Over the past couple months I have been talking about my experience with Fast Pitch Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Foundation. For background read my first blog about this called Let’s Talk About Sex. Given that many folks were unable to see my pitch I thought I would share it in written blog form this week. At the fast pitch event Let’s Talk About Sex. I was 6 when my friend explained sex to me with the help of our Barbie and Ken dolls. No surprise: the lesson missed important information given Barbie and Ken’s lack of…shall we say…equipment. Do you recall how you learned about sex? Maybe someone told you that you couldn’t get pregnant or a sexually transmitted infection, or STI, your first time … Or that you shouldn’t be attracted to someone of your own gender— because we live in a Barbie and Ken kind of world… My name is Nicole Chammartin and I am the Executive Director of SERC – the Sexuality Education Resource Centre of Manitoba. At SERC we believe that everyone has the right to safe and accurate information about sex, so that they are able to make good decisions. SERC, formerly known as Planned Parenthood, has been talking about sex for a very long time. Consider this … There is something that almost ALL of us are doing but few of us are actually talking about… That’s a big problem. I bet most of you know that we are the Slurpee capital of Canada- but did you know Manitoba is the chlamydia capital? We also have one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the country. Considering the huge impacts STI’s and unplanned pregnancy have on people’s lives, and our health system…think about this …They are almost 100% preventable! At SERC we distribute approximately 100,000 condoms and safe sex supplies annually throughout Manitoba, and we’re ready to do more. We also provide workshops for students and teachers province wide as part of the in school health curriculum. Even with in school education the reality is youth still have many questions about sex, and we need to make sure they know how to get the right answers. A 2014 Canadian survey cites 1/5th of students grade 4-11 went online for information on sex. I encourage each of you to go home and google sex and see what you find… At SERC our Facts of Life program provides answers to those who need it. Launched as a phone line in the 80’s, today the majority of our questions come online. By combining this prize money with our own funds we will use the $20,000 investment to launch a targeted online campaign to raise awareness of our Facts of Life Program. We need to connect with youth today and keep them talking. When SERC provides youth workshops the class ends with a box for anonymous questions. I leave you with a sample of what youth are asking:
Why do some people only like other people for their looks?
How do I know if I am ready to have sex?
What do I do when someone is hurting me?
What I really worry about, is the questions we don’t get to answer. Help us answer them.
