Inquiry

This subject still evokes a deep curiosity in me as well as a strong passion for effective measures towards change. Thoroughly researching this topic along with creating a piece to perform and conducting an effective symposium will be plenty to occupy me for the semester, maybe even too ambitious. I have already decided to narrow my research field to the city of Seattle, WA but I may need to reevaluate my goals even more once I begin the research process. Including drug and sex education will be a lot but I'm very passionate about including both. I don't think it would  be responsible to to throw together a piece that isn't fully researched, so my goal for this class will be to complete a thorough research of all of my questions and create a template for an educational performance piece.

I am passionate about the drug and sex education of our youth because I feel that the system we have in place now is failing and has failed me. I was exposed to these topics from my peers far early than I was in an educational environment. The information I received was vague and not presented in an engaging manner. I didn't have enough sense of consequence to find a path between my actions and this new information that reached me in a much weaker form than the bombarding impulses of adolescence. The computer generation receives data in a new way and health education needs to reflect that in order to be successful.

Besides the information presented in my initial proposal, the vast majority of my research is from personal accounts. As I get older I see younger and younger children being forced into these difficult decisions through peer pressure. I've witnessed the underground club scene booming with children as young as thirteen on class A illicit drugs and it seems to get worse every year. I interviewed a group of teens ages 13-16 that spoke of very regular marijuana use at school, regular sexual intercourse, and being at parties where others are inhaling lines of cocaine in the "smash room" (a room designated for open sex). This is very disturbing to me.


Who makes the decision as to what information and type of education is available to which students? How open is the public school system to inviting other social programs to conduct seminars? What teaching methods are being used by the public school system? Outside social programs? How effective are these teaching methods? Is there sufficient funding for these programs? What are the trends of students who are sexually active? What are the trends of students who use illicit drugs? Are students provided with education on the danger of over the counter drugs? How aware are parents of the status of their child's current sexual activity and drug use? Are parents taking responsibility in participating in their children's education of safer sex practices and the dangers of drug use?