sex education should be mandatory in schools essay

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Sex Education in America: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

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The debate over the best way to teach sexual health in the U.S. continues to rage on, but student voice is often left out of the conversation when schools are deciding on what to teach. So Myles and PBS NewsHour Student Reporters from Oakland Military Institute investigate the pros and cons of the various approaches to sex ed and talk to students to find out how they feel about their sexual health education.

TEACHERS: Guide your students to practice civil discourse about current topics and get practice writing CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) responses.  Explore lesson supports.

What is comprehensive sex education?

Comprehensive sex education teaches that not having sex is the best way to avoid STIs and unintended pregnancies, but it also includes medically accurate information about STI prevention, reproductive health, as well as discussions about healthy relationships, consent, gender identity, LGBTQ issues and more. What is sexual risk avoidance education? Sexual risk avoidance education is also known as abstinence only or abstinence-leaning education. It generally teaches that not having sex is the only morally acceptable, safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy and STIs — some programs don’t talk about birth control or condoms– unless it is to emphasize failure rates.

What are the main arguments for comprehensive sex education?

“Comprehensive sex ed” is based on the idea that public health improves when students have a right to learn about their sexuality and to make responsible decisions about it. Research shows it works to reduce teen pregnancies, delay when teens become sexually active and reduce the number of sexual partners teens have.

What are the main arguments against comprehensive sex education?

Some people, particularly parents and religious groups, take issue with comprehensive sex ed because they believe it goes against their cultural or religious values, and think that it can have a corrupting influence on kids. They say that by providing teens with this kind of information you are endorsing and encouraging sex and risk taking. Some opponents also argue that this type of information should be left up to parents to teach their kids about and shouldn’t be taught in schools.

State Laws and Policies Across the US (SIECUS) 

STDs Adolescents and Young Adults (CDC) 

Myths and Facts about Comprehensive Sex Education (Advocates for Youth)

Abstinence-Only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy (Journal of Adolescent Health)

Abstinence-Only-Until Marriage: An Updated Review of US Policies and Programs and Their Impact (Journal of Adolescent Health) 

Sexual Risk Avoidance Education: What you need to know (ASCEND) 

We partnered with PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs for this episode. Check out their journalism resources for students: https://studentreportinglabs.org/

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Power to Decide

Why sex education matters.

Maggi LeDuc

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In 2014, a study found that 93% of parents supported having sex education in middle school and 96% supported teaching sex ed in high school. A 2017 study again found that 93% of parents favored sexuality education in schools. These are not isolated results; decades of research support the benefits of comprehensive, inclusive sex education.

Comprehensive sexuality education is also supported by professional organizations such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, and the 184 organizations—including Power to Decide—who joined in coalition in May 2020 to support the Sex Ed for All movement. 

At the moment, 28 states (and DC) require some kind of sex education and HIV education and seven states only require HIV education. However, only 17 require that education to be medically accurate and 29 states require schools to stress abstinence . Because sex education in schools is legislated on the state (or individual school district) level, not the federal, the quality of what is taught varies widely across the country. The CDC’s 2018 School Health Profiles found that only 43% of high schools and 18% of middle schools taught ‘key’ topics in sex education. Some of the topics the CDC labels as ‘key’ include information on how to prevent STIs and unplanned pregnancy, maintaining healthy relationships, avoiding peer pressure, and using appropriate health services. 

The World Health Organization notes that the focus of sexuality education in Europe has shifted from preventing pregnancy in the 1960’s to preventing HIV in the ‘80’s to today covering these topics alongside such issues as sexism, homophobia, and online bullying gender norms, the sexuality spectrum, and emotional development. In contrast, a 2018 study reported that students in the US were less likely to receive sex education on key topics in 2015-2019 than they were in 1995. The same study found that only 43% of females and 47% of males who had penis-in-vagina sex covered safe sex in school before they engaged in sex for the first time. 

Truly comprehensive sex education includes, but isn't limited to:

• Taught by trained sex educators. 
• Begun early and progresses at an age-appropriate pace. 
• Evidence-based. 
• Inclusive of LGBTQ young people.
• Explicitly anti-racist. 
• Learner-centered. 
• Community-specific. 

Sex ed that is for everyone includes (but isn't limited to) information about:

• Healthy relationships.
• Anatomy and physiology. 
• Adolescent sexual development. 
• Gender identity and expression. 
• Sexual orientation and identity. 
• The full range of birth control methods and pregnancy options. 

All young people have a right to this kind of high-quality, evidence-based information and care to ensure their lifelong sexual and reproductive health. Again , and again , and again both national and international research has found that young people who have experienced comprehensive sexuality education delay having sex for the first time, are less likely to engage in risky behavior, and are more likely to use birth control. 

Plus, beyond giving young people facts, inclusive sex ed provides skills such as effective communication, active listening, and the ability to make informed decisions that will help them to grow and live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives.   

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Sex Education that Goes Beyond Sex

• Posted November 28, 2018
• By Grace Tatter

Historically, the measure of a good sex education program has been in the numbers: marked decreases in the rates of sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancies, and pregnancy-related drop-outs. But, increasingly, researchers, educators, and advocates are emphasizing that sex ed should focus on more than physical health. Sex education, they say, should also be about relationships.

Giving students a foundation in relationship-building and centering the notion of care for others can enhance wellbeing and pave the way for healthy intimacy in the future, experts say. It can prevent or counter gender stereotyping and bias. And it could minimize instances of sexual harassment and assault in middle and high school — instances that may range from cyberbullying and stalking to unwanted touching and nonconsensual sex. A recent study from Columbia University's Sexual Health Initative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) project suggests that comprehensive sex education protects students from sexual assault even after high school.

If students become more well-practiced in thinking about caring for one another, they’ll be less likely to commit — and be less vulnerable to — sexual violence, according to this new approach to sex ed. And they’ll be better prepared to engage in and support one another in relationships, romantic and otherwise, going forward. 

Giving students a foundation in relationship-building can enhance wellbeing and pave the way for healthy intimacy in the future, experts say. It can also prevent or counter gender stereotyping, and it could minimize instances of sexual harassment and assault in middle and high school.

Introducing Ethics Into Sex Ed

Diving into a conversation even tangentially related to sex with a group of 20 or so high school students isn’t easy. Renee Randazzo helped researcher Sharon Lamb pilot the Sexual Ethics and Caring Curriculum while a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She recalls boys snickering during discussions about pornography and objectification. At first, it was hard for students to be vulnerable.

But the idea behind the curriculum is that tough conversations are worth having. Simply teaching students how to ask for consent isn’t enough, says Lamb, a professor of counseling psychology at UMass Boston, who has been researching the intersection between caring relationships, sex, and education for decades. Students also to have understand why consent is important and think about consent in a variety of contexts. At the heart of that understanding are questions about human morality, how we relate to one another, and what we owe to one another. In other words, ethics.

“When I looked at what sex ed was doing, it wasn’t only a problem that kids weren’t getting the right facts,” Lamb says. “It was a problem that they weren’t getting the sex education that would make them treat others in a caring and just way.”

She became aware that when schools were talking about consent — if they were at all — it was in terms of self-protection. The message was: Get consent so you don’t get in trouble.

But there’s more at play, Lamb insists. Students should also understand the concept of mutuality — making decisions with a partner and understanding and addressing other people’s concerns or wishes — and spend time developing their own sense of right and wrong. 

“If a young person is not in a healthy relationship, they can’t negotiate sex in a meaningful way. Even if they’re not having sex yet, they’re grappling with the idea of what a healthy relationship is.”

