Sex Educated Sex Education: A Rocky Road

Sex Education: A Rocky Road
Many readers will agree that one of the biggest impediments to young people’s educations about human sexuality and reproduction is embarrassment – within students themselves, as well as in their parents and their teachers. Talk about sex often promotes feelings of discomfort. Having “The Talk” is difficult.  Nevertheless, schools in the United States have supported many efforts to provide  factual knowledge for children in order to enhance students’ biological understandings, but also to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, prevent unwanted pregnancies and arm against abuse in unsuspecting young children. "Knowledge is power" has been a guiding philosophy.


Perhaps you will appreciate the following strategy that led to better communication. It occurred during a nationwide effort to provide accurate reproductive knowledge, a time when individuals such as Mary Calderone traveled the nation to talk with educators at all levels. One day in 1968, hundreds of us Chicago Public School sixth-grade teachers were gathered in a spacious high school  auditorium to learn about the new Sex Education curriculum. We were led by a national expert to chant after her. So in unison, we did. “Penis, penis, penis, penis. Vagina, vagina, vagina, vagina...” Later, after reviewing the first section of our curriculum guides, we were urged to go home and practice saying those important words in the mirror every day. Why? So we would be comfortable speaking them in front of our students when we began teaching our classes in sexual reproduction.
The history of students learning about human reproduction in a setting outside the home or farmyard is over 200 years old and is very convoluted. Programs to provide information to protect students, soldiers, and citizens in general over time have been countered by varied religious groups and angry parents and civic groups. Efforts have been known to be successful in calling for the dismissal of school superintendents and board members for having approved sex education.
The Newsweek article linked here will give you a flavor of the scenarios and the topics that were forbidden over time.
Time marches on, however, and reasons for providing straightforward information in nonjudgmental ways have expanded. We now know that the disrespect, harassment, and abuse of women and children are not crimes of the streets perpetrated by strangers. Victimization happens in secret places within homes, businesses, and trusted institutions like Catholic churches and Boy Scouts.
All young people need to have the knowledge and self-respect to protect themselves from predators who may seem trustworthy, but aren’t.
Teachers and administrators are obligated by law to report suspicious signs of abuse. Incidents are widespread and occur in school settings of all sorts, urban, rural, and suburban. Educators have an obligation to protect their students; they are front line workers in times of emergency.
Click here to read Top 10 Reasons to Support Sex Education in Schools.

Although there are national conversations about Sex Ed, it is the states, the District of Columbia, and local school districts who decide the grade levels to receive instruction and the content to be shared. Over half of the states do have recommended frameworks, but districts are not bound to follow all aspects. Much decision making power rests with local school boards.  ​

The article here was published by the National Conference of State Legislatures and will show you the wide variances that occur among our states.

Since the Museum of Teaching and Learning is located in California, we will also share here additional detail about our situation. The state Board of Education's Health Education framework has just been completed. It is compatible with content expressed in a law that went into effect in 2016, The Healthy Youth. The Health instruction will be for students in junior high and high school.


Some topics include sexually transmitted disease, birth control, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sex trafficking,
If you read the article linked here, you will see that dissent is still with us, for groups are very agitated about the use of graphic words and images and certain books that have been placed upon the Recommended List.


Understanding the birds and bees is still important to build basic understandings about reproduction, but human sexuality is very complex. We know that there are MANY, MANY aspects of this topic that this short article leaves unexplored, but we are grateful to have had this opportunity to bring this critical topic to your attention.