To the Editor:

Opinions are a funny thing aren’t they? Everyone’s got one, yet they make for an interesting conversation especially when it is on a topic pertaining to what each person believes is right or wrong. One controversial topic of interest is sexual health, more importantly the sexual health of children and adolescence.

Sexual health is quite important to our overall health and wellbeing. It is often an overlooked area which is an area of great concern due to the lack of fully understanding from an early age that can impact the future abstinence, decrease incidence of STI’s, teen pregnancy, etc. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to get age appropriate, knowledgeable, one-on-one conversations for our youth to gain a better understanding of their own bodies?

When I was a young girl, the human anatomy was a mystery to me. I remember there being a brief group session in school where the girls and boys were separated into separate groups were to gain gender specific information due to the prepubescent age. The girl’s group pretty much just talked about the emanating menstrual cycle, but what about the rest?

What about the actual human reproductive anatomy education within the school systems that will trample the mystery of boy and girl parts and finding children hiding in a confined private area just to look at and examine their differences? If this was incorporated into elementary curriculum, there is no “I wonder what it looks like” phases that inevitably result in unsupervised curiosity and exploration because they will already know what they themselves and their counterparts looks like.

Knowing the correct anatomy, physiology, and terminology of the human body has many benefits. First, ending the curiosity and wonderment of what is, to knowing what we (both male and female) look like. Second, understanding how our bodies work. What comes out of where, what things to be careful of and avoid pertaining to our delicate parts, and what happens when one engages in activities which can be harmful and/or irreparable unpredicted consequences. Using the correct terminology can also help children in identifying when there is any type of sexual related problems or abuse.

Using pet-names for genitalia can make things difficult when issues such as sexual abuse arise. These names can make it difficult for the child to be able to distinguish what is right and what is wrong. Most times than not, during sexual abuse investigations, key words are needed to go forward with the investigation and rectify the incident(s). So if a child does not have the knowledge behind their bodies and what is really called what, how are they supposed to correctly identify and distinguish what is being done to them? Along my travels another person had told me her mother called her private part (vagina) a “butterfly” and the male counterpart (penis) “Peter”. Can you see how that could be misconstrued by a child trying to explain they were being sexually abuse? What if Peter was playing with her butterfly? In most cases a statement like that would be dismissed without a second thought. Knowing at a young age the correct terminology is crucial to clear and concise communication.

Today, we are seeing that children are developing earlier (accentuated female figure while being very young), it seems as though body changes are happening earlier in their lives than in the past century, children are being forced to grow up faster than they should, and the sense of innocence is being lost.

The world is changing, isn’t it time that our education changes too?

Niiohontesha Herne

SUNY Potsdam student