The curriculum she developed invites students to engage in frank discussions about topics like objectification in the media and sexting. If a woman is shamed for being in a sexy video, but she consented to it, does she deserve the criticism? Regardless of what you think, can you justify your position?

“How do they want to treat people, what kind of partner do they want to be? That takes discussion,” Lamb says. “It’s not a skill-training thing.”

The idea behind the curriculum isn’t that anything goes, so long as students can discuss their reasoning. Instead, the goal is that students develop the critical-reasoning skills to do the right thing in tricky situations. 

After Randazzo’s students got over their cases of the giggles, the conversations were eye-opening, she says. “You give them the opportunity unpack their ideas and form their own opinions,” she says.

Healthy Relationships — and Prevention

Most sexual assault and violence in schools is committed by people who know their victims — they’re either dating, friends, or classmates. Regardless, they have a relationship of some sort, which is why a focus on relationships and empathy is crucial to reducing violence and preparing students for more meaningful lives.

And while it might seem uncomfortable to move beyond the cut-and-dried facts of contraception into the murkier waters of relationships, students are hungry for it. A survey by researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education's  Making Caring Common  initiative found that 65 percent of young-adult respondents wished they had talked about relationships at school.

“It’s so critical that kids are able to undertake this work of learning to love somebody else,” says developmental psychologist Richard Weissbourd , the director of Making Caring Common and lead author of a groundbreaking report called The Talk: How Adults Can Promote Young People’s Healthy Relationships and Prevent Misogyny and Sexual Harassment . “They’re not going to be able to do it unless we get them on the road and are willing to engage in thoughtful conversations.”

Nicole Daley works with OneLove , a nonprofit focused on teen violence prevention. She previously worked extensively with Boston Public Schools on violence prevention. She echoes Lamb and Weissbourd: A focus on relationships is key to keeping students safe.

“If a young person is not in a healthy relationship, they can’t negotiate sex in a meaningful way,” she says. “Really discussing healthy relationships and building that foundation is important. Even if they’re not having sex yet, they’re grappling with the idea of what healthy relationship is.”

And it’s critical to start that work before college.

Shael Norris spent the first two decades of her career focusing on college campuses, but now is focused on younger students with her work through Safe BAE . By college, many people’s ideas about how to act when it comes to sex or romance are entrenched, she says. The earlier young people can start interrogating what they know about sex and relationships, the better.

Safe BAE is led by Norris and young survivors of sexual assault. The organization works to educate students about healthy relationships, sexual violence, students’ rights under Title IX, and other related topics.

Movement to change middle and high school curricula to include a focus on healthy relationships and consent has been slow, Norris notes. In 2015, Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced the Teach Safe Relationships Act, which would have mandated secondary schools teach about safe relationships, including asking for consent, in health education courses. It didn’t go anywhere. And while eight states now mandate some sort of sexual consent education , there’s no consensus about what that should entail.

Instead, the momentum for a more comprehensive sexual education that considers relationships and violence prevention is coming from individual teachers, students and parents.

“We don’t have to wait for politicians to start having conversations about this,” Norris says.

A New Approach to Sex Ed

• Develop an ethical approach to sex ed. Place emphasis on helping students learn how to care for and support one another. This will reduce the chance they’ll commit, or be vulnerable to, sexual violence.
• Don’t just tell students how to ask for consent; prompt them to consider why concepts like consent are important. It’s not just about staying out of legal trouble — it’s also about respecting and caring for others.
• Respect students’ intelligence and engage them in discussions about who they want to be as people. Serious dialogue about complicated topics will hone their critical-thinking skills and help them be prepared to do the right thing.
• Even without access to a curriculum, students, parents and educators can work together to facilitate conversations around sexual violence prevention through clubs, with help from organizations like Safe BAE.

Additional Resource

• National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K–12

Part of a special series about preventing sexual harassment at school.  Read the whole series .

Illustration by Wilhelmina Peragine

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Sex ed belongs in schools.

Danene Sorace is the founder and a consultant to the Future of Sex Education project.

Updated May 1, 2015, 1:25 PM

There is an obvious reason — or perhaps, 50 million obvious reasons — that sexuality education belongs in school. That’s where the kids are!

Those 50 million U.S. students spend seven hours a day, for up to 13 years, in the classrooms of 14,000 public school districts. This allows for plenty of opportunities to provide comprehensive sex ed that is rolled out sequentially as students learn and mature.

One time lectures and online resources can help supplement school-based sex education, but they can’t replace this systematic approach or reach most students.

This building block approach is at the heart of the National Sexuality Education Standards , voluntary K-12 standards that layout the minimum, essential content all schools should be providing. Elementary students, for example, should know the names of their body parts and be able to articulate what it means to be a good friend. This is reinforced in middle and high school when students learn about reproduction and cultivate skills needed to create mutually respectful relationships.

Good sexuality education also tackles the influence of social media and technology on relationships, as well as pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention. But students can't be expected to understand these concepts if they don't, as younger students, learn about their bodies and respectful friendship first.

One time lectures, multisession programs and online resources can help supplement school-based sex education, but they don't reach most students and can’t replace this systematic approach to learning.

School administrators sometimes shy away from sexuality education because they fear controversy and worry about taking time from other subjects. But there is overwhelming parental support for sex education in schools.

Perhaps more important, despite recent declines, the United States continues to have the highest teen pregnancy rates among comparable countries and widespread S.T.D. and H.I.V. infection among adolescents. Ten percent of teens report being physically harmed by their romantic partners, and L.G.B.T.Q. youth face harassment and bullying.

Clearly all of our young people need sexuality education that gives them the ability to maintain healthy relationships, take care of their bodies and make good decisions. This should not only be available to those who are lucky enough to attend a program in their community, and it can’t be left to a chance encounter with an online resource.

This is education for life and it needs to happen in the classroom.

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There is currently no consistent standard of sex, sexuality, gender and respectful relationships education across Australian schools. Each state and territory makes decisions about what they teach in schools. Additionally, religious schools have exemptions under anti-discrimination laws to decide how they approach these issues, and whether they include them at all.

Despite the gains made in the marriage equality debate, Australia has been unable to translate this into inclusive sex and sexuality education for young people. While countries such as England and Canada are adopting progressive, consistent sex education programs at a national level, Australia has not.

Read more: Australian sex education isn't diverse enough. Here's why we should follow England's lead

The federal Department of Education is spending A$5 million to develop resources to teach respectful relationships in Australian schools. According to one news report , these resources will not include topics on toxic masculinity, gender theory or case studies about young people’s sexual activity. This project is a part of the women’s safety package announced in 2015 by the Turnbull government, which seeks to educate young people about violence against women.

The federal government is quietly trying to distance these resources from Victoria’s Respectful Relationships program, which has been criticised by some conservative commentators. Politics aside, there is an urgent need for these resources. Gendered violence against women and LGBTIQ people is too common in Australia.

No more federal funding for Safe Schools

Only a few years ago, Australia was very close to having a standard national resource for sex, sexuality and relationships education – the Safe Schools program. Its creators aspired to consistency across all state and territory educational jurisdictions in Australia, in line with the nationally consistent Australian Curriculum .

Safe Schools was designed as an evidence-based , educational anti-bullying program. The program had LGBTIQ inclusion at its core, and sought to create safe and inclusive environments for LGBTIQ students. Resources used to help deliver the program were developed by experts and carefully selected to ensure they were age-appropriate for the students using them.

The federal government stopped funding the program in mid-2017, following an extended public pillorying by conservative politicians and media commentators . This ranged from concern students were encouraged to cross-dress and role-play as gay teenages to false claims the program showed children how to masturbate and strap on dildos.

