What does health education look like? My first thoughts took me back to my uncomfortable Jr. High health class, way back in the day. It was a long time ago, but I can still clearly remember our sweet teacher trying to discuss puberty while the boys in the class turned red from embarrassment and the girls snickered nervously. It was a very uneasy feeling in the room. It was the feeling that you were interested in the sex ed information, yet mortified at the thought of your peers realizing this. Thankfully. after these first memories subsided, new thoughts began to arise. Health education is so much more! It is teaching our youth about mental, emotional, and physical health. It is helping them to understand that issues of health are typically interrelated in nature. For example, managing stress effectively is beneficial, both emotionally and physically. Health education should also teach our youth that the topic of "health," is not taboo, but it is a subject that can be discussed openly and responsibly. It is also key to understand that health is so much than just sex education. The subject consists of peer pressure and personal safety, limiting screen time, eating nutritiously, and getting enough sleep and exercise, and drug awareness and prevention.
