Cuts to sexual education in valley schools have some worried
The story of an outbreak of chlamydia at a Texas high school has gone viral Wednesday.
Several students at the school got the sexually transmitted disease.
The school does not offer sex education classes, which is also true of some schools in our valley.
Many of us took sex education classes in high school.
But after some districts in the valley cut health programs a few years back, health official Marian Stahl worries students do not know everything they need to know.
“They’re not getting it in the classroom. The parents aren’t providing it at home, there’s a lack of information. They might try to get that information on the computer, sometimes they get bad information, sometimes they get the right information,” Stahl said.
While none of the valley school districts require students to take health before they graduate, the districts found other ways of incorporating sex education and information into their curriculum.
Many schools absorbed the health curriculum into other classes, like biology and physical education.
Coachella Valley Unified School District also holds health education fairs in schools where students can talk with doctors.
Since the class isn’t required some students are worried they won’t get all the information they need.
“Like if I didn’t take it online I wouldn’t have taken it at all. So you miss out on a whole yearlong class on health. They teach a lot of good stuff and if you miss it that’s knowledge you miss out on,” Palm Desert High School senior Noah Thibault said.
But there are options outside of the classroom.
“The good thing that’s happening in the Coachella Valley is that we are seeing an increase, they have opened up new clinics in Desert Hot Springs, Mecca, those areas, they now have more access to services,” Stahl said.
There are two clinics in the valley run by the county — one in Palm Springs, the other in Indio.
Both clinics have walk-in times for people ages 12-25.
For more information on the Indio clinic, click here
