Growing up is intimidating. But there are some things everyone can relate to; I’ll spare you the details.

As the name implies, “Sex Education” contains a lot of sex, but those moments help weave together a unique plot and many learning opportunities.

Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) is an awkward, inexperienced 16-year-old that has been exposed to sex all his life because his mother, Jean (Gillian Anderson), is a sex therapist who has no personal boundaries. She frequently smothers Otis: following him to parties, showing up at his school and offering sex advice, well not as much sex advice as growing-up-as-a-teenage-boy-who-doesn’t-understand-his-body advice, if you know what I mean.

Otis and his secret crush, punk-brainiac Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey), decide to start a clinic to earn money where Otis meets with his peers to give them sex therapy.

The clinic is a large part of the show. Otis is thrown out of his comfort zone and uses what he has heard from his mother’s therapy sessions to help others.

Eric Effiong (Ncuti Gatwa) is Otis’s best friend who is discovering his sexuality and how to present himself to others. In the fifth episode, Eric finds himself surrounded by homophobia, which he learns to deal with throughout the show.

“Sex Education” is about sex. So yes, there are stories of STDs, unwanted pregnancy (the third episode has a remarkable and perceptive abortion subplot) and revenge porn, but it also deals with homophobic violence, cyber bullying and discovering your identity. And after the first few episodes, the show becomes more sex-based and less sex-ridden.

Be careful who you watch this show around, as 30 seconds into the first episode you find yourself in the middle of a sex scene. But despite the multitude of awkward sexual encounters, “Sex Education” is a show of self-discovery and self-exploration, and with it comes smiles, tears and a lot of laughter.

The show does not glorify sex. There are story lines about sexual compatibility and the gap between pornified expectations and mundane reality. Jean explains to young Otis in a flashback, “Intercourse can be wonderful. But it can also cause tremendous pain. And if you’re not careful, sex can destroy lives.”