Taking sex education is an experience all New Trier students have in common, and while sophomores might not be ecstatic about taking it, older students tend to have a more reflective perspective on it.

The curriculum encourages students to feel comfortable being open and asking questions about their sexuality.

Senior Ella Brown, a member of the school’s LGBTQ+ community, remembers that students naturally tended to hold certain questions back.

“There was that air of caution because I was thinking, ‘What if people think that I’m not straight, or if people think I’m a certain way because I’m asking these questions?’ I don’t think that was necessarily my concern but other people probably didn’t ask questions or make comments because of that reason,” Brown said.

Senior Nathan Jaffe thought that taking sex ed is an important step for all students because it informs them about sexual health. But he also added that he doesn’t remember most of what he learned and that an optional ‘refresher” course for juniors and seniors would be useful.

Coordinator of the sophomore health curriculum, Kinetic Wellness teacher Andy Horne, agreed with Jaffe in that an optional sexual education course should be offered for upperclassmen.

“Students develop at different rates and so they might be experiencing something their senior year that they had no idea about their sophomore year. They then might want more of that information,” Horne said.

Horne further explained that what students seem to remember the most from sex ed is talking about healthy and unhealthy relationships.

This is taught using the cult classic film, “No One Would Tell,” more commonly known as “Bobby and Stacey” at New Trier.

Jaffe thought the course should emphasize the movie less and instead focus more on how relationships can be healthy. But Horne explained that the school shows the movie because it teaches students to think about and remember what makes up a good relationship and what the red flags of unhealthy relationships are.

Junior Sarah Rocap agreed with Jaffe, saying that what she remembers the most from Sex Ed is “Bobby and Stacey.”

She added that she would like to see a more gender-balanced perspective on abusive relationships, because she thought that the course discussed mostly how women, not men, can be abused.

Sophomore Rhys Murphy, another member of the LGBTQ+ community, felt that this equal gender representation in sex ed should be taken a step further.

“They basically didn’t have it targeted towards the idea that the LGBT people are also in the room and they didn’t really go into depth on anything specific on LGBT people. It was more like an afterthought,” Murphy said.

For example, Murphy explained that while the course covered various methods of contraception and STI prevention for heterosexuals, it did not cover the “whole other array of options” of “safe sex” methods that are used within the LGBTQ+ community.

Brown, who is friends with Murphy, agreed with Murphy’s ideas and suggested that the course spend more time discussing gender identity.

“Spending more time on it will make people think that it’s more important than a topic that can be addressed in two days,” she said.

Brown further explained that the short amount of time spent on sexual orientation could be problematic for those who discover their true gender identity after taking the course and might not have paid sufficient attention while taking it.

Regarding this gender identity/LGBTQ+ discussion in sex ed, Horne explained that, “The experiences of students differ amongst different teachers, but we’re trying to equalize it to have the same experiences for everyone.”

He further emphasized that he meets regularly with student-run organizations, such as the New Trier LGBTQ+ support group called SKITTLES, to improve the curriculum.

On top of that, the school collects information through surveys to better assess students’ needs and to address them.

Horne explained that the gender identity part of sex ed is not perfect and has room to grow.

He also feels students are getting a well-rounded experience.

This includes discussing not only gender identity and sexual orientation, but extends to what it means to be masculine or feminine, how our biological sex plays a role and to allow everyone to “get to know themselves better and to be who they have a right to be.”

It’s important to remember that the school isn’t the only factor controlling students’ experience in sex ed.

As Murphy said, “The students need to put in just as much as the teachers put out and sometimes people are a bit reluctant. They just kind of want to sit back and have the information thrown at them. But for a topic like this it’s kind of important to give feedback.”