A Great Education Includes Sex Education
Comprehensive sex education (CSE) is powerful. It teaches young people the knowledge and skills to have healthy relationships, make informed decisions, and respect their own and others’ boundaries. Every young person — no matter their zip code, gender, race, or income — deserves access to the information they need to lead healthy, empowered lives.
Across Colorado, young people, parents, educators, and advocates have insightful stories about why sex education matters to their community and how it has touched their lives.
We’ve asked Coloradans to share why sex education matters to them, in their own words. Share your own experience through the link below!
I’ve been passionate about health education since college because I personally experienced the impact of not having access to comprehensive, accurate information growing up. There were so many gaps in what I knew—especially around human sexuality—and it left me unprepared to make safe, informed decisions for myself.
That experience is what drives my work today. I believe that comprehensive sex education is essential to students’ health and overall wellbeing. When we create space in schools to talk openly and respectfully about topics that are often considered “uncomfortable,” we give young people the tools they need to make confident, healthy choices. It helps them understand boundaries, relationships, identity, safety, and consent—not just in theory, but in their real lives.
Most importantly, I want every student in my class to feel seen. When students feel like they belong and that their experiences and questions are valid, they’re more likely to absorb the information, ask questions, and carry those lessons forward into adulthood. Comprehensive sex ed isn’t just about preventing risks—it’s about empowerment, dignity, and giving young people a strong foundation for their futures.
Health Education Teacher, Aurora, ColoradoI liked knowing the risks of underaged sex, STIs, etc. It answered a lot of questions I had.
Young Person Under 18 Years, Suburban Colorado Community
I believe in the impact of sex education to radically change the world because when we talk about everyone’s rights to autonomy, pleasure, care, and self-knowledge, we are confronted with a different paradigm for all of our relationships, even ones in which we will never be sexually involved – like family, friends, and work. When we trust people’s autonomy and self-knowledge and believe that people deserve pleasure and good things; when we start building a culture of consent, we start recognizing how control and colonization has infiltrated every part of our lives. Ok, I realize that is a lot. But sex education changed my entire way of being in the world. Talking with young people about their bodies, affirming their rights over their own bodies, and believing what they tell me about their experiences of the world and themselves is powerful for preventing violence and nourishing a generation of people who know their worth and respect the worth and dignity of the people in their lives.
Parent/Caregiver and Youth Serving Professional, Urban Colorado Community
Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) is a normal part of health and important for young people to have access to honest and reliable information about their own bodies. As a young person, I did not have access to sex education and there was a lot of fear and shame around sex in my community. This was incredibly confusing and made it hard to understand what was going on in my body and how to navigate relationships. As a parent, I prioritize having open conversations with my kids about sex, their bodies, and healthy relationships because it normalizes that these are parts of the human experience.
I also had the privilege of testifying in support of the comp sex ed bill on behalf of the state and it was wonderful to hear from young people with all kinds of sexual and gender identities, share how comp sex education made them feel safe and human, in a world that can diminish their experiences. I believe that comp sex ed is a space where we can welcome everyone and that really matters.
Parent and Health Advocate, Urban Colorado CommunityI feel like young people can make better decisions with better information. I also feel like young people are safer when they are able to learn in an environment that provides information freely. And that they are more likely to learn in a non- stigmatizing and non- shaming, safe space. CSE seems to endeavor to provide factual information in a safe space that includes diverse life experiences and expression.
CSE did not exist, to my knowledge, when I was younger and I didn’t learn much about sex education beyond abstinence and condoms. And I unfortunately found myself in a variety of unsafe scenarios, without a voice. CSE looks like it helps young people to develop their voices. I am still learning and hope I can find ways to make CSE available for my child, despite what our school district is offering.
Parent/Caregiver, Rural Colorado CommunityStudents have access to a lot of images from media, but they don’t take the time to seek out info on their own. Content knowledge, risks, and relationship building are subjects that need to be taught in a comprehensive way so that sex education is truly a Health class.
Teacher, Suburban Colorado Community
Comprehensive Health programming includes comprehensive sexual health content. Including this content benefits our students in their life-long endeavor to live healthy and happy lives. By addressing students’ whole wellbeing, we are allowing them to access school and their individual pathway of purpose.
School Administrator, Suburban Colorado Community