According to a recent Forbes headline, “Sex education has left 90% of American adults feeling unprepared.” That sounds like a stretch, doesn’t it? Research shows this year after year, which is regrettable. As of this writing, 2023 had seen the introduction of 79 pieces of legislation aimed at sex education mandates.
Most were created to further limit adolescents’ access to required medical treatments and accurate, affirming health information, while some aimed to improve the current status of sex education for youth. There is disagreement among states over the role, if any, that the educational system should play in the sexual and reproductive development of our country’s youth. Fewer individuals appear to realize that this leaves entire generations of people ignorant of their bodies’ functions, uncertain of the best ways to maintain their health, and unable to recognize dangerous circumstances or abuses of their autonomy.
Each state and school district is free to choose its own curriculum.
Only 18 states demand that the information be medically correct, despite the fact that 38 states and Washington, D.C., mandate some type of sex or HIV-focused education. 29 states mandate that teachers encourage abstinence when teaching sex education. Teachers are required by law in 19 states to stress the value of delaying sexual behavior until marriage.
While four states compel schools to solely present negative material about homosexuality and/or favorably stress heterosexuality, just ten states plus Washington, D.C., require inclusive knowledge about sexual orientation. Additionally, at least one state expressly forbids teaching of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2030 initiative set a minimal threshold for sex education, which just over half of all teenagers questioned said they received between 2015 and 2019. Before having sex for the first time, less than half of the youths surveyed who reported having penis-in-vaginal sex said they had received any of the sex education materials mentioned above.
Inadequate sex education throughout adolescence has long-lasting consequences.
Men (47%) and women (42%) clock in at equal rates, and the majority of respondents said they were unprepared for their first sexual experiences. 41% of participants felt similarly unprepared to communicate with sexual partners.
The effects can be disastrous when combined with a lack of knowledge about healthy relationships, as 40% of participants reported receiving no information regarding respect or consent. Furthermore, it appears that people in other nations are not doing any better. In May 2023, LetsStopAIDS, a youth-led organization that promotes HIV awareness, polled 1,090 Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24.
The majority (63%) of participants felt unprepared even though they believed that their sex education sessions had given them a wealth of scientific knowledge. The curriculum, according to young Canadians, lacked real-world application-relevant information and abilities. They were taught about STIs, for instance, but not about safer sex behaviors that might lower the chance of infection.
The varied demands of today’s students are not represented in the curriculum as it is.
According to a 2018 survey by California-based CalExotics, a manufacturer of pleasure products, 20% of the 426 adults polled said they had never taken a formal sex education course.
The findings also showed that same-sex education was given to adults in three generations. The main subjects of conversation among respondents aged 18–29 and 45–60 were pregnancy, STIs, abstinence, and contraception. Despite being crucial components of sexual and reproductive health, their application is very restricted.
It’s time to establish new guidelines for sex education.
In your quest for overall health and well-being, including sexual and reproductive health, we want to be your strongest ally. Think of this as your chance to leave behind any unwanted or ineffective messages you may have gotten regarding sex and sexuality.
At healthX, we think everyone has the right to make their own decisions about what they do and don’t do with their bodies. We urge you to learn for yourself what sexuality and sex mean for your own body and experience.