Sexual Education Guidelines

In America, the sex health standards are much lower to many of their counterparts in the curriculum set from state to state. In twenty-six states across the nation, schools are teaching abstinence only over other more useful forms of sex ed. Thought this is the norm in many other nations, in America, it is the job of the school districts to provide a comprehensive knowledge of all things that can and will keep their students safe. Sexual health also contributes to phycological health in developing relationships.

## **Interstate Policies**

Across the United States, there have been and will continue to be differing opinions on how and what schools should teach their students. There are 24 states and the District of Columbia that require that sex education must be taught in schools, 33 states and DC require students to have instruction on STIs and AIDS, and 20 states require that sex ed be taught and what the schools are teaching must be technically correct accurate.  With all of that said, in 2016 Sex Educations bills were tested within states that needed it the most, but in the data at hand many of the states that required updates to their curriculum failed.

### Parent Involvement

Parents are the ones who ultimately have the say in their child's education. In 38 states, districts must allow parent involvement in the school's sexual education programs, while only four states require parental permission before the student learns about sex. In 35/50 states parents have the option to opt-out their students from the sexual health curriculum.

## Teen Birth Rate Among Girls Aged 15-19, 2016

### Location

http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/teen-pregnancy-prevention.aspx

Sexual Health Standards were developed to face inconsistent teachings across the nation. In the United States alone more than 750,000 women between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant.  Many of these are ignored and lead to many health problems. People between the ages of 15 to 25 make up only 1/4 of the sexually active population and about half of those contract some form of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections). With this ever-growing problem, it is the job of schools the nation to keep our children safe.

Let the facts be known, young adults who receive a comprehensive education on the dangers of unsafe sex are reported to have 50 decreased risk of teenage pregnancy. But it is not just pregnancy you need to worry about, it’s about the mental and emotional health of the students in the programs that teach that “sex is bad and it will kill you”. Suppressing a natural urge is extremely damaging, it can cause students to feel like there is something wrong with them or that they are evil just for something that has been engrained in the heads of humans for millions of years.

Sex is not bad, unsafe sex is though. Here are the sexual standards that are being implemented across the country right now. (All of this information can be found in “National Sexuality Education Standards")

## **National Sexuality Education Standards**

* Provides a structure for curriculum development, instruction, and student assessment.
* Reflect on the effectiveness of sexual health education.
* Be informed by relevant health behavior theories and models.
* Focus on health within the world in which students live.
* Focus on the emotional, intellectual, physical and social dimensions of sexual health.
* Teach functional knowledge and essential personal and social skills that contribute directly to healthy sexuality.
* Focus on health promotion, including both abstinence from and risk reduction pertaining to unsafe sexual behaviors.
* Consider the developmental appropriateness of material for students in specific grade spans.
* Show the progression from more concrete to higher-order thinking skills.

## **Key Concepts For input:**

* History of Sex Ed in the US
* The Sexual Revolution
* Abstinence-Only
* Key Figures
* The Debate
* Parent Input
* Phycological Health
* Pregnancy
* LGBT+ health

1. ↑ http://advocatesforyouth.org/storage/advfy/documents/addressing%20sexual%20health%20in%20schools-%20policy%20considerations.pdf
2. ↑ http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-policies-on-sex-education-in-schools.aspx
3. ↑ https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/for-educators/what-sex-education
4. ↑ http://www.futureofsexed.org/documents/josh-fose-standards-web.pdf
5. ↑ http://www.futureofsexed.org/nationalstandards.html