So what do Sexual Health Educators do?
We create an environment in which people of all ages can gain information, skills, and motivation to become sexually healthy individuals. We educate on many aspects of sexuality, such as; homosexuality, sexual orientations, sexually transmitted diseases, birth control options, self-esteem, abortion, sexual violence, healthy and unhealthy relationships, masturbation, puberty, menopause, pregnancy, values, reproduction, decision making, communication, safer sex, parent-child communication, sexual harassment, body image, sexual pleasure, life skills, GYN care, and many other topics. Comfort and skill in public speaking is a must to become an effective sexual health educator. We talk with as few people as 2 to as many as 400. Sexuality Educators need knowledge and skills to develop, implement, and evaluate programs focusing on or relating to sexuality. We suggest getting in touch with a sexual health educator early on in your journey to become a sexual health educator and asking if you could shadow her/him during a workday. Then you can observe first-hand how they interact with their audiences, the skills they possess, the information they know, and just ask them questions. This shadowing can provide an extremely valuable opportunity. One can discover a direction that they would like to follow and information they might have never known they needed.
There are basically two different paths one can take to become a sexuality educator. There is no one correct way. One path is more individualistic and unstructured while the other is more formal and academic. Each approach has its benefits and challenges. We will walk you through both paths to give you more information about which route might be best for you.
