Comprehensive sexuality education
What is Comprehensive Sexuality Education?
Comprehensive sexuality education is a form of sex education that teaches issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse and other sexual activity, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, and birth control. What does it Teach? These programs: 1. "Offer age- and culturally appropriate sexual health information in a safe environment for participants (Mckeon)." 2. "Are developed in cooperation with members of the target community, especially young people (Mckeon)." 3. "Assist youth to clarify their individual, family, and community values (Mckeon)." 4. "Assist youth to develop skills in communication, refusal, and negotiation (Mckeon)." 5. "Provide medically accurate information about both abstinence and also contraception, including condoms (Mckeon)." 6. "Have clear goals for preventing HIV, other STIs, and/or teen pregnancy (Mckeon)." 7. "Focus on specific health behaviors related to the goals, with clear messages about these behaviors (Mckeon)." 8. "Address psychosocial risk and protective factors with activities to change each targeted risk and to promote each protective factor (Mckeon)." 9. "Respect community values and respond to community needs (Mckeon)." 10. "Rely on participatory teaching methods, implemented by trained educators and using all the activities as designed (Mckeon)." How Effective is Comprehensive Sexuality Education? Outcomes of comprehensive sexuality education have included "delaying the initiation of sex as well as reducing the frequency of sex, the number of new partners, and the incidence of unprotected sex, and/or increasing the use of condoms and contraception among sexually active participants (Mckeon)." The long term impact of comprehensive sexuality education include decreased STI rates and decreased unplanned pregnancy rates. "No highly effective sex education or HIV prevention education program is eligible for federal funding because mandates prohibit educating youth about the benefits of condoms and contraception (Mckeon)." "Evaluations of comprehensive sex education and HIV/ STI prevention programs show that they do not increase rates of sexual initiation, do not lower the age at which youth initiate sex, and do not increase the frequency of sex or the number of sex partners among sexually active youth. Between 1991 and 2004, the U.S. teen birth rate fell from 62 to 41per 1,000 female teens (Mckeon)." |
Comprehensive Education Laws/Policies:
The government has not funded comprehensive sexuality education until the year 2009. In December 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010, which included $110 million for the President’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. This created the first federal funding bill for comprehensive sexuality education (A Brief...). In 2010 and 2011, President Obama not only eliminated funding for two-thirds of previously existing abstinence-only programs, but also provided nearly $190 million in new funding for two new sex education programs to support both comprehensive sexuality programs and approaches to prevent unplanned pregnancy and STIs. "The federal government protected funding for HIV/STD Prevention Education at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Division of Adolescent and School Health (A Brief...)." The $110 million was provided for private and public schools, to implement innovative safe sex and comprehensive information. "At least $75 million was available for “replicating programs that have been proven effective through rigorous evaluation to reduce teenage pregnancy, behavioral risk factors underlying teenage pregnancy, or other associated risk factors (A Brief...).” At least $25 million was available for “research and demonstration grants to develop, replicate, refine, and test additional models and innovative strategies for preventing teenage pregnancy (A Brief...).” In addition,, $4.5 million was allocated for evaluation of the programs and their effectiveness. Congress indicated that it intended for “a wide range of evidence-based programs to be eligible for the $75 million available for evidence-based programs (A Brief...)." Facts and Statistics: Here are all the organizations and individuals who support comprehensive sexuality education: The American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Institute of Medicine, and Society for Adolescent Medicine (Mckeon). "In one study, most American adults supported sex education that includes information about both abstinence and also contraception and condoms. In fact, 89 percent believed that it is important for young people to have information about contraception and prevention of STIs and that sex education should focus on how to avoid unintended pregnancy and STIs, including HIV (Mckeon)." In another recent survey, 93-94% of parents/legal guardians want abstinence-only taught in schools, as well as, information about safe sex and controception (Mckeon). Quick Facts: http://www.healthyteennetwork.org/vertical/sites/%7Bb4d0cc76-cf78-4784-ba7c-5d0436f6040c%7D/uploads/%7B4c5f842e-e67a-4ac2-921b-287950431bd7%7D.pdf |
so which would you choose?
References:
"A Brief History of Federal Funding for ." Siecus. N.p.. Web. 28 Apr 2013.
<http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=1341&nodeID=1>.
"Comprehensive Sexuality Education." HealthyTeenNetwork. N.p.. Web. 25 Apr 2013. <http://www.healthyteennetwork.org/vertical/sites/{b4d0cc76-cf78-4784-ba7c-5d0436f6040c}/uploads/{4c5f842e-e67a-4ac2-921b-287950431bd7}.pdf>.
Mckeon, Brigid. "Effective Sex Education ." Advocates For Youth . N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr
2013. <http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications450>.