Read more: FactCheck: does the Safe Schools program contain 'highly explicit material'?

An inconsistent approach

Safe Schools has been replaced by an eclectic mix of programs, which vary from state to state. As a result, Australia has an inconsistent approach across state education systems.

In Victoria, the Building Respectful Relationships program was trialled in 2015 in response to recommendations Royal Commission into Family Violence and rolled out more broadly since 2016.

The program contains strong messages of healthy relationships, violence prevention and control, which young people can relate to, regardless of their situation. The program has received criticism claiming it’s simply a repackaged version of the Safe Schools program. It runs concurrently with Safe Schools, which is now implemented in nearly all government secondary schools in Victoria.

Safe Schools programs are also run in one government school in the NT, 21 government schools in Tasmania and 24 government schools, 3 independent schools and 3 other educational settings in WA.

At the federal level, funding has been confirmed to make the John Howard-inspired school chaplain program permanent. The School Chaplaincy program is intended to support the social, emotional and spiritual well-being of school communities across Australia. This may include support and guidance about ethics, values, relationships and spiritual issues.

Federal discomfort with sex, sexuality and gender discussions

Scott Morrison has made a number of comments about LGBTIQ issues in his short time as Prime Minister. Morrison said schools don’t need “gender whisperers”, referring to an article which stated teachers were being taught how to spot potentially transgender students.

It has since been clarified teachers were being trained on how to support students if they identify as transgender, not to identify potentially transgender students.

Morrison has also brushed aside concerns about gay conversion therapy , and publicly stated he sends his children to a religious schools to avoid “ skin curling ” discussions about gender diversity and sexuality.

Other members of the Coalition have publicly echoed similar beliefs, including Tony Abbott and Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz who actively spoke out against voting “yes” in the same-sex marriage plebiscite for fear it would lead to a “ radical sex education program for schools ”.

A strong case for sexuality, gender and sex education

Gender and sexual diversity are part of the rich multicultural landscape of contemporary Australian society. But research indicates there’s significant cause for concern about gender-based violence and family violence. Education about respectful relationships was identified as a key way to combat this in the Royal Commission into Family Violence .

Likewise, current research about young people and sex, sexuality and gender diversity is alarming. There are still high levels of mental health issues (such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide) among LGBTIQ young people as a result of bullying, discrimination, and harassment at school and in the wider community.

The data indicate increasingly high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people are also a significant concern. Rates of chlamydia and gonorrhoea diagnoses in Australia are highest amongst people aged 15-24 years .

Regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, research indicates young people need to be reliably informed about safe sex. The ramifications of not doing so are far too significant. Research shows school-based sexuality education improves sexual health outcomes for young people.

Likewise, Australia has unacceptably high rates of family, domestic and sexual violence, while gender inequality permeates most aspects of society. This can be mitigated through reliable education about healthy relationships. Family, domestic and sexual violence is not a sign of a healthy society .

Read more: Young people want sex education and religion shouldn't get in the way

Sex, sexuality, respectful relationships, and gender all need to be discussed in schools as a component of a whole-school approach. This should not only include in-class education, but it should also be addressed in school cultures, policies and procedures, and in gender equity among the staff.

This is important because we need safe, inclusive schools that celebrate diversity. It’s also important to raise awareness among young people to mitigate family, domestic and sexual violence.

This article has been updated since publication to clarify that there are government schools in Victoria which run Safe Schools programs, and that the Building Respectful Relationships program is run concurrently, not as a replacement.

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Sex Education in the Schools: It Should Be Offered But Not Required

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Not too many years ago, there was no such thing as sex education in America’s public schools. Today, every state includes teaching about sexuality somewhere in its recommended curriculum. Several states require students to take the course; others are being urged to do so.

But sex education isn’t always called sex education. Just as we boys used to sneak girlie magazines into high school back in the thirties and forties and fifties, school authorities now sneak sex education into their course offerings, disguised under some bland title so not to arouse the ire of those who feel that young people should learn about sex from traditional sources: the walls of the boys’ rest room, the conversation outside Mr. Dunkel’s candy store on Saturday night, and the rather innocent (by today’s standards) girlie magazines.

Does anyone call sex education what it is? The District of Columbia and six states did, at last reading. Elsewhere, a bit of digging will unearth it under such soothing labels as Health Education, Home Economics, Family Life, Survival Education, Personal Living, Personal Growth, Career Education, Parenthood Education (that one comes close to spilling the beans), Biology, Human Development, Personal Development, and (here’s a nifty one) Family Consumer Education.

Why the deception?

The answer is that in some school districts sex education has been folded quietly into courses, such as health education, that are mandated for all. That’s the trick. Many a mom and dad have suffered through an early-September “Parents’ Orientation” at which not one word is spoken about sex education, only to find later in the year that innocent little Filbert knows a heck of a lot more about procreation than they thought he did.

Well, should the states require that every child take a course about sex? It is a legitimate question. If there are sound reasons for conducting sex education, as I believe there are, isn’t it logical to insist that every youngster study the subject?

Those who say “yes” to mandated sex education argue well. They hold that a proper understanding of the place of sex in our lives is necessary to our happiness and well-being and is, accordingly, good for society. They believe that knowledge of the physiology of sex is needed to eradicate V.D. and reduce the incidence of unwanted teen-age pregnancies.

To the counterargument that sexuality is an extremely complicated and personal subject best left to discussion between parents and children, the pro-mandate people reply that it doesn’t work that way in practice. After all, parents seldom tell their youngsters about sex.

On this point, they may be right. How long has it been since you gave (or heard) the Birds and Bees lecture?

Oh, yes, parents freely acknowledge their duty to tell their children about sex. A recent Newsday survey asked parents of Long Island children aged 13 to 19 the question: “Do you think it is the responsibility of parents to educate their children about sex?” Ninety-two percent said “yes,” seven percent said “no,” and one percent didn’t know. The survey team did not press on to ask the 92 percent what they actually do to help their children learn about sex. (Of course, such surveys cannot handle lengthy, multifaceted replies--it is a fault of many such “educational polls.”)

Most parents don’t discuss sex with their youngsters of any age. Sex never was a subject that came easily to dinner-table conversation, and the generation gap of the 1960’s and the 1970’s made parent-child communication that much tougher.

Some parents still try to compile and impose one-shot lists of “don’ts,” which may work but which hardly qualify as sex education. A few encourage their youngsters to read suitable literature about sex in the context of moral, natural family living, but I am afraid that these are in a minority. The rest figure that their kids will learn ... well, somewhere.

Letting Mom and Pop do it didn’t work in my time, and it doesn’t work now. Not that it shouldn’t, or couldn’t--it just doesn’t.

The need for sex education is made more urgent by the glorification of sex everywhere we look--in print, at the movies, on TV. There are wishy-washy laws about selling pornography to minors (adapted from wishy-washy U.S. Supreme Court decisions defining pornography on the basis of “community standards”).

Young people find the stuff of sex at prices they can pay. Slick-paper magazines with millions of readers titillate their prurient interest not only with pictures and drawings, but with letters to the editor that make Balzac and Boccaccio read like Saint Paul’s Epistles.

Edmund Fuller, writing in The Wall Street Journal, says: “There are those, nowadays, including authors of best-selling ‘how-to’ sex books, not to mention the outright porn merchants, who measure the quality of life and the success of one’s femininity or masculinity by orgasm count. We are exhorted to be in continual tumescence from youth to old age. Sex is treated as an end in itself, unless in a distortion by which so-called ‘love’ is understood only on the sexual plane.”

To correct this unreal, amoral, scientifically incomplete, and antisocial view of the role of sex in our lives, a comprehensive sex-education program is needed for our young people.

