To the dismay of many young people, the phrase, “It’s just like in the movies,” can accurately describe three phenomena they will encounter during the period of secondary education: the awkwardness of school dances, the ridiculousness of house parties and the poor quality of sexual education in our country.

You see Hollywood knows that there is no need for artistic license when the hilariously flawed nature of our society sells on its own (See: Mean Girls).

While the social awareness and sexual education of teens and young adults is the butt of many “pointless lessons” or “outdated videos” jokes, a lack of this basic knowledge can deter young adults from fully realizing their economic and social potential.

The U.S. is one of the most powerful economic powers in the world and ranks well above the standard of livings of most developed countries. With that said we still have the highest teen birth rate of the industrialized world, and teenagers between 15 and 19 years old represent half (9.8 million cases) of sexually transmitted infections each year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

While many parents hesitate to talk to their children about sex and health education, a thorough understanding of family planning and diseases can improve economic and social prospects of young adults through simple, thoroughly researched and teachable programs.

A 2007 study by Shareen Joshi of the University of Chicago and T. Paul Schultz of Yale University found that door-to-door family planning and maternal health programs offered in villages in Matlab, Bangladesh decreased the birth rate by 15 percent and the infant mortality rate by about 25 percent, in addition to increasing females’ economic and social prospects.

Stereotypes that discredit sexual education as a useless course that can be replaced by real life experience fail to see the true consequences of misinformation and ignorance on sexuality, gender objectification, transferable diseases and personal hygiene.

You would never expect a college dorm bathroom to be the place a girl learned how to use tampons. You would expect that men who have been sexually active for years wouldn’t need their RA to tell them the “pull-out” method doesn’t work.

Rape culture on college campuses and poor knowledge of proper consent damages the lives of many young people, causing physical and mental trauma. Persecution of non-traditional gender identifying groups is due in part to hatred bred out of ignorance.

Only 22 states and the District of Columbia require that public schools teach sex education and only 19 states require that that information be medically accurate, according to National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Kentucky, 52 percent of female high school students have had sexual intercourse, which is 6 percent higher than the national average, according to the National Coalition to Support Sexuality Education.

While there are some people in this country who withhold proper sexual education in place of flawed “abstinence only” programs, it is safe to say that teenagers and young adults are sexually active, and avoiding proper education is only going to hurt their futures.

When these standards are neglected at developmental stages of people’s lives, it will lead to irreparable consequences that play out well after their college and young adult lives.

opinions@kykernel.com