Opposing views: Roll up the partition please

Sexual freedom is one of those defining liberties we fully obtain when we go off to college.

The time spent away from home is usually the time when we explore — for better or worse — what we weren’t able to do when we were high school students, or what we simply couldn’t do because of where we lived.

No longer is someone looking over your shoulder to make sure you’re, um, leaving room for Jesus. And you shouldn’t have to. You’re finally on your own. It’s your body. And it’s your business what you do in the privacy of your house or dorm or the backseat of a car.

A student from a Florida high school decided to show the world what genetics gave him by participating in an X-rated film students from the respective school obviously later found on the Internet.

Not only did the student face public backlash, but the 18-year-old Floridian was also suspended under the guise of threats he might have made, though it’s likely the high school administration was more reprimanding the student for his choices than the student actually threatening anyone.

And as hesitant as I am to admit it, the high school got it right.

The student’s defenders have been quick to point out the he’s 18 — a legal adult — and high school students indeed have sex.

But what most are missing is the fact that even if the student is of legal age, his actions reflect tremendously on the public school and the sort of education and student development that is happening there.

Though the student did what many other high school students do in the privacy of their bedrooms, he willingly and knowingly agreed to have this performance broadcast to millions of people.

And though he likely didn’t mean to bring in the reputation of his high school into it all, intent versus effect in this case surely didn’t play out how the student imagined.

High schools should be allowed to protect their standing in the community as well as preventing a disruption to the learning environment they’re supposed to be espousing.

The school was right in doing that through reprimand. Still, some claim the student is being unfairly shamed for having sex.

A larger question may be the issue of how we talk about sex in the first place.

We are currently living in a time where sex positivity has gone mainstream. We’ve moved on from the puritanical avoidance of the topic in polite company to celebrating sex as something healthy and even something to be encouraged.

But I believe the reluctance of progressives in particular to talk about sex in neutral terms should also raise eyebrows.

As a country we’re becoming much more open in how we talk about formerly taboo subjects — the GLBT community, marijuana and even race in America. And no doubt we’ve also made strides in talking about sexual and reproductive health.

Still, for a society so obsessed with sex itself, inserting it so crassly into the learning environment of high schools shouldn’t be lauded.

The kids can wait till college.
    
­— edsalas@indiana.edu