The first episode of Sex Education season two opens in absolute chaos, with a mass outbreak of chlamydia at the high school. Or, so we think. Students and teachers alike hysterically make their way around the corridors, wearing face masks to protect themselves from the sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Of course — as the students learn in the episode — you can't catch chlamydia through the air or via casual contact like hugging and kissing. According to the NHS, the STI can be spread through sex or contact with infected genital fluids. For example, through unprotected vaginal or anal sex, genital contact, sharing sex toys, and getting semen or vaginal fluid in your eye. While the show presents it in a comic way, the idea that adults and teens alike lack basic education about STIs isn't actually so far-fetched.
"It is amazing that there is still such a lack of understanding of STIs, the way that they are spread, treatments that are available, and safer sex practices," Dr. Christopher Jones, clinical psychologist, sex therapist, and creator of the Confessions of a Sex Therapist podcast tells POPSUGAR. "This is partly why there is an increase in chlamydia and gonorrhoea in many places . . . and it is not [only] teenagers who are uneducated on these topics, which is why there is an increase in STIs in nursing home and elderly care facilities."