But should it be mandated upon them, as a required course? Despite what I’ve said above, I think not.

Parents, not schools, or governments, are fundamentally responsible for the education of their children and those parents who do want to teach their own children about sex, on their own terms, should have the right to do so.

They might feel that the sex-education courses offered in their schools approach the subject in the wrong way. Or, it may be that school sex-education classes discuss aspects of sex that are repugnant to a family’s religious beliefs. No child of such a family should be required to participate in mandated courses.

Schools should make their sex-education curricula and supporting materials available to parents who ask to see them. And parents should have the right to elect to have their kids take the school courses, to have their children excused from those classes if matters objectionable to the parents are discussed, or to have their children excused from sex education entirely.

A version of this article appeared in the February 02, 1983 edition of Education Week as Sex Education in the Schools: It Should Be Offered But Not Required

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Can sex and relationships education be effective if it’s not delivered in a way that is acceptable to young people?

The government has announced its intention to make sex and relationships education (SRE) statutory in all secondary schools, and to make relationships education statutory in all primary schools. 1 This is very welcome news.

It is 17 years since the government last issued guidance on SRE and during that time huge changes have occurred. 2 There have been important positive developments, such as increased gender equality, and a transformation in attitudes towards sexuality, as indicated by the increasing number of countries introducing same sex marriage laws. 3

At the same time, however, mobile phone technology and widespread internet access have altered how young people learn about sex, bringing exposure to online pornography and new risks such as cyberbullying, sexting, and online exploitation.

And against this backdrop some things have remained unchanged, for example 16-24 year olds account for most new UK diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections. 4 5 There is no doubt about the need for statutory SRE and all those who have campaigned to achieve this should be warmly congratulated.

SRE is seen as vital for safeguarding young people and improving their sexual health, but provision has been patchy and the quality variable. 6 7 The new policy statement, however, focuses overwhelmingly on what should be taught, with no mention of how that content should be delivered, or by whom. Fortunately, secondary school pupils have a lot to say about this.

One of their key messages is that they would prefer not to have SRE delivered by familiar teachers. 8 This is not just because they believe their teachers will be embarrassed or lack expertise, but also because they feel that it could blur boundaries and introduce awkwardness into the teacher-pupil relationship. Pupils’ concern over this issue is likely to depend on their age and does not appear to be such a problem for primary school children. 9 Secondary school pupils, however, want privacy and confidentiality but do not always trust teachers to maintain this, or to be impartial and non-judgmental. The problem is that while improved training for teachers may result in their being more confident, knowledgeable, and accepting, those teachers are still familiar and the potential for awkwardness and blurred boundaries remains.

Many experts and campaigners, however, believe that teachers are the only sustainable option. This is understandable as teachers, once trained, are a cheaper option than external providers, and are also felt to provide continuity. But should sustainability trump acceptability? Can SRE be effective if it is not delivered in a way that is acceptable to young people?

To relate young people’s views on this issue is not to denigrate those teachers who deliver SRE. At present they are in the unenviable position of having to teach sensitive topics with little or no training, in public spaces that strive to be desexualised, and with pupils who may robustly test their ability to deliver the lessons.

One possibility is for secondary schools to have a dedicated and highly qualified SRE teacher who delivers SRE only and has no other role within the school. Such a person could offer expertise, confidentiality, continuity, and distinct boundaries. They could be shared by several schools or within academy chains. Another model—appreciated by both pupils and teachers where it has been employed—is the co-teaching model whereby external sexual health professionals collaborate with teachers on an ongoing basis to deliver SRE. 10

Statutory SRE is a huge step in the right direction but it is not a panacea. While there is, rightly, a focus on getting the themes and topics right for the new curriculum, there needs to be an equal emphasis on getting the educators right. This will be harder, but is absolutely necessary if this opportunity is not to be wasted.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research , or the Department of Health. The funders had no role in the decision to submit the article for publication.

I have read and understood BMJ’s policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: none.

Commissioned, not peer reviewed.

• ↵ Department for Education. Policy statement: relationships education, relationships and sex education, and personal, social, health and economic education, 2017. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595828/170301_Policy_statement_PSHEv2.pdf .
• ↵ Department for Education and Employment. Sex and relationship education guidance. 2000. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283599/sex_and_relationship_education_guidance.pdf .
• ↵ Mercer CH, Tanton C, Prah P, et al. Changes in sexual attitudes and lifestyles in Britain through the life course and over time: findings from the National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal). Lancet 2013 ; 357 : 1781 - 94 . doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62035-8   pmid:24286784 . OpenUrl
• ↵ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Annual epidemiological report 2014: sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and blood borne viruses. 2015. http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/press/news/_layouts/forms/News_DispForm.aspx?List=8db7286c-fe2d-476c-9133-18ff4cb1b568&ID=1173 .
• ↵ Hale DR, Viner RM. Policy responses to multiple risk behaviours in adolescents. J Public Health (Oxf) 2012 ; 357 ( Suppl 1 ): i11 - 9 . doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdr112   pmid:22363026 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Walsh K, Zwi K, Woolfenden S, et al. School based education programmes for the prevention of child sexual abuse. 2015. www.cochrane.org/CD004380/BEHAV_school-based-programmes-for-the-prevention-of-child-sexual-abuse .
• ↵ Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. Not yet good enough: personal, social, health and economic education in schools. 2013. http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/17618/2/Not%20yet%20good%20enough%20personal_%20social_%20health%20and%20economic%20education%20in%20schools%20-%20report%20summary.pdf .
• ↵ Pound P, Langford R, Campbell R. What do young people think about their school-based sex and relationship education? A qualitative synthesis of young people’s views and experiences. BMJ Open 2016 ; 357 : e011329 . doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011329   pmid:27625058 . OpenUrl
• ↵ Pound P, Shucksmith J, Tanton C, et al. What is best practice in sex and relationships education? A synthesis of evidence, including stakeholders’ views. Under review 2017.
• ↵ Blenkinsop S, Wade P, Benton T, et al. Evaluation of the APAUSE SRE programme. 2004. www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/SRP01 .

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Sex education should be mandatory in all schools, MPs demand

Ministers scolded for not addressing inadequate teaching of the subject despite huge demand from teachers, parents and students

Sex education should be compulsory in all primary and secondary schools, with sufficient curriculum time devoted to the subject and specialist training for teachers, MPs have urged.

In a hard-hitting report published on Tuesday, the Commons education select committee comes down firmly on the side of campaigners who have long fought for sex and relationships education (SRE) to be made mandatory.

It urges the Department for Education to come up with a strategy to deliver age-appropriate personal, social and health education (PSHE) and SRE as a statutory provision across all schools.

Graham Stuart, the committee chair, said there was “an overwhelming demand for statutory sex and relationship education – from teachers, parents and young people.

“It’s important that school leaders and governors take PSHE seriously and improve their provision by investing in training for teachers and putting PSHE lessons on the school timetable. Statutory status will help ensure all of this happens.

“Young people have a right to information that will keep them healthy and safe,” he said. “SRE forms an important part of any school’s efforts to safeguard young people from abuse, and is particularly needed to protect the most vulnerable children.”

A damning 2013 Ofsted report found that the PSHE and SRE was inadequate in 40% of schools, and the situation was worsening, the cross-party committee said.

MPs condemned ministers’ attempts to address these shortcomings as weak and insufficient and said there was a mismatch between the priority ministers claim they give PSHE and steps taken to address the problem.

As one of its recommendations, the report calls on the DfE to clarify that children in primary schools should be taught the proper names for genitalia as part of the national curriculum. Ofsted said young children’s inability to name body parts represented a weakness in safeguarding.

