Netflix’s Big Mouth and Sex Education are doing more for students than most schools are, and that’s a problem.
I think I have a problem. My body has complete control over me.
– Otis Milburn
Sex.
Depending on your upbringing, or just your general life experiences, that word may make you cringe. Or it may intrigue you. Or you’re just reading this as a healthy and well-adjusted adult and so the word doesn’t particularly mean much to you.
Regardless of which category you fall into, sex is one of those topics that’s very hard to breach for young people. It’s uncomfortable to discuss because it’s “supposed” to be a private and intimate affair. Discussing it is seen as indecent.
And yet there comes a time in every young person’s life when they must receive the fated “talk”. The topic of sex must in some way be breached so that the child can prepare themselves to enter a world full of many choices, many questions, and many consequences.
But the quality of these talks varies significantly for many young people. Some don’t have parents who are willing or even able to answer the questions they have. In fact, only Forty-three percent of parents say they feel very comfortable talking with their children about sex and sexual health according to Planned Parenthood. And when it comes to Sex-Ed in schools, the quality can range significantly. Only 29 states and DC require some form of Sex-Ed to be taught in public schools, and of those states, only 22 require that information to be “medically, factually or technically accurate”.
And so the problem arises that we are truly doing disservice our kids by not arming them with the knowledge they need to have healthy sexual lives. However, shows like Netflix’s Big Mouth and Sex Education are providing access to real information about a wide variety of topics relating to sexual health to a whole new audience.
The shows find ways to do this in a way that doesn’t feel out of place. They embrace the reality of sex and development as something normal to everyone, which somehow makes the shows feel more real. In Season 2 Episode 5 of Big Mouth, “The Planned Parenthood Episode” the show actively discusses Planned Parenthood while discrediting misinformation and providing a witty guide to contraception (in a Bachelorette style skit, nonetheless!).
In the same vein, Sex Education opens its sophomore season with some very real answers to questions about chlamydia with some very direct explanations from the main character Otis that “you cannot catch chlamydia from the air, you have to have sexual contact with the carrier”.
Many teens have found a haven in shows like Big Mouth and Sex Education, saying that the advice on screen is usually being discussed by friends, which the Guardian says “opens up the conversation, so advice can be delivered in a frank way rather than seeming clinical and removed”.
So even if our schools aren’t doing enough to prepare our kids to enter the adult world of sex and relationships, at least streaming services like Netflix are doing something. But it sure would be nice if schools could start taking some responsibility and start giving good Sex-Ed to students. Because if there’s one thing we don’t want, it’s a bunch of teenagers getting sex advice from the internet.
Midbrow 