Eliana Harrison

HelloChanges Sex Education App

Sex education in the United States lacks the structure and accessibility it should have to effectively teach young children the necessary knowledge to understand their bodies and development. As reported by the Guttmacher Institute, only 30 states mandate sex education, with only 17 of these states requiring that the information taught be medically accurate. Historically, sex education in the United States focuses on teaching heterosexual, cisgender males and females about topics centered around their own identities, excluding others. I was not given a comprehensive sex education as a child, which has now motivated me to maximize the ability for others to educate themselves about the processes of maturation and sexuality. The HelloChanges app serves as a tool to teach sex education to pre-adolescent children who are soon to be entering puberty in terms that are easy to understand and medically accurate. As a designer, I want my work to challenge conventional thinking while maintaining authenticity and be used for the betterment of others. By incorporating sections about gender expression and sexual identity, and utilizing inclusive language, the HelloChanges app has the potential to teach children about their own identities and the changes they are going through, as well as about people who are different from themselves.