The committee also concluded that parents should retain the right to withdraw their children from sex education. “Parents have rights, too.” said Stuart. “They must be consulted by schools on the provision of SRE and must keep the right to withdraw their children if they are unhappy with what the school provides.”

The committee was concerned about the lack of clarity over the status of sex education in schools. Primary schools do not have to provide sex and relationship lessons beyond what is covered in the science curriculum; academies do not have to offer SRE, while local council-run secondaries have to cover sexually transmitted diseases as part of science for 14-16-year-olds.

The latest official government advice on SRE is 14 years old. The committee heard evidence during its nine-month inquiry that the world had changed radically in that time, with the rise of social media, easy access to pornography and cyberbullying.

The committee was told that sexting had become “normative behaviour” among older teenagers – 14-year-old girls routinely pose in their bras for profile pictures – and youngsters needed help to understand when it was abusive, harmful or linked to exploitation. It also heard that understanding of sexual consent and abusive relationships among young people was insufficient.

A DfE spokesperson acknowledged that more was needed to be done to improve the teaching of PSHE. “We want to see all young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain.

“High-quality PSHE teaching has a vital role to play in this. That’s why we are working with schools and experts to ensure the PSHE and relationships education that young people receive is appropriate and of a high standard.

“We have already set up a new expert subject group on PSHE to identify key areas where teachers need further support. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to raise the quality of teaching in this area and we will consider the findings of this report carefully.”

The shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, said: “Children and young people should be taught the importance of respect and healthy relationships and to understand the role of the family – in all its forms. That is why Labour will make age-appropriate sex and relationship education compulsory in all state schools.”

The report was widely welcomed by campaigners. Lucy Emmerson, coordinator of the Sex Education Forum, said: “It is clear that many children and young people go through school without getting vital age-appropriate information about their bodies, what is right and wrong in relationships, consent and sexual health.

“Support for statutory SRE has never been clearer: nine out of 10 students back legislative change, and more than three-quarters of parents want primary schools to teach about the difference between safe and unwanted touch and how to speak up if someone treats them inappropriately.”

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: “The report acknowledges the widespread support for PSHE and SRE and recognises our request for investment in high-quality training for teachers and putting the subject on the timetable.”

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) said the report was “another blow to the government’s laissez-faire approach to educational provision”.

Joe Hayman, chief executive of the PSHE Association said: “Ministers must urgently review their position. Four recent inquiries into child sexual exploitation have also called for this learning to be compulsory in schools to keep children safe, while the office of the children’s commissioner has today expressed concern [in its report looking into child sexual exploitation] that its recommendation that PSHE is made statutory has not been adopted by government.”

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The case for starting sex ed in kindergarten (hula hoops recommended)

Lee V. Gaines

Elizabeth Miller

A class of fifth-graders are sitting through an hour-long sex-ed lesson at Louis B. Russell Jr. School 48 in Indianapolis. Some fidget, others giggle. And they have a lot of questions.

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It's April, and sex ed teacher Haileigh Huggins does her best to answer them all.

One boy asks, "Can boys have babies?"

"No, they cannot get pregnant," she tells him.

"Because they both would have sperm cells right? There wouldn't be an egg cell."

Huggins is trained to teach age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education. But she only has an hour with these students — and that's just enough time to cover the basics, like puberty and reproduction.

When most people think of sex ed, those are the lessons that often come to mind. But comprehensive sex ed goes beyond that. It's defined by sex ed advocates as a science-based, culturally and age-appropriate set of lessons that start in early grades and go through the end of high school. It covers sexuality, human development, sexual orientation and gender, bodily autonomy and consent, as well as relationship skills and media literacy.

With abortion access changing in many states, advocates for comprehensive sex ed say it's more important than ever. But, like so many things related to schools, sex education is highly politicized.

Only three states require schools to teach age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education: Washington, California and Oregon. That's according to SEICUS, a group that advocates for progressive sex education policies. In other states, what students learn about sex ed depends on what school leaders choose to teach.

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And yet, research shows these lessons can lead to better health outcomes for students.

"The major finding of the research is that comprehensive sex education scaffolded across grades, embedded in supportive school environments and across subject areas, can improve sexual, social and emotional health, as well as academic outcomes for young people," says Eva Goldfarb, a researcher at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She is co-author of a 2020 paper on the topic.

"Even though it may seem like sex education is controversial, it absolutely is not," says Nora Gelperin, director of sex education and training at Advocates for Youth — an organization that promotes access to comprehensive sex education.

She says comprehensive sex ed is "always in the best interest of young people."

Here's what it looks like, for different age levels from grades K-12:

Elementary school: Consent, personal boundaries and healthy relationships

Age-appropriate sex ed for kindergartners introduces topics like consent, identifying who is in your family and the correct names for body parts.

"When we're talking about consent with kindergartners, that means getting permission before you touch someone else; asking if it's OK if you borrow somebody's toy or pencil or game, so that kids start to learn about personal boundaries and consent in really age- and developmentally appropriate ways," says Gelperin, who was part of a team that released the first national sex education standards in 2012.

Gelperin loves to use hula hoops to teach young kids about bodily autonomy: Each student gets one, and is instructed to ask for permission to go inside someone else's hula hoop. The hoops are an analogy for boundaries.

"If someone is touching you inside your boundary in a way that makes you uncomfortable, it's OK to say no and talk to a trusted adult," Gelperin tells students.

Another good lesson for younger children is how to identify those trusted adults. Mariotta Gary-Smith, a sex ed instructor based in Oregon, asks students to write a list of people they trust in their communities: "People that you know care about you, people who are accessible to you, people who could support you."

The list can include peers, immediate and extended family members or chosen family members. Then Gary-Smith, who co-founded the Women of Color Sexual Health Network, asks students to think about how they would talk to the people on their list about safety, respect and boundaries.

The Birds And The Bees — How To Talk To Children About Sex

"When they knew that they had trust and safety in their circle, they felt like they could express themselves without judgment," she explains.

As students head into third grade, Gelperin says they should start learning the characteristics of healthy relationships with friends and family.

"Sometimes there's teasing and bullying that's going on in those grade levels. So you want to talk about how to interrupt teasing and bullying and how to stand up for others that may be getting teased or bullied," she explains.

There should also be a focus on respecting others' differences, including different family makeups, cultural backgrounds and faith traditions.

Gelperin says lessons on consent should continue throughout elementary school. And she recommends lessons on puberty begin in fourth grade, because that's when some students begin to see and experience changes in their bodies.

Middle school: Real talk about puberty

As students transition from elementary school to middle school, they should learn about the details of reproduction, including biological terms and why some people menstruate while others create sperm.

"That for me is a real hallmark of middle school sex education, is kind of really starting to understand how those parts and systems work together for reproduction," Gelperin says.

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It's also a good time to connect the physical effects of puberty and hormones with the feelings of attraction that come along with them.

"Who gives you butterflies in your stomach? Who makes your palm sweaty?" Gelperin says. "Because we know with puberty, one of the changes is experiencing new hormones that make us feel feelings of attraction often for other people in a new and different way."

Students should also learn about sexually transmitted infections, like HIV, and how they're transmitted.

Sex education often leaves out queer people. Here's what to know

And middle school is a good time to start learning about gender expression and sexual orientation, as well as gender stereotypes. One Advocates for Youth lesson includes a scavenger hunt homework assignment where students look for gender stereotypes in the world around them, like a sports ad that only features men or an ad for cleaning supplies that only features women.

High school: When conversations about healthy relationships get deeper

Healthy relationships are a "hallmark" of comprehensive sex education, Gelperin says. As students move into high school, the conversation should expand from family and friends to partners and intimate relationships.

