Ann Thanh Phan says she’s tired of educating herself. She’s tired of having to dig up crucial information she didn’t know she needed. And she’s tired of her friends facing confusing, and sometimes traumatic, sexual experiences because of a lack of education. In middle school, she endured sexual harassment and she says her peers did too, often without the language or understanding to identify it as such. At the age of 17, Sugar Land student, Phan has become a peer educator because of all the information she—and her friends—didn’t learn. “I will graduate high school this year never having had any sexual education in school,” she said in September, testifying virtually before the State Board of Education (SBOE), the agency responsible for setting statewide education guidelines and adopting textbooks for public schools.
For the last year, Phan has been testifying before the SBOE for broader health and sex education curriculum along with other students and advocates. “This is your chance to make things right,” she said, directly addressing the board members.
