Sex ed and teen pregnancy

Growing up in a Christian Norwegian family came with a lot specific values. One of those values is an open conversation about sex. Not just “the talk” but every nitty-gritty detail that is involved. This is something that American parents feel extremely awkward about. The parents of my friends growing up, for example, had my mom give my friends the talk because they felt weird about it. If more parents opened up the conversation maybe Spokane wouldn’t have such high teen pregnancy rates.

In 2016 Spokane’s teen pregnancy rates were above the average for Washington state. According to spokanecares.org, for every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19, 39 have unplanned pregnancies. With that being said, I’m sure that not all of these pregnancies were due to a lack of sex education.

If we as a community normalized talking about sex openly within our families, these rates would decrease because of the support and education received. I want to challenge parents to start talking and stop creating awkward moments so that our teens are given what they need. Sex is a beautiful thing and it should be talked about.

Magdalene Nichols

Spokane