Sex, Etc.

SexEtc.org is a website that is providing open and honest information about sex. The organization is featured on this is featured on this year’s Take Action Tour, which raises money and awareness to a different important cause each year. Elizabeth, spokesperson for the site, answers questions about the important website.

TheCuttingEdgeCulture: “How did the website come to be?”

Sex, Etc: “…We’re a national organization based at Rutgers University and our mission is to promote a comprehensive sexuality education… We have two arms of our organization; one is the professional development arm, our national sexuality training initiative. Our other arm is out teen to teen sexuality initiative, and that’s Sex, Etc. So at Sex, Etc. there are really two ways we promote sexuality education for teens by teens. We use peer education as our model; there’s a lot of research showing how that’s really effective. We started Sex, Etc. as a newsletter and it morphed into a magazine and it is still a magazine that we produce three issues of every year. Each issue of the magazine we have a teen editorial staff that decides on the entire issue. They write the whole thing; we provide editorial support. We make sure it’s medically accurate, but it’s there thing. So it’s really an awesome publication. Of course the Internet age came around in the mid `90s and so we became a website, and that was SexEtc.org. We see somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 unique visitors every single day.”

TCEC: “Why is it important to have a reliable, user-friendly website for teens to access?”

SE: “First of all, if you’re going to serve someone, whatever population that is, you have to go where they are and you have to speak their language. Teens know more about technology than most, if not all, adults out there. And teens learn through the Internet, or they learn through technology--hand-held devices, laptops, and cell phones so the most important thing is accessibility. We need to give information that is medically accurate, age appropriate, that’s respectful, and that is honest. The Internet is the best way to give them that information. Ideally there’s sort of three ways to get sexuality information and education. The first way is at home; we truly believe that parents should be talking to their kids, but we realize that in reality many parents aren’t doing that. It’s not their fault; either they don’t know how to or they don’t have the information or they’re not comfortable. Then there’s school and you know very well that even though some states have laws requiring sex education, once the teacher gets in the classroom and shuts the door, you never know what’s going to happen. In a lot of cases, if kids are getting sex ed at all, it’s far too little and it’s far too late. So they’re not given the information they need there, so that leaves us. And so if they want information that is really accurate and straight forward, that’s really what we’re all about. We respect teens; we believe in teens; we know that teens are capable of making smart, well-thought out decisions so we’re just here to support them.”

TCEC:  “What do you think is lacking in schools that your website provides?”

SE: “When it comes to sexuality education, sometimes it’s just not there at all. The second thing it is lacking is that it’s not always being taught by teachers who are trained to actually address this topic; so what will happen is it will default to the Health or P.E. teacher, sometimes to the English teacher…there’s sort of this thought that `anybody can teach this’…I don’t think enough schools know how to do this and of course I’m generalizing because there are some schools out there that are doing great. That’s what we’re here for; have the discussion with us. There are various forums on the website for that.”

TCEC: “The site utilizes a lot of teen writing; are they a reliable source?”

SE: “They are phenomenal, our teen editorial staff, who, because we are located in New Jersey/New York area, we go through months of recruitment to find teens that are willing to go through the training we need them to go through, who are strong writers… They serve as our national spokespeople as well.”

TCEC: “How did Sex Etc. get involved with the Take Action Tour?”

SE: “I’ve really come to see Hopeless Records and the Take Action Tour as my fairy godparents, because they just found us. I am so beyond grateful that they did because it’s the perfect match.”

TCEC: “What are your goals for being connected with this tour?”

SE: “Our goal really is just to spread the word….So I really hope this tour is just a way to cast that net much, much larger.”

TCEC: “What are other ways you reach out to spread awareness?”

SE: “We do a couple of things…we’re certainly all over social networking sites. We have over 40,000 fans on Facebook. We’re tweeting…teens will start the trends and we will follow them. And certainly through word of mouth…"

TCEC: “Are there specific causes within the realm of the sexual health that the site supports?”

SE: “Well we’ve always been committed to listening to teens and finding out what’s going on with them. One thing over the past the past year… we’ve always been an inclusive site and offer a very holistic view of sexuality and what that entails… and this past year in particular, we’ve been significantly expanding our resources with our LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning) youth. So now we have a subpage where you’ll many, many, many new resources relating to sexual orientation and gender identity. We have this wonderful gallery of faces…often many teens feel like they are alone or invisible, so they can see many famous faces of people, not only in the entertainment industry, but a judge or a lawyer or an athlete who is also LGBTQ, which is a great thing. We’ve also expanded our resources in bullying. Because even though it has been an issue… bullying and homophobia are really at epidemic levels. It’s important for teens to know that whoever they are, they are welcome at sexetc.org.”

Visit Sex, Etc. for vital information with an honest voice.
Visit the website for the Take Action Tour for tour information.