Sexual Citizens Mailbag: Share Your Thoughts and Questions!

Share your thoughts and questions about sex education, what can be done to prevent sexual assault, and how to set young people up for safe, healthy, and fulfilling sex lives.

The vast majority of adults support sex education in schools, but the content of sex education curricula varies considerably across the country, and even within communities. Policies at the school, district, state, and federal level all shape the information about sex and sexual health students receive through school programming. Whether or not young people have access to comprehensive, medically accurate sex education at school, there are many sources of information they may use to learn about sex—not all of which emphasize safety, consent, and autonomy for both them and their sexual partners.

One upshot of this lack of universal standards for sex education is that many young people—especially at the college age (18-24)—are unable to distinguish "bad sex" from sexual assault. Research has shown that by the time college students graduate, as many as one in three women and almost one in six men will have been sexually assaulted. At the same time, data suggests that women students who receive comprehensive sex education before college that includes refusal skills training are half as likely to be raped—making sex education arguably the most effective form of prevention against assault.

In Sexual Citizens, authors Shamus Khan and Jennifer S. Hirsch highlight why sexual assault is such a predictable feature in the lives of college students and offer a roadmap for how to address it. Drawing on the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) at Columbia University, the most comprehensive study to date of sexual assault on a campus, Sexual Citizens presents a ground-breaking framework that emphasizes sexual assault’s social roots, based on the powerful concepts of “sexual projects,” “sexual citizenship,” and “sexual geographies.”

With young people returning to school and college campuses this fall, join The Friendship Center Wednesday, September 30, at 5:30 PM at the Holter Museum for a conversation with the authors of Sexual Citizens about their research, and what we can all do to help set young people up for safe, healthy, and fulfilling sexual relationships that recognize the rights, desires, and autonomy of themselves and their peers. This event is free and open to all, but space is limited, so RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Use the ticket form at the bottom of the event page to save your spot and get on the list to receive follow-up resources and discussion questions for continued conversation.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS

As part of our Sexual Citizens Author Talk, and to help us tailor follow-up programming and resources about sex education in our community, consider participating in our Sexual Citizens mailbag using the form below (use the embedded version at the bottom or click the button to open the form in a new tab). All questions are optional and help us understand the quality of sex education teens and college-age people are getting, what kinds of resources and information adults would like to have to better support the young people in their lives, and any questions you have for us or the authors of Sexual Citizens.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

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PURCHASE SEXUAL CITIZENS

Pick up your copy of Sexual Citizens from our friends at Montana Book Company in Helena, and a portion of your purchase will be donated to The Friendship Center. Montana Book Company will also have books available for purchase at the event in September!

READER DISCRETION NOTE

Sexual Citizens is in part about sexual assault on college campuses. Its discussion of the sex lives of college students includes experiences ranging from healthy and consensual sexual encounters to violent assaults. It’s powerful and so important to engage with honest stories of young people as they navigate sexual intimacy, but we encourage everyone to read with care. Consider checking out our learning video and our reading recommendation for Sexual Citizens ahead of this virtual talk.