Senior Project Tackles Sex Education Stigma

By Christopher Loupeda
Staff Writer | The Pacific Times

Katelynn Tran

NP3 High senior Katelynn Tran is tackling the stigma associated with sex education for her senior project.

“The goal of my project is to lessen the stigma behind sex education while bringing those necessary resources to NP3 High School,” said Tran.

Senior projects are a graduation requirement at NP3 High.

“I personally believe this topic is important because it will allow the youth to make thoughtful choices on their relationships and sexual health throughout their entire life,” she added.

Train said she is working with a host of organizations such as Planned Parenthood, TeenSource, Health Connected and others. Tran is also on the advisory board for TeenSource.

“I provide opinions and speak for the youth about what they can do to help teens. Advocates for youth have sent many flyers, stickers, and posters relating to the access of abortion in our state which I will hang in classrooms,” Tran explained. Members of TeenSource also write blogs and create social media posts about reproductive health.

Seniors must have a mandatory 10 hours of action for their projects. To achieve this, Tran is planning on volunteering at Planned Parenthood, providing free condoms, tampons, pads and STD kits for students, and bringing updated sexual health curriculum to classrooms. Her project also has a GoFundMe.

“The cost of the curriculum is about $1,300 while the rest of the money will go to the rest of the materials needed for students,” said Tran.

The passion for her project stems from Tran’s personal experiences.

“When I was a freshman at NP3 everyone was required to take the health curriculum. I strongly believed that the class wasn’t long enough to teach adequate lessons about health in general, let alone sexual health,” Tran said.
Tran is excited about the potential benefits of her project.

“If people learn more about sexual health they are able to protect themselves from STDS, choose their sexuality, communicate with doctors, abusive relationships, boost overall health, and so much more,” Tran said.

The stigma around sex education, Tran explained, stems from media and close-mindedness. She believes too many students are uncomfortable about the topic or simply don’t know anything about it.

“Students should be able to access this information freely to learn about their own bodies,” Tran said. “I myself have dealt with not knowing where to go when I had questions or needed help.”

Students with questions about Tran’s project, may contact her at [email protected].