College is a time in which we as students are taken out of the world our parents, family, and friends have constructed around us and learn of the world outside. In this time we are meant to transcend above the cultural mores and ignorance of our tribes by gaining a more holistic and objective understanding or ourselves and the world in which we live. One topic that is taboo in our society and often never to be spoken of in Christian families is human sexuality. As a person who grew up in the public school system and has had the opportunity of attending a public and private/Christian university I am very surprised to see that the mandatory textbook for Health does not include one chapter exploring the topics that revolve around sex. I was also surprised to find that the student health center refuses to provide condoms for students and that section 10.1 of the student handbook states that “students who engage in unmarried sexual behavior will be subject to disciplinary process.” So even if the Student Health center did provide condoms, students would be disciplined for requesting a pack. These policies stand as one of the clearest examples of the disconnectedness between APU’s administration, the student body, and the real world that cannot be kept outside of the APU bubble.
As a student, these facts concern me. The administration’s unwillingness to accept their students are engaging in sexual activities, and their refusal to take the responsibility to educate students in all the realities of life is a mistake that is having devastating consequences on members of the APU community. Having been at a public college and a private Christian university I can tell you that I have the same amount of friends that are sexually active here at APU as I did at Fullerton College. A difference that does exist between here and Fullerton is the ignorance of the complexities of human sexuality and sexual relations. I have spoken with girls at this university who believe they can get pregnant during oral sex. Others believe that a condom is not necessary if the man pulls out before he ejaculates. Still others have been made to believe that sex is something for the man’s enjoyment and it is the job of the woman to make sure that the man feels satisfied. These cases, alongside the overwhelming amount of research that has been done in the areas of contraceptives and sexual violence against women make clear the need for APU to commit itself to properly educating students on their sexuality, the complexities of responsible sex, and the realities of rape.
Studies by governmental and non-governmental organizations such as the American Public Health Association have shown the United States to have the highest rate of adolescent pregnancies in the post-industrial world. This comes at no surprise when one considers that the United States government is also the leading investor of abstinence education and has a median age at first intercourse of 17. In contrast, the Netherlands boasts the most comprehensive sexual education program in the western world as well as the lowest teenage pregnancy rate. These numbers are no coincidence, American adolescence and young adults are beginning to have sexual relations at the age of 17 free of an adequate sexual educated, purely because those in power refuse to come to terms with the facts. How can this Christian university shame woman who choose to have abortions, while at the same time refuse to provide them with contraceptives or educate them in the importance of having sex responsibly? To bring down abortion rates, we must bring down the rate of unwanted pregnancies. As shown by the evidence, this can be achieved not by spending millions of dollars on abstinence education (the US model) but by educating individuals in the complexities of responsible sexual relations and providing them with contraceptives (the Dutch model).
Unwanted pregnancy is not the only harm that an extensive sexual education program can prevent. Research by the Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that more than 302,091 women are raped each year in the United States. The same survey also estimates that one in six women have been the victims of rape at some point in their lifetime. In 2000 Congress was finally moved to act on these numbers and passed the Violence Against Women Act. This act is founded upon the importance of educating women and men of the realities of rape by a stranger, by a significant other, and by husbands. I know women that have been raped by men on this campus, many of which have stayed in a relationship with these men because they have accepted the lie that sex is for the man, not the woman. Told that if sexual activities ever get out of hand it is the woman’s fault for ‘asking for it.’
These lies must end now! One woman being raped on this campus is too many, and I am appalled that this administration continues to ignore this reality for the sake of protecting their view of the student body as their innocent children. The words on this page are nothing more than a sample of the reality that APU students face daily and will continue to face after they graduate. It is the responsibility of this university to educate us in the realities of this world so that we can face them appropriately.
