In the US, sex education in schools has improved massively over the past few decades. However, there is still room for improvement. By promoting comprehensive and inclusive relationships within sex education programmes in schools, sex education can promote not just safe sex, but also gender equality, healthy relationships, and LGBTQI+ visibility and awareness. This article will look at three ways sex education programmes in schools can be used as a tool for advocacy.
ABSTAIN FROM ABSTINENCE ONLY PROGRAMMES
Abstinence-only education refers to sex education programmes that focus primarily on abstinence as the only reliable contraceptive method, with little to no focus on other forms of contraception or safe sex. These programmes will frequently portray contraceptive methods such as condoms or the pill in a way which would scare young people into abstaining from sex until marriage. Experts have repeatedly proven that abstinence-only programmes are ineffective in preventing young people from having sex and do not reduce teenage pregnancies, and actually increase this rate in some states.
However, this is not the only issue with abstinence-only programmes. These programmes regularly promote harmful sexist stereotypes about women’s sexual activities. Programmes can foster damaging stereotypes about women’s virginity, deeming women “impure” if they have had sex and portraying virginity as a biological fact rather than a social construct. These programmes can also perpetuate outdated stigmas, painting male sexual activity as the fault of women. For example, one abstinence-only programme from the United States taught students:
Females need to be careful with what they wear, because males are looking! The girl might be thinking fashion, while the boy is thinking sex. For this reason girls have an added responsibility to wear modest clothing that doesn’t invite lustful thoughts.
A better example to follow could be the current sex education model in the Netherlands. Sex education is taught from the age of four, and by the age of 11, children are expected to discuss reproduction, safer sex, and sexual abuse. This model is effective compared to that of the US as there was higher contraceptive use, and lower teenage pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Illness (STI) rates. Furthermore, young people report feeling more comfortable talking to their partner’s about their likes and dislikes and are more likely to describe their first sexual experience as positive.
By avoiding abstinence-only programmes and arming students with knowledge about different forms of contraception, we can use sex education to advocate for safe sex and eliminate harmful gender stereotypes.
FOCUS ON MORE THAN JUST BIOLOGY
Sex education needs to cover more than just the anatomical facts regarding sexual intercourse - the relationships that come with sex are just as significant as the act itself. In the UK, sex education is now referred to as Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). Since 2020, RSE has been compulsory in primary and secondary school, with students expected to recognise unhappy and unsafe relationships, the difference between online and real-life relationships, and how to set boundaries by the end of primary school (age 10). In secondary schools (from age 11), students cover more in-depth topics such as coercive control, consent, sexual harassment and violence, domestic violence, grooming, digital abuse, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage. It is, however, essential to note that parents can choose to withdraw their child from RSE up until the age of 15.
Evidence from the US has shown that comprehensive sex education that includes consent reduces students’ risk of sexual assault during college. Experts have also argued that teaching young people about intimate partner violence (IPV) in the context of sex education could be an effective tool in preventing and raising awareness about the topic.
INCLUDE LGBTQI+ EXPERIENCES
A survey from 2015 found that only 12 percent of students were taught about same-sex relationships during sex education in the US. Some states have so-called “no promo homo laws,” which only allow LGBTQI+ relationships to be portrayed negatively. For example, in Alabama, homosexual relationships can only be addressed when talking about STIs. A sex education programme that solely focuses on the experiences of cis-heteronormative people whilst ignoring how this differs from the experiences of LGBTQI+ people are ineffective and are endangering young people.
The exclusion of LGBTQI+ youth from sex education programmes in schools means that they are not fully equipped with knowledge for sexual experiences, which is a factor in the increased risk of STI transmittance and teenage pregnancy in LGBTQI+ relationships. Inclusive sex education also promotes acceptance. Research from 2019 found that LGBTQI+ students who lived in regions in the US with inclusive sex education policies were less likely to be bullied and had a lower risk of suicidal ideations.
Experts praise the approach of Denmark and Sweden for including LGBTQI+ relationships, but when questioned, the majority of students do not think the current sex education programmes provide sufficient information on LGBTQI+ relationships. To create an inclusive sex education programme, LGBTQI+ organisations have stressed the importance of including LGBTQI+ experts in forming the curriculum. Furthermore, they highlight the counter-productive effects of a one-off class on the LGBTQI+ community, as this creates a sense of “other-ness” and does not allow sufficient time to cover all of the different information needed.
LOOKING FORWARD
The facts and figures show that comprehensive and inclusive sex education helps protect students from much more than just unwanted pregnancies and STIs. Campaigns from groups such as Stonewall in the UK, the #SexEdSavesLives campaign in Canada, and the Guttmacher Institute in the US are putting pressure on policymakers to overhaul current sex education programmes. However, it is crucial to continue to apply pressure until young people everywhere can access inclusive and comprehensive relationships and sex education programmes.
Alice is a recent German & Hispanic studies graduate from Queen Mary University of London, specialising in literature during dictatorships. Her aspiration is to move to Mexico permanently to teach English and get involved with social justice activism, hopefully returning to the city of Guadalajara where she studied for a semester.