
Let us talk about sex. I am not talking about how to pleasure a partner or how to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. I want to talk about sexual assault. Actually, I want everyone to talk about sexual assault. Although, there should not be much to discuss because it is against the law in every form. The fact that there is any confusion on what is sexual assault and what is not should be a red flag to society. What if some people thought murder was okay? Murder and death are generally thought to be the worst thing to happen to a person, but I believe that rape is worse because the survivor must live with it for the rest of his or her life. I would like you to consider how much you think about sex on a daily or weekly basis. I made this comment on Yik Yak once and a survivor anonymously confirmed it. Similarly, one of University of South Carolina's own athletes tells people that she told her ex-boyfriend that he should have just killed her after he committed acts of domestic violence against her. Certainly it happens often and are pleasant or harmless. Now imagine your natural urges come with tears, trauma, and feelings of depression. Although sex is not a big part of everyone's life, it is a big part of life in general. It is so easy for survivors to be triggered considering the prevalence of sex in media today. Everyone knows that sexual assault is wrong but, not everyone comprehends all factors that define sexual assault. The number of people that do not understand the law are at risk for breaking it or allowing someone else to commit a crime against them. For this reason, sexual assault could be prevented because of better education of the specific laws throughout health classes prior to college.

The greatest opponents of sexual assault education are supporters of abstinence-only sex education for adolescents. Arguments made for this type of program includes that abstinence is the only absolute way to avoid teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and many parents want abstinent children. Alean Zeiler, pediatrician and author of "Teen Sex Education Should Emphasize Abstinence Until Marriage," believes that "when it comes to sex education, adolescents need to be given clear direction repeatedly, as is done with programs that address smoking, drugs, and alcohol use" (Zeiler). While this approach does likely help prevent those activities, keep in mind that all of those activities are illegal for minors to do when they begin learning about them, unlike sexual activity which may begin at 16, 17 or 18 years old. This curriculum does not give attention to sexual consent and is ignorant to the fact that no abstinence-only program reports one hundred percent of students abstinent until marriage. Therefore, risk of rape is increased due to a lack of knowledge of laws against sexual assault and appropriate consent. Students that become survivors and perpetrators alike cannot even realize their cases are illegal.

