Sex Education Reform in the US
A 68-year-old virgin taught me about sex. Safe to say, my experience with sexual education was extremely lacking. We sat in our darkened classroom in small blue chairs, just as uncomfortable, stiff, and rigid as the guest speakers brought in to instruct us on the horrors of sex and the sinfulness of lost virginity. A nurse turned nun, shuffled into our tiny classroom, to lament the woes of friends and family members who were devastatingly unhappy in their marriages, due to their choice of pre-marital sex. With tears brimming her eyes and a blown-up image of an animated fetus illuminated by the artificial glow of the projector, we sat in darkness as she continued to perpetuate falsehoods that would leave lasting impressions on our young minds.
The curriculum was broken into two separate days and segregated by gender. The first day focused on the biological reproductive facts for both men and women, promoting abstinence, with no instruction on contraceptives nor safe sex practices. The second day brought on an onslaught of outrage from parents who felt the curriculum was intended to shame and demean young women. While the boys spent the day asking male teachers questions about more taboo and sexually graphic ideas of pornography and self-pleasure, rather than the concept of consent, the girls spent eight hours discussing what outfits were appropriate, how to politely get out of uncomfortable situations with men, and the undesirability of lost virginity. The imbalance was clear and further feeds into a culture that promotes sexuality in men and demonizes it in women.
Through that ordeal and as I have experienced more of the world, I found myself fascinated with the ideas surrounding desire and how it is encountered culturally, especially for women. Three Women by Lisa Taddeo explores three different women’s sex lives in the United States. It details how and why women are stigmatized for their desires while often the men in their lives suffer little consequences for their actions. In her interview on CBS, she explains, “Desire is something we think about so often, and it is also the thing we hold most closely to our chests.” Additionally, Sex and the Constitutionby Geoffrey R. Stone, offers a historical analysis of sex and how overtime our cultural perceptions and educational systems have shifted from more progressive to conservative, and vice versa. These historically and culturally accurate portrayals of sexuality are vital in understanding how these ideals are ingrained in our culture and offer a more open understanding of the uniquely personal and evocative aspects of sexual life.
While our culture is moving into a more open view of sex, with songs, books, and movies promoting healthy sexual expression, American education systems tend to fall behind on this progression. Sexuality is an indelible pillar of society that is a driving force for many of our most basic motivations and drives. Why shelter us from that reality? Having a comprehensive understanding of these truths is vital to our personhood. The foundation for many sexual education programs teaches abstinence that often stigmatizes and implies an otherness of nonheteronormative sexual identities. In order to fix this issue, there needs to be a federal comprehensive sex education system that mandates an equitable curriculum with progressive teachings surrounding birth control and safe sex measures.
For decades, the United States has invested in an antiquated form of sex education that promotes abstinence only until marriage, or AOUM. In the 1960’s, 49 out of the 50 states accepted federal funds to teach AOUM in public schools. Over time, the validity of AOUM has been questioned and disproved, and even faced criticism from President Obama, who tried to dismantle the program but was ultimately defeated by a Republican majority Senate. There is little to no uniformity across the US with sex education. Due to the offer of federal funds in exchange for AOUM education in public schools, many states choose this form of education on the state-wide level.
According to the Guttmacher Institute in the graphic above, each state offers vastly differing sexual education curriculums. In conservative states, like Texas, there is notably a lack of any clear curriculum for students. Throughout the US, mandatory sex and HIV education varies greatly, which can lead to some significant issues concerning sexual health. Enforcing comprehensive sex education has proven to be incredibly effective in preventing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Dozens of studies have proved that adolescents who undergo comprehensive sex education, not based in abstinence, have a lower risk of pregnancy than adolescents who study an AOUM curriculum. With only 17 states requiring the sexual and HIV curriculum to be medically accurate, the United States falls behind many other countries in education. Denmark has one of the most progressive sexual education curriculums, dedicating an entire week to discussing it with students. The program focuses on overarching ideals of sexual life rather than specific topics, like reproductive biological processes. If this were implemented federally in the US, it would be an incredible step forward and would allow students to more fruitfully explore their identities.
The United States needs to make a nationwide move towards progressive sex education that meets the demands of an increasingly more sexual society. Comprehensive education would entail a multitude of teachings that allow for students to understand the complexities of sex and give them the tools to navigate their own experiences. In the United States, AOUM ideology involves outdated and inaccurate information that perpetuates the stigmatization of sex, which leads to inevitable unsafe practices.
The federal government should mandate sweeping legislation that requires all students be taught scientifically accurate information surrounding sexually transmitted infections, contraception, reproductive health for both men and women, and childbirth. Beyond these elements, there should be dialogue about relationships, gender roles, sexual abuse, and gender equity, so students can have meaningful conversations about their identity. So, let’s talk about sex and throw away those horrifyingly inaccurate images of animated fetuses. I think we could all benefit from a little more conversation and a little less shame.