"What makes a relationship healthy? How do you know if a relationship is not healthy?" Gelperirn says.

Those conversations should also cover sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault.

At Mountainside High School in Beaverton, Ore., school health teacher Jenn Hicks shares statistics with students about the disproportionate rates of sexual violence for women, women of color and members of the LGBTQ communiity.

"Sexual violence can happen to anyone," she tells her class, "but it doesn't happen equally to everyone."

That leads to a conversation about consent.

"We have to talk about how we treat each other better, why consent is so important and why we need to listen to each other and protect each other," Hicks says. "Again, violence is used as a form of control to keep groups of people disempowered and fearful."

What Your Teen Wishes You Knew About Sex Education

And then, of course, come the classic lessons of high school sex ed, about pregnancy, how to prevent sexually transmitted infections and how to use contraception – a lesson Gelperin says is especially important.

"We can't expect young people to know how to use condoms correctly unless we help them learn how to do that."

One classic method: bananas. Specifically, having students practice placing a condom on a banana, as one Advocates for Youth lesson recommends.

Finally, there are lessons that don't have anything to do with sex (or fruit) — like how to find credible sources of information.

Think about all the rumors about sex that can circulate in a high school – those rumors are also all over the internet. And for a kid looking for information, it can be hard to know what to believe.

"We're allowing children to learn what's out there, and they are," says sex ed researcher Lisa Lieberman, who co-authored that Montclair State University paper. "They are accessing pornography; they are accessing the internet. They are learning in ways that are not the message that most parents and schools want children to have."

Advocates for Youth recommends asking students to evaluate different sexual health websites, and identify the ones that are trustworthy.

For Hicks, the goal of all this is to give every student the tools they need to stay safe.

"It's recognizing everybody that's in the room and giving them the knowledge and skills to make the best possible decisions for themselves and to lead a happy, fulfilled life."

Sex ed recommendations are always evolving

Mariotta Gary-Smith, with the Women of Color Sexual Health Network, says 10 years ago sex education wasn't culturally reflective or respectful to everyone, including to communities of color.

"The images that are used, that have been used historically ... you don't see bodies that are not white, able-bodied, cis, slender, slim," she explains. "You don't see or hear about young people who choose to parent if they become pregnant. You hear about teen pregnancy as this thing to be stopped, but not honoring that there are cultures and communities where young people who choose to parent are celebrated."

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Gary-Smith has helped create more inclusive lessons through the Women of Color Sexual Health Network, and the sex ed standards Gelperin helped create in 2012 were updated in 2020 to include racism, inequality and their impact on sexual health. An Advocates for Youth lesson points students to examples of how racism has impacted the health and reproductive rights of low-income women of color, among other groups.

The national sex ed standards were also updated to touch on gender identity, sexual orientation, reproductive justice and sexually explicit media.

"It really allowed us to reflect the times in 2020 and what young people were saying was their lived experiences that they were so hungry to learn and talk about," Gelperin says.

Keeping sex ed inclusive and culturally reflective means teaching about systemic oppression, discrimination and the history and impacts of racism on certain communities, Gary-Smith explains. For example, a lesson on reproductive health might discuss historical examples of forced sterilization of Indigenous women or Black women, or the criminal justice system as it connects to family relationships.

These lessons may seem a far cry from those on consent or gender, and Gary-Smith understands that.

"Everything I'm talking about now, 10 years ago, we weren't talking about it," she explains.

That highlights one of the most important characteristics of sex ed for Gary-Smith: It should always be evolving.

"It needs to shift and change because things shift and change."

Lee Gaines is from member station WFYI, and Elizabeth Miller is from member station OPB. Nicole Cohen edited this story for broadcast and digital.

Sex Ed in Schools: What Parents Need to Know

Comprehensive sex education can help reduce rates of sexually transmitted infections and promote healthy relationships.

What to Know About Sex Ed in K-12 Schools

Getty Images

Sex education in schools can be taught by a classroom teacher, school nurse or an outside speaker, and often begins in fifth grade.

For some parents, the term "sex ed" conjures memories of dated videos and cringe-inducing lessons on puberty or how babies are made.

But a good school-based sex education curriculum should be much more than that, encompassing multiple issues related to human growth and development, experts say. In addition to basic facts about puberty, sex and contraception, lessons can cover topics like healthy relationships, sexual violence prevention, body image, sexual orientation and gender identity.

"Just because you teach a young person about how to stay safe and what sex and sexuality is, you're not encouraging them to become sexually active," says Michelle Slaybaugh, director of social impact and strategic communications at SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change , a national group that advocates for inclusive sex education. "You're giving them the tools to make decisions about their bodies and their lives that best suit them as individuals."

Why Sex Education Matters

Research shows that comprehensive, culturally responsive and inclusive sex education programs help prevent intimate partner violence and help young people develop healthy relationships. These programs have also been shown to reduce rates of sexual activity, sexual risk behaviors, adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Sex ed "promotes healthy behaviors," says Laurie Dils, associate director of content, health and sexual health education at the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. "That's really what we are aiming for as educators, equipping young people with education and skills so that they can make healthy decisions that fit with their own values and their family's values."

But in public school, the quality of sex education your child will receive – or whether they will receive any at all – depends largely on the state and district you live in. There are no federal guidelines for sex education, and currently only 18 states require program content to be medically accurate, according to recent data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual health and reproductive rights.

"Most young people have access to the internet," Slaybaugh says. "So if we are not providing them instruction that is medically accurate and age-appropriate, we are leaving it to chance for them to find something on the internet, i.e., porn, and then they think that's what sex and sexuality is."

Sex Education Requirements by State

Sex education standards vary by state – with some not having any curriculum requirements in schools. As of June 2022, 39 states plus Washington, D.C., mandate sex education, HIV education or both, according to Guttmacher Institute data.

Unlike sex education, HIV and STI instruction only focus on concepts like pregnancy prevention and risk reduction. "But sexuality touches our lives in so many other ways, especially when it comes to being inclusive to diverse people, families and experiences," Slaybaugh says.

Thirty-nine states and D.C. either stress or require abstinence to be covered when sex education is taught. Meanwhile, only 20 states require provision of information on contraception, Guttmacher Institute research found.

Slaybaugh says that abstinence-only teachings, sometimes referred to as sexual risk avoidance, are often "rooted in shame." For example, she points to one common lesson in which youth are asked to chew up gum and spit it out, then told the chewed up gum is a representation of a person who had sex before marriage.

"Abstinence-only programs do not teach communication and negotiation for consent," she adds. "It does not teach about what healthy relationships should look like and what they don't look like. They do not include affirming lessons around LGBTQIA+ individuals. They're ostracizing a large part of the youth population."

Health experts including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend that sex education include information about gender and sexual orientation. But only a small handful of states – 10 plus D.C. – require inclusive content with regard to sexual orientation.

Meanwhile, five states – Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas – allow only negative information to be shared about homosexuality and place a positive emphasis on heterosexuality, according to Guttmacher Institute data. And recently, some states have banned or are seeking to ban the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in school, especially in the younger grades.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for example, signed a bill in March 2022 prohibiting instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in K-3 classrooms. Chris Sprowls, speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, said in a press release that such instruction "does not belong in the classroom where 5- and 6-year-old children are learning. It should be up to the parent to decide if and when to introduce these sensitive topics."

But "not seeing yourself reflected at any time is always detrimental to young people. Certainly seeing yourself negatively portrayed would be devastating," says Stephanie Hull, president and CEO of Girls Inc., a nonprofit youth development organization. "When we don't have an LGBTQ inclusive health curriculum, then we don't reduce homophobic attitudes, we don't reduce the bullying and we don't reduce harassment. Those students are already unsafe, so it increases their lack of safety."

