The conversation about sex ed ranges through concerns including health, religion, parenting, responsibility, education reform, social norms, decorum, gender expectations, contraception, puberty, and more--only sometimes coming to rest at a an uncontested point or practice.
It helps to understand the issues, the protestations, and the research. Professionals and organizations in health care and public health have generated a robust body of evidence-based literature supporting comprehensive sexuality education. Researchers have evaluated and compared curricula and program with scientific rigor, determining practical effectiveness in all the measured areas. Even so, debate rages. While adults argue about the dangers of sexual information, adolescents grapple with their realities, which intersect with the media, social expectations and relationships, digital technologies, and sexual experimentation. Parents, teachers, and other "trusted adults" have an ethical responsibility to address and support adolescents throughout their development, and this does not exclude sexuality information. Educate yourself, your children, your students. Look at the facts, the law, history. The wheel has been invented. |
Interesting reading and listening about sex edThe Talk: How Adults Can Promote Young People’s Healthy Relationships and Prevent Misogyny and Sexual Harassment
Making Caring Common Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education Birds+Bees+Kids
Amy Lang's Resources and blog Answer: Sex Ed, Honestly - Books for Parents
Rutgers University Parents Sex Ed Center
Advocates for Youth What We Don't Teach Kids about Sex
Sue Jay Johnson TED Talk Why Boys Need to Have Conversations about Intimacy
Amy Schalet Abstinence-only Education is Ineffective
NPR report on 2017 research findings |