In an age of ubiquitous social media, where everyone is glued to their smart devices, John Oliver manages to actually make people “smart” through his hilarious investigative reporting that goes beyond what Stewart and Colbert were able to accomplish on their own shows. Even now, when people, especially teenagers, care about the news less and less, Oliver averages 4.6 million viewers per episode, which is an increase of 14 percent from his first season. Those numbers don’t take into account the reach he has online, where he pulls in millions of views on the clips posted each week to YouTube of the main segments of the show. Oliver makes news relevant, exciting and enjoyable to watch, while making critical points about issues that are of particular concern to Washington University.

On August 9, 2015, Oliver talked about sexual education in America and how there is no federally mandated sexual education. It’s all up to the states to decided whether to provide it, and an astonishingly low number of them do. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only 22 states and the District of Columbia mandate sexual education. Three of those don’t say that it has to be medically accurate though (what is defined as “medically accurate” varies widely) and two of them don’t require education on HIV. The fact that more than half the country’s states don’t mandate sexual education is unfathomable and leads to about 83 percent of teens not going through sex education before losing their virginity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Where you live shouldn’t determine whether or not you receive sexual education.

For example, in Mississippi, educators can discuss condoms, but condom demonstrations aren’t allowed. Unsurprisingly, the state ranks number two in teen pregnancy rates. Beyond basic sexual education, most states ignore important aspects of sexual education. Nine states limit what teachers can say about homosexuality. For instance, Alabama requires teachers to only educate their students on heterosexual intercourse and even advocates for their teachers to teach against consensual same-sex intercourse. Everyone is entitled to have their own beliefs in this country, but these educational practices are absolutely inexcusable and should be removed.

What might be even more shocking is the fact that abstinence-only sexual education is still prevalent throughout this country. This year, Congress increased funding by 25 million dollars for this type of sexual education. One of the sex education videos John Oliver shows tells kids that “abstinence is the only option that is acceptable to your family, your school and your community.” The reality is that most people in America lose their virginity around 17, and most Americans have multiple sexual partner in their lifetime, so this type of education doesn’t really do much to keep people healthy and safe.

Abstinence-only education also serves in many cases to devalue people who have had sex, particularly women. Videos and programs compare these people to used tooth brushes or a chewed up piece of gum. John Oliver and some celebrities made a sexual education video updated for modern times that I think described abstinence perfectly. “Abstinence is like being a vegetarian, people should respect your choice, some people might make fun of you, those people are a–holes.” Abstinence is a choice, but it’s irresponsible to be the only thing taught to students.

Ultimately, John Oliver makes his most important point about consent. Kids are graduating from high school not knowing consent, which is disastrous for colleges for obvious reasons. People are deeply divided on what it is. John Oliver, again put it in simple, accessible terms. “Sex is like boxing. If two people don’t commit to fighting, at least one is committing a crime.”

John Oliver is making a bigger impact than maybe even he realizes. “Sexuality, unlike calculus, is actually something you need to know about for the rest of your life,” he says, proving that the impetus to change sexual education is here and we should not ignore it.