A four week sexual education course will now be offered to Ohio State Students, Staff and Community Members. Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
A free four-week sexual education series will be held for students, staff and community members to promote and expand their knowledge of sexual health.
The Ohio Center for Sex Education is partnering with Ohio State’s Sexual Health and Reproduction Education organization to host an event tailored for busy college students. The series consists of eight, one-hour sessions taught by trained sexual health educators from OCSE, Mounir Lynch, a community health education specialist at the OCSE, said in an email.
Lynch said he believes students are at a “pivotal age” where sexual behavior is more common.
“Attending an event like this will allow students to receive some of that sexuality education that they may not have gotten in their schools back home,” Lynch said.
Lynch said Ohio is the only state in the country without required health education standards.
“Topics such as consent, gender identity and sexual orientation, contraceptive options, and more are not required to be taught in Ohio schools,” Lynch said. “Students may come to college unaware of what basic aspects of consent and healthy relationships are. This prevents young people to make informed decisions about their health and relationships.”
Jessica Fulton, director of SHARE and a third-year medical student, said students should be able to receive free sex-ed advice anywhere.
“College students shouldn’t be paying for something that they deserved to have in public school years ago,” Fulton said.
Monday’s first session will provide a basic health class overview for anyone who wants to review their high school sex education, according to SHARE’s Instagram.
Fulton said other sessions will discuss relationships, LGBTQ+-specific sex-ed, pleasure, abstinence, cultural effects on sex-ed, protection negotiation and when to talk to youth about sex.
“If someone goes through the series and walks away with one thing, I hope that it would be to take a step back and open your mind to other ways to think about sexual health education,” Fulton said. “It’s a conversation you can have on a Friday night with friends or on a Monday morning with your kid when they just have a simple question.”
According to SHARE’s Instagram, the classes will be hosted every Monday and Wednesday at Graves Hall 1167 Jan. 23 through Feb. 15 from 5-6 p.m. Students may register for the event on SHARE’s Instagram or through the student life calendar.
