Sex education
Sex education refers to school education about sexual reproduction, including the development of the embryo and fetus from conception to birth. It often includes topics such as sexually transmitted diseases and how to avoid them, as well as methods of contraception.
Although some sort of sex education is part of many schools' curricula, it remains a controversial topic in several countries how much schoolchildren should be taught about contraception or safer sex, and whether moral education should be included or excluded (see sexual morality). In some countries, such as Italy, sex is not even included in any educational program.
Sex Education, Politics, and Morality
The existence and nature of sex education in school has long been a point of contention, provoking support and opposition from a number of different political and religious viewpoints. This controversy has existed since the subject's earliest beginnings in classroom biology. With the passage of years, sex education has become more thorough, with many groups promoting or opposing the expansion for both ideological and practical reasons.
Moral / Ethical viewpoints as seen in the United States
According to one camp, often characterized as the more "liberal" view, what is at stake in sex education is control over the body. In this context, morality involves liberation from externally imposed control. Those with this view tend to see the political question as whether society or the individual should dictate sexual mores. Sexual education may sometimes be seen as providing individuals with the knowledge necessary to liberate themselves from socially organized sexual oppression, just as often though, it is simply put in terms of the good to be achieved in public health.
Advocates of such sex education curricula claim that their coverage of the topics does not come from the viewpoint of accepting or rejecting particular (or conventional) moral judgements. Their aim, proponents claim, is to provide young people with knowledge necessary for making "informed" decisions about their bodies, and to create a space within the classroom where students can explore knowledge about their bodies and social practices involving their bodies in a "healthy and constructive" way.
For the opposing camp, generally characterized as the "conservative" view, the political question is whether the state or the family should dictate sexual mores. For many conservatives, sexual mores should be left to the family, and sex-education represents state interference. Conservatives claim rather that some sex education curricula are intended to break down students' modesty and encourage acceptance of practices traditionally regarded by some as immoral, such as homosexuality and premarital sex. They cite web sites such as the that of the Coalition for Positive Sexuality as examples.
Some U.S. conservatives have successfully worked toward the introduction of "abstinence only" curricula. Under such instruction, teens are told that they should be sexually abstinent until adulthood and/or marriage, and information about contraception is not provided. Opponents argue this approach denies teens needed, factual information and could lead to unwanted pregnancies and propagation of STDs.
Practical consequences
Some curricula are advocated on the grounds that they are intended to reduce sexual disease or out-of-wedlock pregnancy, but it is rare for a curriculum to be tested as to whether it is effective in its aims. A curriculum ostensibly aimed at reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancy among high school students, which advocates the use of condoms, could potentially lower or raise the pregnancy rate. A successful curriculum could be adopted by other districts. Proponents of this view argue that that sexual behavior after puberty is a given, and it is therefore crucial to provide information about the risks and how they can be minimized. They hold that conventional or conservative moralizing will put off students and thus weaken the message.
In turn, opponents object that curricula which fail to teach moral behavior actually serve to prevent children from making informed decisions; they maintain that curricula should include the claim that conventional (or conservative) morality is "healthy and contructive," and that value-free knowledge of the body may lead to unhealthy and harmful practices. If the curricula really had a practical intent, critics maintain, school districts would drop those which were ineffective in favor of effective ones.
In answer to the criticism of conservatives, a US review, "Emerging Answers," by the National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy examined 250 studies of sex education programs. The conclusion of this review was that "The overwhelming weight of evidence shows that sex education that discusses contraception does not increase sexual activity." Advocates of sex education also point to numerous other studies which examine the effectiveness of such programs, such as a 1994 study by Kirby et al. [1]
See also: Sexual morality
References and external links:
- Kirby D, Short L, Collins J, et al. School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness. Public Health Reports. 1994;109:339-360.