Sex
Education
involves the teaching of useful knowledge and related skills of critical
issues related to sexuality, including intimacy, human relationships,
sexual identity and gender roles, reproductive anatomy and body image,
puberty and the reproductive process, emotional aspects of maturation,
the value of continued abstinence among teens who are not sexually
active, alternative methods of contraception and HIV/STD (sexually
transmitted disease) prevention, and the health consequences of avoiding
contraceptives and prevention methods among sexually active youth.
Studies show that adolescent sexuality is most influenced by parents,
followed by peers, and finally, by what is learned in schools.
Sex education developed
in response to various studies showing high rates of teen involvement in
sexual activity (75 percent by the college years) and low rates of
contraceptive use and knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs). Further, these studies showed that several situational factors
contribute to risky practices among teens - especially failure to plan
in advance for sexual activity (on the assumption that planning for sex
damages spontaneity and romance) and use of alcohol and/or drugs prior
to or during sex. Also, less than complete ability to assess the
potential consequences of one's actions has been found to be common
among teenagers. All of these factors are associated with low levels of
condom use among teens, and usually all are addressed in sex education
programs.
The primary goal of
school-based sex education is the promotion of sexual health. To achieve
this goal, most programs seek to provide accurate information about
human sexuality, an opportunity for value clarification, skills to
improve interpersonal relationships, and assistance in exercising
responsibility in one's sexual life, including acquiring healthy
behaviors and attitudes regarding sexual behavior. Studies of the
effectiveness of sex education in achieving its goals have been mixed.
Consistently, sex education has been found to increase teenager
knowledge about sexual issues, provide modeling and practice to enhance
interpersonal skills relative to sexual behavior, and reinforce
appropriate values, but most approaches have not had the desired impact
on actual sexual behavior or contraceptive use. Some of the best results
are found in education programs that are linked to school-based health
clinics. Studies show that sex education is most effective when it is
implemented prior to the onset of sexual activity, and when it combines
both abstinence and contraceptive information. Studies have not found
that sex education encourages sexual experimentation or increased
involvement in sexual activity. Programs that only promote abstinence
have not been found to be effective in controlling the onset of sexual
activity.
Limitations on the
effectiveness of traditional classroom sex education approaches have led
to the creation of alternative methods to communicate key sex education
messages. One innovative approach is the use of specially produced
educational videos. These videos often emphasize assertiveness and
refusal skills (in responding to peer pressure), decision-making related
to teen sexuality, and specific sex and health information (e.g., the
symptoms of various sexually transmitted diseases). Some videos also
address the issue of mixing alcohol and sexual activity (a practice that
has been found to lead to poor decision-making and riskier behavior).
The rationale for sex education videos is that knowledge is not
sufficient to lower the frequency of risky behavior. Sex education
videos commonly seek to address barriers to risk avoidance (e.g.,
pressure from a boy- or girlfriend to initiate sex or the widespread
belief that condoms are ineffective in preventing pregnancy or infection
with an STD or HIV).
Another innovative
approach, which combines entertainment and peer communication of sex
education information, is the use of teen theater. It began in 1973 at
New York Medical College. Since its inception, teen theater sex
education has been implemented in various locations around the U.S. The
expectation is that dramatic performances about critical sex education
issues will decrease teen anxiety about sensitive issues, increase the
willingness of teens to openly discuss sexual issues, increase the
intention of sexually active teens to use birth control and protect
themselves from STDs and HIV, and contribute to a delay in the onset of
sexual activity among teens who are not already sexually active.
Research has shown that a key factor in avoidance of condom use among
sexually active teenagers is embarrassment. In response, several teen
theater performances have focused on decision-making around condom
purchase and use. Evaluation of dramatic sex education has shown that
this approach does lead to greater levels of sexual knowledge and
increased willingness to talk freely about sex. However, it is has not
been shown to significantly impact actual sexual practices.
Importantly, school-based
teen sex education is not uniformly supported by all adults. Public
opinion polls in the U.S. consistently find that the majority of parents
want sex education at the high school level as a realistic response to
demonstrated high rates of sexual activity among teens (as evidenced by
pregnancy and STD rates among teenagers) and the potentially significant
health and social consequences of uninformed teen sex. Since the advent
of AIDS, almost all states have implemented AIDS prevention curricula in
their schools that, unavoidably, include sex education. Parental support
for AIDS-related sex education has been found to top 90 percent of
sampled parents. Even among parents who support sex education, however,
there have been debates about what the curricula should include (e.g.,
should abstinence be emphasized, should birth control methods be
discussed, does contraceptive knowledge lead to sexual experimentation)
and at what age specific sex education information should be introduced.
There also have been debates about whether schools should dispense
condoms to sexually active students.
Some people believe that
sexual education should only be conducted in the home, thereby insuring
that parents will be free to transmit their own moral values regarding
sexuality and sexual activity to their children. Some parent groups have
been formed to protest the implementation of sex education and related
programs (e.g., teen HIV prevention education) in public schools.
Although some groups opposed to sex education are religious in their
orientation, studies have found that church attendance does not predict
attitudes toward sex education. Less educated and older parents have
generally been found to have less favorable attitudes toward sex
education. In all states with school-based health education, parents
have been given the right to remove their children from sex education
programs.
The efforts to promote
sex education have been supported by a national organization called the
Sex Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS). SIECUS works
closely with state and local education agencies to expand existing sex
education programs and to implement new programs. SIECUS has developed
Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education for implementation at
all grade levels K-12. The Guidelines provide communities with a
framework for developing and implementing a comprehensive sex education
program in schools. Studies show that sex education is most effective
when parents and schools reinforce similar messages about teen
sexuality.
Sex
