The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-26
SEX EDUCATION

To what extent can sex instruction be given in the public schools? Wide difference of opinion still exists among school men on the subject, judging from reports received at the United States Bureau of Education. There is widespread recognition of what Presi- dent Foster, of Reed College, calls The Social Emergency and general agreement as to the need of action against the social evil, but when it comes to the question of what part the school shall play, the ideas range from detailed plan of sex instruc- ton beginning in the elementary schools to a determined opposition to any form Of sex education whatso- ever.
 Professor Thomas M. Ballet, of New York University, outlines several points of attack in sex education. He believes sex instruction can now be given to the following groups: Q) To parents, by means of lectures; CD to enlisted men in the Army and Navy, where the need for it is urgent; (3) to college students, both men and wo- men; (D to young people in Y M G. As and similar associations. Dr. Bal 1iet considers sex instruction to col lege students particularly valuable, be- cause it will enable them to inpart sex know1edgesin turn to pupils in ele- mentary and secondary schools, as soon as the public is prepared for this step.
 Recently medical men have joined hands with school men in the sex hy- giene movement. Dr. Hugh Cabot, a distinguished physician of Boston, is one of the leaders in the demand for sex instruction in the@schooIs., He de- clares that the policy of, silence and punishment as practiced in the past has failed. He suggests education, rather than punishment, a remedy for social evils. He says: Sooner or later we shall come to realize that teaching the apprehension of the sex instinct is the function of the public school, though we. are far from such a realization today" Other members of the American Federation of Sex Hygiene, including former President Eliot, of Harvard, who is the head of the organization, hold equally positive views of the need for sex instruction.
 On the other hand, there are many, both among educators and physicians,
 who see danger in sex instruction in the schools. Dr. Tierney, president of Woodstock College, Maryland, express es the fear that is in the minds of many thinkers, when he says: Sex instruction is apt to put forward by some years the time of suggestion and temptation. Safety lies in diverting the attention from sex details
 Officials of the Bureau of Education believe that the sex hygiene question Is about 10 assume great importance in many school systems Chicago is now struggling with the problem; the board of education has appropriated money to provide lectures on sex hy- giene to parents and to groups of high school pupils, with the ultimate idea of extending sex instruction to the el- ementary schools if the experiment with older pupils, proves satisfactory. Teachers in New York and other cities report considerable success in incor- porating sex instruction into eIemen- tary work in biology. State SlsSerin- tendent Hyatt, of California, kSs is- sued a Iea1et on sex instruction that has been considered worthy of distri- button by the United States Govern m ment; while the American Federation of Sex Hygiene, carrying out it's plan of constructive work against the social evil, has drawn up what is probably the most careful outline yet devised for sex education at every stage of life, both in school and at home.