’t planning on doing it, it is a part of human life, especially teenage life, and the topic is therefore necessary to hear about and discuss.
Within the double-page spread, topics such as teenage pregnancy, sexually-transmitted diseases and oral sex are covered. Two students also wrote in about the pros and cons of abstinence. Even though the subject material may be graphic, it is important to hear and learn about the topic. Like ignoring a hurricane, there can and will be damage if you don’t learn about the after-effects of the situation.
Again, the topic of sex is not being covered for shock value. The subject matter may be graphic or mature, but things like teenage pregnancy and STD’s are legitimate issues among teenagers. Everything we put in this newspaper is to benefit and inform the student body. If we were to ignore this subject, we wouldn’t be doing our job.