Indiana needs comprehensive sex education now.  
Governor Eric Holcomb has a duty to Indiana teens to implement comprehensive sex education in schools. Every day in Indiana, 23 teens get pregnant (Slocum). Furthermore, Indiana ranks 20th in the country for chlamydia and 21st for gonorrhea (“STD Testing in Indiana”). Despite these facts, Indiana’s sex education curriculum remains lackluster and at times, wholly absent. In fact, sex education is not required in the state (“Indiana State Profile"). Schools are only required to discuss HIV and AIDS, and if they include any further sex education it must be abstinence based (“Indiana State Profile”), which has been proven ineffective (“Comprehensive Sexuality Education”). Schools are not required to be medically accurate, discuss consent, or be inclusive in any manner (“Indiana State Profile”). 

As a graduate of an Indiana high school, this topic is personal to me. I got a better sex education than most Indiana teens. My school discussed STDs, pregnancy, contraceptive options and what healthy relationships look like. Despite this, I still found myself relying on the internet to find answers to lingering questions and topics that were not covered in class. As I got older, I consistently had younger friends and family members back home who would ask me for answers to the subjects' schools failed to educate on. These included questions about STD transmission, pregnancy options and statistics, what constitutes consent, and more, suggesting a pattern of deficient education.

Comprehensive sex education includes (but is not limited to): accurate, inclusive, and age-appropriate information on relationships, consent, anatomy/puberty, contraception, and STDs (“Comprehensive Sexuality Education”). This sort of education can have tangible benefits for young people throughout their lives. Call on Governor Eric Holcomb to require comprehensive sex education in schools.