Sex Ed All Grown Up: The Benefits of Teaching Human Sexuality Courses at the Collegiate Level

Abstract

In the United States sex education is a hot button issue. While the debates are largely centered around grade school and high school level sex education, there has been very little discussion around sexuality education at the collegiate level and beyond. This indicates a failing to recognize how beneficial this type of education can be at every level. With the many resources available in various disciplines for sexuality and gender there is no reason this particular area should be skirted around, or ignored by institutions of higher learning, most especially because the common reason for denying sexuality education, the age of students, plays no part at the collegiate level. The aim of this paper is to explore the benefits of teaching sexuality and gender courses for both students and educators while also discussing methods by which these types of courses could be implemented. This paper will define sexuality education by both the more traditional sexual education courses along with any course focused on human sexuality, gender, and martial relations in any discipline. The broad range of courses further explores the thesis that sexuality education could be easily presented in various formats and within various programs. This paper will also discuss some of the various reasons that sexuality education is sometimes not included in collegiate programs and how these blocks could be overcome. Improving and implementing sexuality education in higher education is possible and should be prioritized for those institutions hoping to produce well rounded, empowered students regardless of their discipline or area of study.