What type of sexual health education did you receive growing up? Did you feel it was adequate to prepare you for your adult life today? Why is access to sexual health education considered by the UN and others to be a human right? What strategies are in place locally (in WA) as well as outside the U.S. to improve sexual health education and "family planning" education for youth?
I spent most of my life and educated in Taiwan before I came to the U.S for college. As I remember, we had sexual health class once a week from the third grade of elementary school to the ninth grade. In the beginning, teachers taught us about the biological difference between boys and girls and the functions of reproductive organs, then we started to learn about reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases, and a little bit of female anatomy. However, there was not any content about being homosexual during the time, and many people in Taiwan still thought being gay or lesbian is the main reason of getting HIV, it is not right to full in love with the person of the same gender which is not right, and I think it is the government responsibility to educate the right information to the youth instead of ignoring the issue. I feel like the sexual education that I learned in school is not enough. But I am lucky to have my parents that keep educating me the knowledge of sexual health, they always tell me to be open mind and respectful to everyone because we all have the right to love and be loved no matter the partner is a boy or girl, and keep myself in a healthy sexual relationship physically and emotionally.
Access to sexual health education not only helps prevent sexually transmitted diseases and reduce sexual health disparities among LGBTQ youth, but also the right for everyone in anywhere to receive the information of our health, the knowledge to be safe and how to protect ourselves and others. Many families are not willing to speak on the topic of sexual education, so it is critical for schools to educate the youth including gender stereotypes and violence, or the children may receive the wrong information on social media or the internet that could affect the lives of themselves and others. In Washington state, the department of health has a family planning program to educate the parents on the knowledge about having baby, clinical services for people to plan a healthy and safe pregnancy. Moreover, the Family Planning Program of King County provides clinical services, health education, and outreach, focusing on the low-income, uninsured population with clinic staff who can speak two or more languages in Family Planning Clinics. The outreach and Health Education strategies target clients of all races and cultures.
What does beauty mean to you?
Since I was young, I had been told the definition of beauty is a person or thing being attracted by the appearance, gives the pleasure of our minds. After getting older, I realize that real beauty is not just about the appearance but the mind and soul inside. To me, true beauty means the feeling of myself. I cannot change people’s minds about how they think about me, all I can do is focusing on myself, accept and cherish who I am. The dominant ideals of beauty in my country were affecting me a lot. When I was little, people making jokes about fat people because we thought being fat is not beautiful or not cool, so I joined the sports team to try to lose weight because I didn’t want people laughing at me. The narrow definition of beauty comes along with many negative impacts. The beauty standards different for men and women in the U.S are unfair to women. We see many people try very hard to be fit in the mainstream definition of beauty by make-up, work out, diet, hairstyle and color, or even plastic surgery and more. Women today have more physical requirements then being a man. The society places too much emphasis on appearance and neglects the inner, women who don’t meet the prevailing standard of beauty are expected to have a harder life.
Reference:
You and Your Family. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/FamilyPlanning
About the Family Planning Program. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttps://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/locations/family-planning/about-us.aspx
By Yuta Chen
I spent most of my life and educated in Taiwan before I came to the U.S for college. As I remember, we had sexual health class once a week from the third grade of elementary school to the ninth grade. In the beginning, teachers taught us about the biological difference between boys and girls and the functions of reproductive organs, then we started to learn about reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases, and a little bit of female anatomy. However, there was not any content about being homosexual during the time, and many people in Taiwan still thought being gay or lesbian is the main reason of getting HIV, it is not right to full in love with the person of the same gender which is not right, and I think it is the government responsibility to educate the right information to the youth instead of ignoring the issue. I feel like the sexual education that I learned in school is not enough. But I am lucky to have my parents that keep educating me the knowledge of sexual health, they always tell me to be open mind and respectful to everyone because we all have the right to love and be loved no matter the partner is a boy or girl, and keep myself in a healthy sexual relationship physically and emotionally.
Access to sexual health education not only helps prevent sexually transmitted diseases and reduce sexual health disparities among LGBTQ youth, but also the right for everyone in anywhere to receive the information of our health, the knowledge to be safe and how to protect ourselves and others. Many families are not willing to speak on the topic of sexual education, so it is critical for schools to educate the youth including gender stereotypes and violence, or the children may receive the wrong information on social media or the internet that could affect the lives of themselves and others. In Washington state, the department of health has a family planning program to educate the parents on the knowledge about having baby, clinical services for people to plan a healthy and safe pregnancy. Moreover, the Family Planning Program of King County provides clinical services, health education, and outreach, focusing on the low-income, uninsured population with clinic staff who can speak two or more languages in Family Planning Clinics. The outreach and Health Education strategies target clients of all races and cultures.
What does beauty mean to you?
Since I was young, I had been told the definition of beauty is a person or thing being attracted by the appearance, gives the pleasure of our minds. After getting older, I realize that real beauty is not just about the appearance but the mind and soul inside. To me, true beauty means the feeling of myself. I cannot change people’s minds about how they think about me, all I can do is focusing on myself, accept and cherish who I am. The dominant ideals of beauty in my country were affecting me a lot. When I was little, people making jokes about fat people because we thought being fat is not beautiful or not cool, so I joined the sports team to try to lose weight because I didn’t want people laughing at me. The narrow definition of beauty comes along with many negative impacts. The beauty standards different for men and women in the U.S are unfair to women. We see many people try very hard to be fit in the mainstream definition of beauty by make-up, work out, diet, hairstyle and color, or even plastic surgery and more. Women today have more physical requirements then being a man. The society places too much emphasis on appearance and neglects the inner, women who don’t meet the prevailing standard of beauty are expected to have a harder life.
Reference:
You and Your Family. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/FamilyPlanning
About the Family Planning Program. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttps://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/locations/family-planning/about-us.aspx
By Yuta Chen
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