Curriculum by Age

Sex education in schools can be taught by a classroom teacher, school nurse or an outside speaker, and often begins in fifth grade, according to Dils.

But some experts say age-appropriate instruction should begin earlier. For instance, the National Sex Education Standards developed by SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, Answer and Advocates for Youth, a group that works to advance sex education, say that sex education should begin in kindergarten . Based on those standards, early conversations are not about the act of sex, but cover basic information about male and female anatomy and concepts like consent and personal boundaries.

From kindergarten to third grade, curricula may also include lessons to help children understand their own emotions and develop good communication skills, boundaries and respect for others, Dils says.

Then, in third to fifth grade, curriculum can shift to discussing what healthy friendships look like. "If a young person doesn't know how to identify an unhealthy friendship, how can we assume that they will be able to identify and find a healthy romantic relationship later on?" says Slaybaugh.

Additionally, schools should start preparing students for puberty, to help them understand what's going to happen as they get older. The first questions that typically arise from children are: Am I normal? Are these changes that are happening to me normal?

"A big part of sex education, if it's done well, is just helping to normalize what they're going through and to give them enough understanding and tools so that they can manage whatever they're going through," Dils says. "It's different for every young person."

As students enter middle school and high school, discussions should dive deeper into puberty, romantic relationships, partner violence, STIs, gender orientation and sexual identity, experts advise.

Parent Involvement in Sex Education

Currently 40 states plus D.C. require school districts to involve parents in sex education and/or HIV education. Thirty-six states and D.C. give parents the option to remove their child from instruction, while five states require parental consent for students to participate in a program, according to recent data from the Guttmacher Institute.

Critics claim that comprehensive sex education oversexualizes children and is not age-appropriate. American Life League, a Catholic pro-life organization, states on its website that "because of sex education programs, schools have been taking away the parents’ responsibilities of teaching their child about human sexuality."

But proponents of comprehensive sex say parents should be involved. "Parents are the most influential people in an adolescent's decisions about sexuality, and we encourage family discussions about their values related to sexuality," Tazmine Weisgerber, training and technical assistance manager at Answer, a national nonprofit housed within Rutgers University that aims to promote access to comprehensive sex education for youth, wrote in an email.

Experts advise parents to find out what's being taught in the classroom and express any concerns about their child's program to administrators at the school or within the district. Issues can also be brought up during their local school board meetings.

Additionally, start having conversations around sex education with your children at home at an early age. Familiarize yourself with the subject by reading the National Sex Ed Standards, Slaybaugh says. There are many other resources parents can refer to, including:

• Planned Parenthood
• SEICUS: Sex Ed for Social Change
• Talk With Your Kids

"At the end of the day, I think all sex educators want parents to be involved," Slaybaugh says. "We want to help parents understand that this is not a scary subject and it's just as important as math, science or reading. It takes all of us to participate in the process to be successful at seeing sex ed as an important lesson."

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Research Argument

Is Sex Education Essential? Positive Outcomes; Different Cultures

Children should learn about sex education because as they reach their adolescent years they will engage in sexual activities. In different cultures sex education is taught in different styles, giving young people a different perspective on how things should be done. Sex education is essential to everyone and should be taught in schools. It has enhanced many students in so many ways.

There are two types of sex education; Abstinence Only until Marriage Education (AOUME), and Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE). Both styles of sex education aim “[T]o provide children and teenagers with factual information on the health and social risks of sexual practices resulting in teenage pregnancy, abortion, and STIs” (Liew, 706). AOUME teaches students primarily about safe sex, but it’s mostly geared towards young people not having sex until marriage. Many believe that it’s best for students to learn about abstinence only because that’s what will keep them safe. Although this may be a good approach for some, most students prefer taking comprehensive sex education, and there have been studies proving how teaching about abstinence only is not effective. “[R]searchers have found that abstinence-only programs place youth at risk for pregnancy and other STDs” (Stantelli et al., qtd in Freedman-Doan, 247). CSE gives students more knowledge behind sexual activities, different styles of contraceptives, and background information about the different kinds of sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). CSE is effective in preventing pregnancy and lowering STI rates (Lamb, 315). There have been many debates about what kind of sex education should be taught in schools, and most argue for some form of comprehensive sex education.

To add to that, it’s important for all young people to learn about sex education. No matter the age, gender, or ethnic background, it’s important for everyone to learn about this topic. Sex education is important to all young people because they may engage in sexual activity someday. No matter what age it begins, is important that they have some kind of knowledge about what’s going on, and most importantly so they could prepare for it. It’s always best to be safe than sorry. Learning about sex education will not only prepare young people for what comes with having sex, but since they are on the high stream of statistics, this will help lower the pregnancy and STI rates. They can help lower STI rate by learning how to reduce their risk of catching anything. This can be done by teens taking a sex education course. For example, in India, they’ve been coming up with ideas on different kinds of education to help their country. They’ve been doing this because they are the second largest country of HIV/AIDS (Tripathi, 3). They explain how teens in their country need to have more knowledge about sex and family planning to help lower these rates. They’ve done studies and it proves how teens who already have knowledge about sex and family planning are prepared for what will happen if they were to conceive, and those who have little knowledge know nothing or aren’t prepared for what comes along with this. Also, when teens begin learning about sex, they should be taught to have a choice. Many don’t consider the fact that people should have a choice with what they engage in sexual activity.

Now the question is who should teach young people about sex education. It’s important the sex education begins at home with parents. Learning about this topic should first come from parents with the birds and the bees talk. Parents can also help by breaking down the basics so they could have a general idea of what sex is. This is so once their child starts going to school, they will have some idea of what’s being taught to them. Parents could break down the very general information about this topic, while sex educators dig deeper and go into details about what it is. Sex education should be taught in places such as community centers, schools, churches and at home. Young people should be able to get access to information about sex everywhere in their community. When it comes to the idea of sex being taught in church, many question why and think that’s not reasonable. They believe that if sex should be saved until marriage and if they’re taught anything about sex education, it should be to stay abstinent. But what they don’t know is that “[A]bstinence-only programs prolongs age of first intercourse, but increases risk of pregnancy and STDs (Bruckner and Bearman 2005)” (Freeman-Doan, 248). Abstinence only programs aren’t benefiting teens at all. Learning about sex education in church will help them with the will power to engage in sexual activity safely. “The religious communities can exert a level of social control on individual members’ behaviors” (Freeman-Doan, 248).

When it comes to sex education in different cultures, young people are learning and getting a different perspective on what this is. For example, in the American culture adolescents are taught about sex once they reach middle school. As they are learning about this, they may come home with questions for parents, but they may be limited to what they will ask. In the Dutch culture, young people are very open with their parents about this subject. They have open relationships discussing sex, who their boyfriend or girlfriend is, and their parents even approve of their partner spending the night at their homes. Most families in the Netherlands believe that it is best for them to have this open relationship with their child because they will already know what’s going on and they would rather their child be safe than out sneaking around. Dutch parents feel as if their teen’s sexuality goes through a process, and only they will know when they are ready to engage in any sexual activity. “[T]hey believe young people can self-regulate, provided that they have been encouraged to pace themselves and prepare adequately by using the available means of contraception” (Schalet, 17).

