Tribe offering free sex ed course

OKMULGEE, Okla. — It’s “d-day” for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Youth Program’s sex education program.

Demonstration Day.

After fishing a condom out of a blue bag, instructor Rachael Sourjohn turns and asks the handful of teenagers what they know about condoms.

“They feel weird. And smell funny.”

“You can blow them up like a balloon!”

“They can come in lots of different colors and sizes.”

“Nothing.”

The students are then walked through how to properly apply a condom and where to find one.

“Finding a condom won’t do you any good if you don’t know how to use one,” Sourjohn said.

In response to Oklahoma’s teen pregnancy rates, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Youth Services started offering free, medically accurate comprehensive sex education courses this summer for middle and high school students living in the area.

According to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the birth rate among all Oklahoma teen girls ages 15-19 was 38.5 for every 1,000 in 2014, the most recent year with complete statistics.

Although that number represents a drop by almost 50 percent since 1991, it still exceeds the national rate of 24 births among every 1,000 teen girls and is the second highest in the nation. With 39.5 births among every 1,000 teen girls, only neighboring Arkansas has a higher teen pregnancy rate.

The Oklahoma Department of Health pegs the birth rate among Native teens statewide at 21.5 through 2014, down almost 10 points from the most recent national data available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, the national Native teen pregnancy rate is still higher than that of white, Asian and Pacific Islander teenagers.

Aside from HIV/AIDS prevention, Oklahoma currently does not require its school districts to teach sex education. State statute does mandate that any offered sexual education courses emphasize abstinence and allow parents the chance to have their children not participate.

“I’ve always believed in making sure our youth know about their bodies and how to protect them,” Sourjohn said. “They’ve always had that right.”

Along with the session on to use and obtain condoms, the five-week curriculum used by MNYS covers other topics, such as additional forms of birth control, how to prevent contracting a sexually transmitted disease and parent-child discussions about sex.

For the students, the classes have also been an opportunity to debunk myths and remove any stigma around sex.

“When we talk about it in medical terms, it’s not weird,” one participant said.

Tentative plans are in place for another round of classes to be offered this fall. With only three full-time employees in the MNYS office, discussions are also underway to possibly facilitate partnerships and curriculum sharing with some of the area school districts in order to serve even more area youth.