Our deliberation focused on the topic of sex ed from the perspective of 3 different issues, those issues being mental health associated with sex ed, social stigmas about sex, and sexual respect. Each topic was discussed at length among the group and those who came to listen in and voice their opinions. While we had some idea of where we would try to drive the conversation after presenting each topic, we were surprised with how the discussion went sometimes. People obviously have a variety of views and knowledge on this topic and some of them, especially from the ladies who worked in this field. I think we got a lot more discussion and legitimate education out of our deliberation than anyone was expecting, certainly more than I was expecting myself. There was disagreement, as was expected and pretty much necessary for the deliberation to be effective, but it was entirely respectful and informative and more importantly never got to a point of contention. With so many people in the room it’s nearly impossible to reach a conclusion as a group, and it’s difficult to even reach a legitimate consensus, but for the most part it seemed we managed to do this. In terms of mental health, most people in the room seemed to agree that steps should be taken to ensure the mental health in children and young adults in any way possible, and it seemed to be the consensus that teaching sex ed more in depth and positively would only help this matter. The social stigma part of the discussion had more disagreement than the other two. This discussion unsurprisingly circled mostly around stigmas about sex between genders, which naturally led to people disagreeing very strongly. The final part of the deliberation was far less controversial. It was generally agreed upon that sexual respect should be instilled in children from a young age. Overall this felt like a very successful deliberation that will hopefully have a positive impact on the community.
Deliberation Reflection
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