Sex education, the subject that makes students blush and squirm, is evolving at University Prep. While the semester-long health class,  which includes sex ed, is likely to stay the same, a new, more in-depth health intensive is being offered for some students.

The new course will be co-taught by P.E. teacher Nathan Whitney and Social-Emotional Learning Coordinator Emily Schorr-Lesnick. 

Both instructors are excited to have time to take a deeper look at health in general, and bring in modern sex-ed topics and current events.

“Consent has become a front-burner topic, and so we talk about that much more than before,” Whitney said. 

Schorr-Lesnick is also hoping to add some of her own new ideas to the course. 

She is “passionate about looking at health holistically,” and hopes to incorporate her research on ‘sex positivity’ into the intensive. 

Sex positivity is “a way of unlearning some of the shame that is ingrained about our bodies and about our acts,” according to Schorr-Lesnick. 

Though the phrase and concept may sound radical, Schorr-Lesnick says that sex positivity is meant to make people feel more comfortable when talking about sex. 

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone has all the sex all the time, it just means that we are moving away from judgment and moving to curiosity, communication and consent,” Schorr-Lesnick said. 

A fresh look at how sexual health is taught at UPrep is also seen as necessary to some  students. Certain students feel like information was lacking during their sex ed unit.

“It is just really minimal; just the very basics about how the mechanics work and what you should be doing to protect yourself,” junior Nathan Burke said of his experience in freshman year Health. 

Burke believes that crucial information was missing from his sex education. 

“Things like non-heterosexual sex, or preventative disease that comes from non-traditional methods of sex aren’t really covered,” Burke said. 

After looking over Whitney’s previous course materials with the understanding that there is not enough time in a semester to go in depth to each subject, Schorr-Lesnick found areas that she wants to expand. The two instructors have begun to collaborate to create the new course. 

“Mr. Whitney has been great to work with, and has shared all the old content,” she said.  

Schorr-Lesnick is interested in teaching a more in-depth course on health, especially sex-ed. 

“I think that having a conversation about pleasure in addition to protection [is necessary]. For example, what if you want to use sex toys? How do you do that in a safe place?”

Freshman Sean Fried, who is currently taking Health, is hoping to learn primarily about general safety. 

“A lot of people make really bad decisions later in high school and college, and I don’t want to fall into that,” he said. 

 The new intensive, starting in January 2019, will look to cover topics on sexual assault, sex positivity and safety. It will allow students to explore health in more inclusive and expansive ways.