I decided to go with the current lack of sex education in schools for my civic blog post Over the years, I have learned that my home state, Texas has one of the worse sex education programs in the United States. Research that I will go into later in this post has found that certain types of sex education don’t do anything to prevent teenagers from getting STIs or becoming pregnant or impregnating someone else. Also, in this blog, I will explore more issues that have been especially prevalent in Texas, like the band of teaching about LGBTQIA+ options when exploring sexuality. This is a current issue because just yesterday (February 23), the current governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, ordered an investigation of trans kids and parents for “child abuse.”
The main topics I will talk about in these three posts will be: the lack of “good” education (or lack of the most effective teaching styles), lack of LGBTQIA+ teaching in schools, and the current issues this is forming.
To start off, I will talk about the lack of good sex education. When doing research for this topic, I found this AMAZING information:
Twenty-two states require scientifically accurate information.
According to 22 states, if sex or HIV education is provided, it must be technically accurate. State definitions of “medically accurate” vary; it says that the education curriculum should contain information from published authorities upon which medical professionals rely.
This is from admissionsly.com, and this article was published in March of 2020. Only TWENTY-TWO states are REQUIRING the medical accuracy of the information they are teaching their students. So teachers could be teaching their students the wrong information, but it’s passed off as sex ed. because the word “sex” was said. This quote looks like it should be talking about sex education in the past, not in 2020.
The two main types of sex education are Comprehensive Sex Education and Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage education. Comprehensive Sex Education teaches that sexuality is a natural, standard, and healthy part of life. It talks about how abstinence from sexual intercourse is the most effective method of preventing unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It talks about abortion, masturbation, and sexual orientation and positively discusses sexuality and sexual expression. Comprehensive Sex Education also talks about how to use a condom and lube properly and how consistent use of modern methods of contraception can significantly reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancy. Lastly, it includes information about STDs and how to avoid them. 
Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage education teaches that sexual expression outside of marriage will have harmful consequences socially, psychologically, and physically. Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage teaches that abstinence until marriage is the ONLY acceptable behavior. It says that only one set of values is correct, and it limits topics to only talking about waiting until marriage and the negative consequences of pre-marital sexual activities. Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage education does not talk about controversial issues like abortion, masturbation, and sexual orientation. It uses fear tactics to promote abstinence… yeah, that’s going to create healthy sex lives for kids. Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage does talk about condoms but exaggerates how often condoms fail, and it does not speak about other forms of contraception. It usually includes inaccurate medical information and exaggerated statistics regarding STDs and suggests that STDs result from having sex. Also, it promotes a lot of specific religious values. Lastly, Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage education teaches children that putting the baby up for adoption is the ONLY morally correct option for teen pregnancy.
As you can see in the graph on the right, the states that do not enforce sex education at all or enforce sex/abstanace education have, on average, more teen pregnancies. This shows directly what type of education is the best for prevention of unplanned pregnancies. If sex education wasn’t seen as something that is taboo tot alk about I feel like more teens would feel like they had someone to talk to when they are exploring sexuality. The “sex is bad so don’t have it” approach is causing the exact opposite to happen. Plus, how is a teenager supposed to tell their parents or other trused adults that they were sexually violated/assulted if everyone is yelling at them and trying to force it in their heads that any sexual action is bad?
Children LOVE doing things their are told they can’t do. For example, if you tell a child not to look in the bag you ave, chances are they are going to want to and try to look in the bag. It’s human nature, we are curious. So, how does it make sense to tell teenagers to NOT explore their sexuality. Telling them over and over against that their are going to get and STD or an unwanted pregnancy doesn’t really work because teens think they are above all else and nothing bad will happen to them, only other people. Also, not informing teens on how they can prevent these things from happening is lost in abstanace education as we found out before. So how do adults expect teens to learn how to correctly put on a condom or learn what other options are available for them if they don’t know how to find resources.
In conclusion, sex education is absent in America and it is leading to many unwanted STDs and teen pregnancies. This is because only twenty-two states currently require correct anatomy to be taught to children. Also, states that enforce the Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage education style only teach children that sex is bad and they shouldn’t have it because it leads to unwanted pregnancies and STDs. It doesn’t teach kids what precations they can take when having sex. Also, the Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage education does not promote children exploring their sexuality. This is why the Comprehensive Sex education style works better, it teaches kids about the different contraseptions, warns about potential outcomes of having sex, and encourages children to explore their sexuallity. Also, it teaches about different STDs and how they can be prevented. So, as you can tell, sex education is very important for teens to be able to make the smartest decisions for their future but giving options for them to choose what they do is better than forcing the “correct” answer down their throats.
Sex Education Programs: Definitions & Point-by-Point Comparison
The lack of sex education is sickening. It’s our bodies! We should learn about them, so we don’t fail to know our bodies honestly. As mentioned in your blog, education is lacking in our country, which leads to many unwanted things like pregnancy or STDs. Learning about these in schools in a healthy way to fully embrace oneself would make a massive difference in our school systems.
Hi Brianna!
You gave a very comprehensive, factually-driven evaluation on sex ed in the United States. I appreciated your comments on the importance of sex ed and the potential damages of the Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage approach. One point that I did not consider that you described very well was how children would approach sexual assault had they been raised in an Abstinence-Only environment. I agree with you that this environment would make the child more likely to feel shameful and not seek adult help, thus worsening the issue. Overall, great blog topic!