Why We Need to Talk about Sex Education

This blog discusses the importance of sex education, its connection to sexual exploitation and what effective education looks like. (Part 2 of 4)

Sex education is vitally important to help equip individuals to build awareness of the complicated relational, physical, and social dynamics that sexuality possesses. Research indicates that just telling young people to not have sex or promoting abstinence does not prevent the desired results of reduced teen pregnancy or youth engaging in sexual activity. Instead, it does the opposite, leaving youth to try to figure out the intricacies of sexuality through peer communication, pornography, and personal experiences that may have been coercive and abusive (Santelli, John S., Stephanie A. Grilo, Tse-Hwei Choo, Gloria Diaz, Kate Walsh, Melanie Wall, Jennifer S. Hirsch et al. 2018). 

A review of thirty years of sex education literature concluded that there needs to be comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education at every step of an individual’s development. This study summarized that the issues that need to be addressed are about defining sexual health, to be positive, affirming, and inclusive of all sexual orientations. The researchers concluded that this is about honoring the developmental process of children, to allow them a safe space free of shame around their sexuality. Uncoupling sexuality from a sense of “badness” or “wrongness” and defined in a more inclusive and positive way creates a greater understanding for youth that sex is “normative and not pathological” (Goldfarb & Lieberman, 2021). Effective sex education, “seeks to balance between affirming pleasure and reducing the risk, of unwanted pregnancy, STI’s, sexual exploitation and other negative elements related to sexuality” (Bengtsson & Bolander, 2020). 

It is also a preventative measure to help fight against sexual exploitation by showing that the problem is not sex, but the stereotypes and messages around sex and sexuality that make certain individuals more vulnerable and at risk (Goldfard et al. 2021). A piece of this education is around the dynamics of pleasure, desire, power, and privilege involved in sexuality. Inclusion and equality in sexuality is needed. Comprehensive sex education can help to change the messages that individuals receive from an early age about who has the right to sex, where the focus of pleasure is centered on, and the economization of sex that has occurred in societies today (Wood, Wilson & Burns- O’Connell, 2019). 

Some would say no sex education is the best education, but not teaching about something is not giving a framework or the tools to navigate this complex social, emotional, and physical health issue. Sex should be a part of the discussion when it comes to health and psychological safety. Issues of consent and teaching sexual refusal skills should be a part of the educational process to help deconstruct harmful narratives that can potentially lead to individuals experiencing sexual assault/abuse and or exploitation (Santelli et al. 2018).  The Future of Sex Education Initiative in the United States asserts that quality sex education, 

…goes beyond delivering information it provides young people opportunities to explore their own identities and values along with the values and beliefs of their families and communities. It also allows young people to practice the communication, negotiation, decision-making and assertiveness skills they need to create healthy relationships- both sexual and nonsexual- throughout their lives (2020).  

Sex needs to be destigmatized and normalized as something that is a part of every human’s life cycle. When sexuality becomes a big secret, is not taught at home or school, education must take place somewhere and when it does it is often through mediums that are inaccurate and at worse, abusive. 

References

• Bengtsson, Jenny, and Eva Bolander. 2020. "Strategies for inclusion and equality–‘norm-critical’sex education in Sweden." Sex Education 20 (2): 154-169.

• Future of Sex Education Initiative. 2020. National Sex Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12 (Second Edition). 

• Goldfarb, Eva S., and Lisa D. Lieberman. "Three decades of research: The case for comprehensive sex education." Journal of Adolescent Health 68 (1): 13-27.

• Santelli, John S., Stephanie A. Grilo, Tse-Hwei Choo, Gloria Diaz, Kate Walsh, Melanie Wall, Jennifer S. Hirsch et al. 2018. “Does sex education before college protect students from sexual assault in college?." PloS one 13(11): e0205951. 

• Schwarz, C., Alvord, D., Daley, D., Ramaswamy, M., Rauscher, E. and Britton, H., 2019. The trafficking continuum: Service providers’ perspectives on vulnerability, exploitation, and trafficking. Affilia, 34(1), pp.116-132. 

• Wood, Rachel, Julia Hirst, Liz Wilson, and Georgina Burns-O'Connell. 2019."The pleasure imperative? Reflecting on sexual pleasure’s inclusion in sex education and sexual health." Sex Education 19(1): 1-14.