The Holistic Health Approach to Sex Education

I’m thrilled to introduce Tracey Pike, a leader in the Sexual Risk Avoidance Education field. When I met Tracey, I was immediately drawn to her passion for helping the next generation understand the importance of making healthy choices, especially as it pertains to their overall health.

Teens are influenced by peers, social media, and their home life. They’re stuck in a place where they desperately want to belong and yet want to carve their own path. Additionally, their brains aren’t fully developed, so they are easily swayed by whatever is appealing in the moment. They can be convinced that the choice they make today is inconsequential to their future and only affects one small area of their life. Hence, the belief that sexual activity, which they think is primarily physical, is no big deal. To combat this thinking, let’s change our approach to sex education in our homes.

In this article, Tracey helps us understand what holistic health is and why we should incorporate the concept into our children’s sex education at home as well as in the classroom.

Only Physical?

When I first reviewed a Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) curriculum, I was struck by the holistic approach to optimal sexual development. What captivated me most was the broader conversation about health and well-being that I had never heard as a young person. Rather than limiting the conversation with teens about the possibility that sexual activity may result in physical consequences like unplanned pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, SRAE is grounded in a primary prevention strategy that addresses the whole person. This holistic health approach involves the understanding of the importance of one’s emotional, mental, social, and ethical/spiritual well-being, as well as physical.

A Better Approach to Sex Education

This deeper understanding of health and wellness reshaped the way I thought, and therefore taught, about sexual health and well-being. In the past, I viewed sexual activity as primarily a physical act with emotional, mental, social, and spiritual consequences. Now, with greater awareness of how thought and emotion shape behavior, I understand it differently. Sexual activity is indeed a physical act that affects the whole person, but it is first an emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and ethical experience that ultimately finds expression through the physical.

Sexual activity is indeed a physical act , but it is first an emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and ethical experience that ultimately finds expression through the physical. #sexeducation The Holistic Health Approach to Sex… Share on X

Approaching the topic of sexual activity as merely physical neglects the mental and emotional health and well-being of our youth. This approach is dangerous. Author E. Stanley Jones explained the importance of balance in every aspect of our personhood best in this statement, “If one part of the nature demands satisfaction at the expense/sacrifice of the rest – the result is not satisfaction, but inner division.” Since all dimensions of our health must be balanced in priority, teaching from a holistic health perspective is optimal. 

Our Response

As parents, grandparents, caregivers, and educators, we have a responsibility and obligation to empower youth to achieve holistic health by teaching emotional regulation, critical thinking, thoughtful decision-making, and healthy relationship development. The holistic health model of sex education empowers youth to not merely reduce physical risk but protects and nurtures the condition of every dimension of health and wellness for their freedom to flourish.

Note from Barb: Many Hopeful Mom readers worry about a child’s exposure to pornography. So, let’s take the holistic approach to sex education a step further and include pornography in our discussions. Even though people are drawn to porn for multiple reasons, many believe they are simply fulfilling a physical need. Understanding that sexual activity is primarily relational and mental may help them process what the appeal to porn actually is, why pornography is damaging both personally and relationally, and provide a reason to stop watching.

For more information on helping your children understand what a healthy relationship looks like, read Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships.