Sex Education in the 21st Century

Abstract

Sex Education in the 21st CenturyControversies about the proper content of schoolbased sex education continue, but in some fundamental sense they have been matched by-perhaps even overtaken by-other pressing realities. For example, there are increasing demands that school resources be dedicated to teaching the basics of reading, writing, and math and to upgrading the attention given to science education. Many communities find that meeting these legitimate demands places substantial pressure on school hours and budgets, often at the expense of such areas as art and physical education as well as health education, which often includes sex education. Moreover, limited budgets can also decrease the amount of training made available to sex education teachers.This situation is particularly distressing because during the last decade, increasing numbers of programs have become available that can help teens delay having sex, increase their use of contraception when they do have sex, and potentially help reduce the incidence of teen pregnancy. Some of these programs are based in schools, some are in community settings, and some span both. [1][2][3]

Sexuality Education for Children and Adolescents

“…43 By increasing parents' skills and facilitating opportunities for communication through take-home activities, the program also aims to affect the parent-adolescent relationship, further influencing adolescent behavior change (eg, the likelihood that adolescents will delay intercourse or use condoms). 44 In one study, adolescents were asked whether they received formal instruction on 4 topics of sexuality education at home, school, church, a community center, or some other place before they were 18 years old. 42 They were specifically asked whether they spoke to their parents before the age of 18 about topics concerning sex, birth control, STIs, and HIV/AIDS prevention.…”

Increasing boys’ and girls’ intentions to avoid teenage pregnancy: a cluster randomised controlled feasibility trial of an interactive video drama-based intervention in post-primary schools in Northern Ireland

“…Evidence supporting the involvement of parents in Relationship and Sexuality Education has become increasingly common since then 69 and, in recent times, studies 61,68,70 have demonstrated the importance of embracing such modalities as engaging adjuncts to school-based education.…”

The State of Sex Education in the United States

“…Since then, rigorous research has documented both the lack of efficacy of AOUM in delaying sexual initiation, reducing sexual risk behaviors, or improving reproductive health outcomes and the effectiveness of comprehensive sex education in increasing condom and contraceptive use and decreasing pregnancy rates [7–12]. Today, despite great advancements in the science, implementation of a truly modern, equitable, evidence-based model of comprehensive sex education remains precluded by sociocultural, political, and systems barriers operating in profound ways across multiple levels of adolescents’ environments [4,7,8,12–14]. …”

“…Limited in-class time and resources leave schools to prioritize sex education in competition with academic subjects and other important health topics such as substance use, bullying, and suicide [4,13,14]. Without cohesive or consistent implementation processes, a highly diverse “patchwork” of sex education laws and practices exists [4].…”

“…Continued public and political debates on the morality of sex outside marriage perpetuate barriers at multiple levels—by misguiding state funding decisions, molding parents’ (mis)understanding of programs, facilitating adolescents’ uptake of biased and inaccurate information in the classroom, and/or preventing their participation in sex education altogether [4,7,8,12–14]. …”