If you haven't had the chance to watch the new Netflix Original series, "Sex Education" I recommend that you binge watch the 8 episode series right now. While the show uses humor to show the issues and stigmas high school students regarding sex, it also brings to light some important issues many teenagers struggle with in high school. P.S. SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD.
The pressure to fit in.
While one of the main characters, Maeve, lives a very independent life, she doesn't exactly fit into the high school image of a teenage girl. with colored hair, dark eye makeup, and a few piercings she doesn't fit a perfect image that society has built. That doesn't stop her from being an extremely strong female character.
You don't know what people are dealing with at home.
While staying on the topic of Maeve, some people at school make fun of her for the way she acts or how she doesn't fit in. She seems to come off like it doesn't affect her but later in the series, you'll learn that the rumor about her that has been going around for years is actually a complete lie that a guy started about her. She also lives alone in a trailer home and struggles to make ends meet. While she goes to a wealthy white school she struggles with money at home and non-existent parents.
There is still pressure to have sex just because "everyone is doing it."
One of the characters, Lily, just wants to lose her virginity to anyone who is willing to take it because she just wants to "get it over with." She wants to have sex so that she can fit in with the other students at school because the high school environment has made her feel as though "everyone is doing it," which is not the way sex should be approached.
There is still a lot of confusion.
It's high school, does anyone really know what they are doing? Even the main character, Otis, whose mother is a sex therapist has personal struggles as well. The fact that Otis is able to start his own sex therapy on school grounds shows that no one knows what they are doing either. So it is okay to not be perfect, no one is.
Communiation is very important.
You have to be comfortable and able to communicate with your partner. The popular girl at school, Aimee, has always just done whatever guys wanted her to do. But once she learned that she can have her own voice and share her needs with her partner everything changed and her relationship improved.
