Junior at CSUSAmerican Governments In the United States, sexual education is inconsistent and generally lacking, depending on what state, neighborhood, or school district you live in. While there have been efforts to make sex ed more inclusive, informative, and standardized, there have also been attempts to make it even more restrictive and uninformative to young students. In the US, programs like the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program seek to teach everyone what they need to know about sex, STIs, and prevention of unwanted pregnancies. However, sex ed has not been a priority for most politicians because of its taboo nature, and in fact, many policy makers support an abstinence-only approach to teaching sex ed. These people generally believe that informing youth about sex will cause them to have sex more. They believe that teaching people that abstaining from sex is their only option, and that they do not need to know anything else. However, this opinion is ignorant and naïve; if young people do not learn about sex, they will still be sexually active- they just won’t know how to properly protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy and STIs. In fact, one study found that students who received comprehensive sex ed were 50% less likely to become pregnant than those who received abstinence-only sex education (Kohler, et al. Abstinence-only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42 (4): 344-351). Adopting the stick-your-head-in-the-sand-and-hope-the-problem-goes-away-mindset is irresponsible to the youth in this country and can have dire consequences for many young people and their families.
Truly comprehensive sex ed is not just about sex. It is about healthy relationships, consent, respect, and how to keep your body healthy and free from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. It aims to include every student, whether they identify as straight, gay, transgender, or anything else, and to answer any question about these topics. It covers all kinds of consensual sexual activity, risks of being sexually active, and ways to protect against these risks. It covers different kinds of birth control, including male and female condoms, pills, intrauterine devices (both hormonal and non-hormonal), implants, shots, etc. because not every option works for every person, and these options can be overwhelming and complicated without being taught about them. Making sure people are safe while being sexually active should be our number one priority, not shaming teens for being interested in sex. Sex education is an issue that is rarely talked about during elections, but elections still have very clear impacts on sex ed. This is because conservatives tend to favor an abstinence-only approach, while liberals tend to favor comprehensive sex ed. For example, President Trump and his administration have attempted to shut down funding for comprehensive sexual education programs, namely the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program, “a national, evidence-based program that funds diverse organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy across the United States” (HHS.gov). This program is a diverse, inclusive sex education initiative which targets youth ages 10-19 with the goal of reducing teen pregnancy and birth rates through empirical research and implementation. The attempts to defund this program have failed so far, but the futures of the TPP and programs like it remain unclear. Sex education requires funding, standardized guidelines for consistency, and training for qualified professionals to teach the material. The material has always been inconsistent, as certain school districts do not have the resources, private (usually religious) schools often have very little to no sex education, and many states do not prioritize it or have any standards for sex ed in their schools. While teaching sex ed, the material needs to be adapted for the appropriate age groups, as children in elementary school should be learning different information from students in junior high and high school. At a young age, students should learn what “inappropriate touching” is, and how to tell an adult if it ever happens. Over time, and especially in junior high when these students start going through puberty, they should be taught about the biological processes of puberty, sex, pregnancy, and labor, while also introducing the idea of sexually transmitted infections. These lessons should discourage sexual activity at such a young age and emphasize that abstinence is the only way to completely avoid the risks of unwanted pregnancy and STIs, but explain that there are other options as well. During this time, boys and girls should be allowed to ask questions in a safe environment. Often, the girls and boys are separated, and the girls are given a female instructor while the boys are given a male instructor. This is done to encourage students to feel comfortable asking questions and get the information they need. In high school, when sexual activity increases greatly (the average age that people lose their virginity is around 17 years old), truly comprehensive sex ed is extremely important. These young people need to know about all of their options in order to make safe, healthy, and informed decisions. Having learned about these topics in junior high would be helpful for those who decide to engage in sexual activity earlier than most of their peers, and emphasizing consent throughout all of these lessons could help greatly reduce incidents of sexual assault. Learning about all of this information would help young people avoid any life-changing consequences, especially unwanted pregnancies and incurable STIs, like herpes (HSV), human papillomavirus (HPV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Every person, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, income level, etc. has a right to express themselves sexually and know how to protect themselves from these possible consequences. With comprehensive sexual education, the occurrence of unwanted pregnancies and STIs could be greatly reduced, and that is something everyone should support.
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AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
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