Moreover, in the Hispanic culture, sex education is taught in a different way. Most young people don’t really learn about sex education until they are already pregnant, and by that time it’s too late. “[T]he teenage birth rate among Latinas is the highest of any race or ethnicity and nearly double the national average (Ryan, Franzetta, and Manlove 2005), and they also have high infection rates for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (Bourdeau, Thomas, and Long 2008)” (Villar and Concha 545). Their culture believe that they shouldn’t learn about sex education because they should be saving themselves until marriage. In the Latino community, learning about sex education is for the parent of the child’s gender. “[Y]oung Latinas described their experience with middle school sex education with frustration; when they tried to ask questions and gain information, they were likely to be cut-off or chastised” (Villar and Concha, 547). This goes to show how sex education is viewed differently in the Latino culture. In America and a few other places around the world, sex education is taught before a teen is pregnant. Although most teens are taught about abstinence only, they still have an idea of what’s going on and methods of birth control.

Sex educators question around what age should children start learning about sex education. Sex education should be taught at as young as 5 years old. It’s important for children to begin learning about sex education at this age so they could know the dos and don’ts. Around this age is when children start going to daycare, and they will realize at potty time that they have different parts. Some children even pull their clothes down and show themselves off, or they play with their different body parts. It’s important that before children even start daycare, they learn about their different body parts from their parents. This will also help the child know if someone touches them the wrong way, they can report back to their parents so the parents could address the issue. As children grow up and move on in school, of course they will learn about the different topics that comes along with sex. Beginning to learn about sex education at a young age is really beneficial to students. Its best they learn young because as they get in school, they will start talking to their friends, and if any of their friends are already having sexual activity, they will ask their friends and may receive the wrong information. It’s best that they begin young at home, and as they’re in school, learn more about the subject so they could receive accurate information.There have been surveys and many studies conducted that asked parents how do they feel about their child learning about sex education. In one study, 87% of parents agreed that their child should be taught about sex education in school (McKay, 159).

Many argue against schools teaching about sex education because they believe that this will only influence the child to engage in sexually related activities. Some argue that sex education is only harming our society today promoting children to have sex. They say how schools are teaching students to practice safe sex. They believe that this is influencing young people to have sex because they feel as long as they’re safe, it’s okay. Those arguing for sex education explain how essential it is in a young person’s life to learn about sex education to prepare them for the real world. They also explain how children learning about this topic has lowered the pregnancy, abortion, and STI rates. One student says “I honestly think we NEED Sex Education in schools, and maybe girls wouldn’t be so quick to get pregnant if they knew the reality of it” (Should Sex Education be taught in schools). Teaching sex education helps prepare adolescents for reality. For a student to say this for themselves goes to show how essential this subject is.

All in all, sex education is essential for everyone to learn. It’s a part of our everyday lives, and it’s everywhere around us. It’s best that sex education is being taught in schools because it benefits students in many ways. Learning about this subject prepares students for the real world. Many who’ve already learned about sex education argue that it’s important that this subject is a required course because it has enhanced them in various ways. Students deal with peer pressure of friends who are already engaging in sex and may soon begin to engage in the activity themselves. With many young people already having sex, especially in today’s society, it’s very important that this subject should be taught to all young people.

Freedman-Doan, Carol, et al. “Faith-Based Sex Education Programs: What They Look Like And Who Uses             Them.” Journal Of Religion & Health 52.1 (2013): 247-262. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.

Lamb, Sharon, Kara Lustig, and Kelly Graling. “The Use And Misuse Of Pleasure In Sex Education Curricula.” Sex Education 13.3 (2013): 305-318. Academic Search Complete . Web. 27 Mar. 2015.

Liew, Warren Mark. “Sex (Education) In The City: Singapore’s Sexuality Education Curriculum.” Discourse: Studies In The Cultural Politics Of Education 35.5 (2014): 705-717. Academic Search Complete . Web. 24 Feb. 2015

McKay, Alexander, et al. “Ontario Parents’ Opinions And Attitudes Towards Sexual Health Education In The Schools.” Canadian Journal Of Human Sexuality 23.3 (2014): 159-166. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2015

Schalet, Amy T. Not under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex . Chicago: U of Chicago, 2011.

“Should Sexual Education Be Taught in Public Schools?” Should Sexual Education Be Taught in Public Schools? Debate.Org, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2015.

Tripathi, Niharika, and T. V. Sekher. “Youth In India Ready For Sex Education? Emerging Evidence From National Surveys.” Plos ONE 8.8 (2013): 1-9. Academic Search Complete . Web. 3 Mar. 2015.

Villar, Maria Elena, and Maritza Concha. “Sex Education And Cultural Values: Experiences And Attitudes Of Latina Immigrant Women.” Sex Education 12.5 (2012): 545-554. Academic Search Complete . Web. 3 Mar. 2015.

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About 1 in 5 U.S. teens who’ve heard of ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork

Roughly one-in-five teenagers who have heard of ChatGPT say they have used it to help them do their schoolwork, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17. With a majority of teens having heard of ChatGPT, that amounts to 13% of all U.S. teens who have used the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot in their schoolwork.

Teens in higher grade levels are particularly likely to have used the chatbot to help them with schoolwork. About one-quarter of 11th and 12th graders who have heard of ChatGPT say they have done this. This share drops to 17% among 9th and 10th graders and 12% among 7th and 8th graders.

There is no significant difference between teen boys and girls who have used ChatGPT in this way.

The introduction of ChatGPT last year has led to much discussion about its role in schools , especially whether schools should integrate the new technology into the classroom or ban it .

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand American teens’ use and understanding of ChatGPT in the school setting.

The Center conducted an online survey of 1,453 U.S. teens from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, via Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel . The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey was weighted to be representative of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with their parents by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income, and other categories.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its  methodology .

Teens’ awareness of ChatGPT

Overall, two-thirds of U.S. teens say they have heard of ChatGPT, including 23% who have heard a lot about it. But awareness varies by race and ethnicity, as well as by household income:

• 72% of White teens say they’ve heard at least a little about ChatGPT, compared with 63% of Hispanic teens and 56% of Black teens.
• 75% of teens living in households that make $75,000 or more annually have heard of ChatGPT. Much smaller shares in households with incomes between $30,000 and $74,999 (58%) and less than $30,000 (41%) say the same.

Teens who are more aware of ChatGPT are more likely to use it for schoolwork. Roughly a third of teens who have heard a lot about ChatGPT (36%) have used it for schoolwork, far higher than the 10% among those who have heard a little about it.

When do teens think it’s OK for students to use ChatGPT?

For teens, whether it is – or is not – acceptable for students to use ChatGPT depends on what it is being used for.

There is a fair amount of support for using the chatbot to explore a topic. Roughly seven-in-ten teens who have heard of ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use when they are researching something new, while 13% say it is not acceptable.

However, there is much less support for using ChatGPT to do the work itself. Just one-in-five teens who have heard of ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use it to write essays, while 57% say it is not acceptable. And 39% say it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT to solve math problems, while a similar share of teens (36%) say it’s not acceptable.

Some teens are uncertain about whether it’s acceptable to use ChatGPT for these tasks. Between 18% and 24% say they aren’t sure whether these are acceptable use cases for ChatGPT.

Those who have heard a lot about ChatGPT are more likely than those who have only heard a little about it to say it’s acceptable to use the chatbot to research topics, solve math problems and write essays. For instance, 54% of teens who have heard a lot about ChatGPT say it’s acceptable to use it to solve math problems, compared with 32% among those who have heard a little about it.

Note: Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and its  methodology .

• Artificial Intelligence
• Technology Adoption
• Teens & Tech

Many Americans think generative AI programs should credit the sources they rely on

Americans’ use of chatgpt is ticking up, but few trust its election information, q&a: how we used large language models to identify guests on popular podcasts, striking findings from 2023, what the data says about americans’ views of artificial intelligence, most popular.

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