Where's the Sex Ed After High School?

If you're college-bound, chances are you've already had the only formal sex education you're going to get. Do you even remember it?

Most 20-somethings say they did get sex education in some form or another, but a lot of what they remember about it is how lame it was. Or how embarassing it was. Or how remote it all seemed at the time. Well, most young adults (20-29) are sexually active and need good sex education now more than ever. Single 20-somethings have more unplanned pregnancies than any other age group -- including teens. And among single young adults, 7 in 10 pregnancies are unplanned. In fact, half of single 20-somethings who have unplanned pregnancies say they were using some form of birth control during the month they got pregnant. Birth control only works if you use it correctly and consistently. That means every single time you have sex, not just most of the time. Fully half of 20-somethings say they don't seek out more information about contraception because they know enough about it already.

Still, knowing about contraception isn't enough -- you have to be motivated to use it.  Did you know that if you're having sex without birth control on a regular basis you have an 85% chance of pregnancy within a year? So if you're a single 20-something and you're not actively trying to prevent pregnancy, it will probably happen to you.

Would you like to see more sex education for young adults? What kinds of things would you want to learn about?  Think back to your teen years:  where did you get your information about sex and relationships? School? Family? Friends? The Internet? What was helpful? What was hopeless?  Visit www.sexreally.com -- a new sex site for your brain. Get credible information and hear what other young adults are saying about sex, love and relationships.  Listen to a new podcast about what's missing from sex education. This podcast features special guest Chia Schonberg, host of “Getting Kinky w/ Chia," an educational sex and relationship talk show originally created at Lehman College Radio in 2005, which has since outgrown its home and garnered an international audience. 

Join the conversation. Tell us your "sex ed horror stories" -- we might use it on our site. We want to hear from you.

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