I’m starting to think that if schools started showing “It Follows” in lieu of sex ed, they would still give students the same amount of information as they get in current abstinence-only education, while scaring them far more effectively. No, I take it back, “It Follows”  would definitely teach them more about sex than the current curriculum.

The state of Georgia is among the most sexually transmitted disease-ridden states in the country. Nationwide increases in adolescent contractions of sexually transmitted diseases like Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Syphilis were between 2.8 and 28.8 percent, according to a 2016 report of the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control. At approximately 23.6 percent, Georgia has the 17th highest teen birth rate in the United States.

And what does the state of Georgia do about it? Continue to teach abstinence. Abstinence-only education doesn’t work. You wouldn’t leave your toddler with a box of cookies and tell them not to eat them all because “it might hurt their tummy later,” because toddlers love cookies and aren’t too concerned with stomach pain in the moment. Locking hundreds of teenagers with raging hormones in a building together for eight hours, five days a week, and then telling them not to have sex is ridiculous. It’s going to happen. It’s human nature, and it’s been happening for as long as humans have existed.

If Georgia really does want to decrease teen birth and STD rates, they might start with contraception and telling students how they can access it. Instead of telling your class full of ninth-graders that they should keep their pants on, tell them how they can keep themselves and their partners safe. Tell them about resources where they can get help if they have come in contact with an STD or are looking for birth control options. Teach LGBT kids about risks that affect them. Answer the questions teens ask; don’t tell them it isn’t in the curriculum.

At the end of the day, shouldn’t it all come down to keeping our kids safe?