Texas, where I grew up and went to school, is one of many states that does not require a class in sex education to graduate. Individual school districts around the state can decide on their own if they want to require it, but mine wasn't one of those — so this means I graduated from high school without ever having a sex ed lesson.

But even if I had taken health class (as an elective, the same way you might choose to take art, or join the football team), I wouldn't have learned much about how to have safe sex. Really, I wouldn't have learned anything about sex at all. Texas stresses abstinence as the only method that prevents STIs or unwanted pregnancy — there's no mention of condoms or birth control in any of the textbooks Texas uses in its health classes. Cosmopolitan.com bought the four textbooks that were approved for use in Texas health classes when I was in school (from 2007–2011) and were still in use up until this past spring. (After the Texas Board of Education did a routine re-evaluation of the approved textbooks in 2015, only one of the four textbooks is still in use going forward. It will expire in 2019.)

An illustration from 'Lifetime Health.' Hannah Smothers

The four textbooks include: Health & Wellness; Glencoe Health; Lifetime Health; and Essentials of Health & Wellness. Essentials of Health & Wellness is now the only approved textbook in Texas. But back in 2004, when those four books were approved, it almost wasn't approved — the committee that approves textbooks said it was "nonconforming" to the education standards in Texas because it didn't stress abstinence enough. Of the four textbooks I read through, Essentials is the only one that lacks a section specifically on abstinence.

To see what sort of information I'd have about sex if I had actually taken a sex ed class in high school, I read through the four textbooks students in Texas were using up until spring 2016. Below is everything I'd know about sex, if I only had my high school textbook to teach me.

1. Sex will make you feel bad about yourself. Lifetime Health says that sex will cause you to "lose self-esteem and self-respect."

2. Sex will cause you "emotional trauma." Two of the four textbooks (Glencoe Health and Health & Wellness) say that sex can cause "emotional trauma." Health & Wellness says it's because worrying about having an STI, getting pregnant, and "feeling used" causes stress and anxiety. And from Glencoe Health: "Abstinence from sexual activity is the only method that is 100 percent effective in preventing the emotional trauma associated with adolescent sexual activity."

3. Having sex will give you a bad reputation. Lifetime Health lists "better reputation among peers" as a "social benefit" of staying abstinent. Glencoe Health says you will be labeled as "easy" if you have sex.

The table of contents from 'Glencoe Health.' Hannah Smothers

4. Having sex will give your friends a bad reputation. Because you associate closely with your friends, says Health & Wellness, if you have sex, they'll look bad too.

5. Your parents will dislike you if you have sex. Health & Wellness says that staying abstinent is the best way to "avoid having conflicts with your parents of guardian."

6. Having consensual sex is illegal if you're under 18. From Glencoe Health: "If the age of consent in a state is 18, two seventeen-year-old teens who engage in sexual activity are breaking the law."

7. There is no such thing as birth control. The term "birth control" isn't mentioned once in any of the four textbooks.

A page from Hannah Smothers

8. Orgasms do not exist. "Orgasm" doesn't appear once in any of the books.

9. Women have something called a "clitoris," but it has no apparent function. Only Essentials of Health & Wellness includes the clitoris in its diagram of the female pelvis, but the book doesn't say what the clitoris is. Health & Wellness is the only book that includes it in the text (but not on its diagram), but it's defined only as "a small structure located above the opening of the urethra." No function is given.

The clitoris is only labeled in 'Essentials of Health & Wellness.' Hannah Smothers

The word 'clitoris' is mentioned in 'Health & Wellness,' and a previous owner of this textbook seemed to recognize it as something important. Hannah Smothers

10. The penis is an "external organ" that only men have. Essentials of Health & Wellness says that "there is perhaps no other part of the anatomy that so identifies a man's 'maleness' as the penis."

11. Not having sex is the only way you don't wind up with HIV or an STI. HIV and STIs are in a separate section in each book. From Health & Wellness: "No form of contraception or barrier protection [Editor's note: This is the closest any book gets to mentioning the word "condom"] is 100 percent effective in preventing the spread of STDs."

12. Sex only happens between people of opposite sex/gender. Nothing about being attracted to or having interest in someone who isn't of the opposite gender (and there are only two genders in these books) is mentioned. From Glencoe Health: "Some teens choose not to date because they're shy around persons of the opposite gender."

An example abstinence pledge from 'Glencoe Health.' Hannah Smothers

13. Abstinence doesn't count if you're doing other sexual things aside from intercourse. Lifetime Health says participating in "other forms of sexual activity" isn't abstinence. The book refers to this as a "mistaken idea" that can put you in "very dangerous situations."

14. You'll "feel regretful later" if you have sex before marriage. Lifetime Health says that staying abstinent until marriage helps you avoid "feeling regretful" This is because, as the book says, married people don't have to worry about STIs.

15. If you have sex without "emotional intimacy," you'll experience "negative feelings" with your partner. Lifetime Health doesn't provide an explanation as to why you'll experience these negative feelings, it just says that it'll happen.

The most troubling thing about the information in the Texas health textbooks is that some of it is technically true. Abstinence is the only surefire, 100 percent way to prevent STIs and pregnancy. Sex can certainly cause emotional trauma. The books are filled with these terrifying scare tactics, but they don't offer any solutions — sex is painted as a scary, high-risk activity, and instead of being taught how to go about it in a way that's safe, teens are just told not to do it. So if — and when — they decide to have sex, they're left with zero information on how to prevent all the scary consequences the Texas textbooks present. That doesn't make things safe for anyone.

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Hannah Smothers Hannah writes about health, sex, and relationships for Cosmopolitan, and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram

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