Sex education in public schools is often a subject laughed off or criticized by students and adults alike. While many recognize that they have learned next to nothing in these classes, no matter what the age level being taught to, adults are often reluctant to modify a curriculum so that students can actually be educated about important personal choices. Instead of seeing education as a way to arm students with the knowledge necessary to make healthy decisions, parents often perceive this as a “how-to” guide and assume that discussing gender and sexuality in a safe, educational space will instead encourage them to try it themselves. Abstinence-only sex education has received a lot of criticism for its alleged ineffectiveness; however, even most curriculums that expand beyond just abstinence still lack a lot of vital, unbiased information. The question of how sex should be approached in schools is an important one that affects millions of students and young adults, yet they are the ones that get little to no say in how the topic is presented to them.
Though recently abstinence-only sex education has come under heavy criticism for their lack of effectiveness, I found one on Opinion Exchange from 2010. The author claims that an abstinence-only curriculum has been shown effective by the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, and is also supported by the nonprofit, nonpartisan group the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. This curriculum is described as different from most abstinence-only courses, since it does not mention any religious language, and though it focuses on delaying sexual activity, it does not specify that sex is only acceptable in the context of marriage. The author claims it takes a more practical stance by teaching the effects of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy, rather than moral implications often used in other abstinence programs. She concludes that in any case, sex ed needs to be taken beyond “just a classroom talk,” namely that students need to have this conversation with their parents. This is a huge assumption: one, that all students have a safe home environment and an open relationship with their guardians, and two, that every parent is knowledgeable enough to provide their children with facts and accurate information. What about the students to which the above doesn’t apply? And abstinence programs still beg the question about what will happen when an individual does choose to become sexually active. Even curriculums which give the basic safe-sex message portray contraception as a back-up plan, remaining vague about how to properly use different types of birth control as well as how to obtain them. To me, it seems difficult to justify such lack of information to individuals who are going to eventually going to choose to no longer abstain.
The other editorial, by Family Planning Plus, advocates the need for more comprehensive sex education. The author states that curriculums that revolve around abstinence are not only ineffective, but “might cause harm by providing inadequate and inaccurate information, resulting in failure to use safer sex practices once intercourse is initiated.” She discusses the own experience in the sexual health field, and the young girls she sees as patients who have made poor choices not because of laziness, but because of lack of knowledge of misinformation. She affirms the idea that though conversations with parents are ideal, it is just not the reality. She suggests that it is not that young adults do not want information and to have their questions answered –it is just that they often do not have a reliable source. It is important to point out that those teenagers who become pregnant are more likely to have children who also become pregnant young. To me, this illustrates a continuance of a lack of knowledge – a cycle that a comprehensive, inclusive sex education curriculum from a source outside the family has the potential to break.
Both of these editorials are addressing a reality: the fact that teenage pregnancy and the spread of sexually-transmitted infections is a problem in our society today. Both also acknowledge that abstinence is important, and that it is the only way of fully preventing pregnancy and the spread of infections. The difference is that one address what happens after abstinence, and one does not. The biggest flaw I saw in the first editorial supporting a new abstinence program is that although it focusing on delaying sexual activity and was allegedly somewhat successful in doing so for some students, eventually almost everyone will choose to become sexually active. Even if this is delayed till the individual is older, or even till marriage, the odds that in that time span that this individual has learned how to properly choose and use birth control, how infections can be transmitted and what the signs are, and knowledge about reproductive health seems slim to me. Knowledge doesn’t just happen, it is acquired through education, which is what the second editorial points out. The main message of the abstinence editorial is to “keep kids healthy.” Kids need to be taught how to be safe and keep themselves healthy – it is not something that happens on its own, and it doesn’t even always come with age. Leaving out important information in hopes that this lack of knowledge will discourage students from wanting to have sex isn’t keeping them healthy; it is stopping them from being able to make the healthiest decisions for themselves.
After reading these articles, I realized how lacking most youth are in terms of having access to educate themselvesabout their own body. This says a lot about our society and how we perceive bodies and sex. Sex education has the opportunity to talk about a lot of important issues, like consent, sexuality and gender diversity, and how to engage in sexual activities in a healthy manner. Right now, most sex ed curriculums are very exclusive in terms of heteronormativity – students are never taught that it is okay to be gay, and if they are gay, how those students can stay safe and healthy. The concept of consent is essential for everyone to making good sexual decisions, and yet it too is often overlooked. The way sexual activity is portrayed in most sex ed classes, especially in abstinence courses, is that it is something to be frowned up, that choosing to engage in sexual activity somehow says something about your character or morals. I think the way this message is juxtaposed with the hypersexualized message prevalent everywhere in society can be damaging to a lot of youth. Knowledge can be a way for students to feel confident in themselves, their ability to make the best decision, and be able to discern the mixed messages they receive about intimacy and sexuality from society.
As a distinguished speaker and well-known public figure, bell hooks is often invited to speak at colleges and universities across the country, and that's where I am today. I know it will be interesting to attend because as a black
