EMS Offers Teen and Parent Resourcing to Navigate a Hypersexualized Society
April 5, 2021 /
Andrea Wenger
Eastern Mennonite School students in grades 9 to 12, and parents of K-12 students, will have the opportunity to learn and talk about the hypersexualized context in the United States April 23 and 26.
Matthew Ezell, PhD, James Madison University sociology program coordinator and an expert on the impact that pornography has on healthy sexuality, will be the resource person.
“I’m grateful that EMS is open to this conversation,” Dr. Ezzell told planning team members. “It’s such an important step to create space for young people to learn they don’t have to get pulled into the hypersexualized culture. There are ways — and good reasons — to choose otherwise.”
Ezzell, whose research has been published in the Journal of Women’s Health, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy and more, is a member of the board of the organization Culture Reframed. The organization is dedicated to helping children, teens, and parents navigate a hypersexualized, digital culture, focusing on pornography as a public health issue.
EMS chapel for grades 9-12 on April 23 will feature Dr. Ezzell in a video specifically geared to students grades 8 to 12.
Parents are invited to a Zoom forum with Dr. Ezzell on Monday, April 26 at 7 p.m. The Zoom link will be distributed to parents on April 26. Parents are encouraged to watch the chapel presentation on EMS YouTube chapel channel before attending the Zoom conversation forum.
The input is planned with Dr. Ezzell by Justin King, high school principal; Debbie Katz, high school counselor; and Andrea Wenger, chapel coordinator, director of advancement, and the school’s Title IX coordinator.
