Georgetown, why don’t you come sit down for a minute. It’s time we had a little talk about the birds and the bees. You’re getting older, and as you mature your student body is changing, sometimes in ways you may find frightening. Despite your pesky official policy of no cohabitation, the Voice sex survey shows that 64 percent of students described themselves as sexually active and 91 percent of those have had intercourse in the past year. We think its time for you to grow up, be responsible, and start acting like the prestigious 218 year-old institute of higher learning that you are.
Since students are having sex, they should know there’s a right way to do it—both in a healthy and pleasing way. The key to this is open dialogue, not an abstinence-promoting policy that discourages discussion about having sex. You should educate your students about sex through Peer Education—if not, you should let a student group step in and do the job.
Peer Ed is a University program where students inform their freshmen peers about “depression and suicide, alcohol and other drugs, nutrition and eating disorders, and sexual assault.” Something was left off the list—healthy sexual behavior. Extensive information about STIs is available on be.georgetown.edu, but this is no substitute for active engagement.
In contrast, your more-21st century-oriented friend, Cornell University, has a student-run peer education group called Sexual Health Awareness Group (SHAG), which equips students with the proper tools to use if they are sexually active. In group settings, they discuss Sexual Transmitted Infections, testing and contraception. Jamie Tsuzuki (CU ’08), a peer educator, said that the group tries to destigmatize sex, which makes students less embarrassed about the subject and more likely to engage in healthy practices, like getting tested for STIs.
But you must keep in mind that not all sex is good sex. There is a middle ground between abstinence and wanton hedonism. Sometimes hooking up is a bad idea. If a student is not emotionally ready, if he or she does not know how communicate in a healthy way about sex, it isn’t a good idea. Part of what SHAG does is talk about the emotions involved with sex.
We know that such a modern, progressive stance won’t be popular among your friends at in the Catholic Church, but don’t succumb to peer pressure. You may not be able to stop students from knowing one another, in the biblical sense, but you can at least use your position of authority to ensure that they do it the right way.
