Sex education

Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality 'education or sex ed', is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth control, sexual and reproductive health, emotional relationships and responsibilities, age of consent, and reproductive rights.
Sex education that includes all of these issues is known as comprehensive sexuality education. In contrast, abstinence-only sex education, which focuses solely on promoting sexual abstinence, is often favored in more socially conservative regions, including some parts of the United States.
Sex education may be provided as part of school programs, public health campaigns, or by parents or caregivers. In some countries it is known as "relationships and sexual health education".
Many governments see it as beneficial to provide public education on such matters prior to or at the beginning of puberty to improve public health, to limit the spread of sexually transmitted infections, and to avoid teenage pregnancy and unwanted pregnancies later on.

History

In multiple cultures, the discussion of all sexual issues has traditionally been considered taboo, and adolescents were not given any information on sexual matters. Such instruction, as was given, was traditionally left to a child's parents, and often this was put off until just before their marriage. However, in the late 19th century, the progressive education movement led to the introduction of sex education as "social hygiene" in North American school curricula and the introduction of school-based sex education.
During the Second World War, UK governmental concerns grew around mass relocation, parentless youths, and young men and women working together for the first time. Not only were there fears of new sexually transmitted diseases, but there was also growing anxiety around young pregnancy putting pressure on the war-ravaged economy and healthcare system. As such, the UK Board for Education introduced the Sex Education in Schools and Youth Organizations guidance. This put the onus of sex education on schools and youth groups, and guided leaders on how to execute this. For example, the mechanics of sexual intercourse could be communicated via "the keeping of livestock", as students could observe reproduction in real-time; the guidance also encouraged discussions about menstruation, motherhood courses, and personal hygiene talks. Popular among teachers and some parents, this guidance – which made sex education a possibility, not an obligation – prevailed for a number of years in the UK. In the 1970s, informational films became popular among teachers. Martin Cole's Growing Up was a frank look at how sex works physiologically and socially. It showed real clips of penises and masturbation, which sparked some backlash. However, it became apparent in the 1980s that a frank and factual approach was required in sex education as the HIV/AIDS crisis began in the UK. In 1999, the Labour government introduced Sex and Relationships Education guidance, with particular focus on sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. This was part of the ten-year Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, which would eventually resolve in 2010. Teenage pregnancy rates were halved across this period, however similar changes in other countries indicate that this was not an effect of the strategy.
After the Second World War, some developing countries promoted sex education programs that evolved to address political goals. A growing anxiety in some areas of the world over rising birth rates led to population-centered sex education programs. For instance, the first sex education curriculum in Singapore between 1966 and 1973 emphasized birth control as a way to avoid overpopulation. Reforms in some socialist countries focused on the role of sex education in strengthening family ties within society. This was the focus of sex education programs that developed in the German Democratic Republic and Cuba during the late twentieth century. The evolving content of sex education programs reflected shifting opinions regarding sexuality within each society. For example, Swedish sex education guidelines and textbooks published between 1945 and 2000 originally depicted masturbation as inherently harmful but increasingly portrayed it as natural and harmless.
Globally, the outbreak of AIDS has given a new sense of urgency to sex education. In multiple African countries where AIDS is at epidemic levels sex education is seen by most scientists as a vital public health strategy. Some international organizations such as Planned Parenthood consider that broad sex education programs have global benefits, such as controlling the risk of overpopulation and advancing women's rights, including reproductive rights. The use of mass media campaigns has sometimes resulted in high levels of awareness coupled with essentially superficial knowledge of HIV transmission.
According to SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 93% of adults they surveyed support sexuality education in high school and 84% support it in junior high school. In fact, 88% of the parents of junior high school students and 80% of parents of secondary school students believe that sex education in school makes it easier for them to talk to their adolescents about sex. Also, 92% of adolescents report that they want both to talk to their parents about sex and to have comprehensive in-school sex education. Furthermore, a "study, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research on behalf of the US Department of Health and Human Services, found that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are ineffective."
The current frontier in the development of relationship and sex education is LGBTQ+ inclusion. The recent 2019 guidance update is tentative in its acknowledgement of LGBT people, something which has proved controversial among homo- and transphobic groups, as well as among LGBT allies and pro-inclusion sociologists. For example, while Birmingham primary schools were protested by Muslim parents opposing the introduction of LGBT content to the guidance, sociologist Jonathan Glazzard criticized the Department for Education for the document's ambiguity and "opt-out" potential. The inclusion of this form of sex education is argued to make LGBT students feel more included, and that feelings of safety would foster healthy developmental outcomes for this group.

Definitions

Leepson sees sex education as instruction in various physiological, psychological and sociological aspects of sexual response and reproduction. Kearney also defined sex education as "involving a comprehensive course of action by the school, calculated to bring about the socially desirable attitudes, practices and personal conduct on the part of children and adults, that will best protect the individual as a human and the family as a social institution." Thus, sex education may also be described as "sexuality education", which means that it encompasses education about all aspects of sexuality, including information about family planning, reproduction, plus information about all aspects of one's sexuality including: body image, sexual orientation, sexual pleasure, values, decision making, communication, dating, relationships, sexually transmitted infections and how to avoid them, and birth control methods. Various aspects of sex education are considered appropriate in school depending on the age of the students or what the children can comprehend at a particular point in time. Rubin and Kindendall expressed that sex education is not merely the topics of reproduction and teaching how babies are conceived and born. Instead, it has a far richer scope and goal of helping children incorporate sex more meaningfully into their present and future life and to provide them with some basic understanding of virtually every aspect of sex by the time they reach full maturity.
Sex education delivered via in-person classroom instruction and workshops led by teachers or trained sex educators is commonly referred to as school-based sex education.

Impacts of sex education

recommends comprehensive sexuality education, as it enables young people to make informed decisions about their sexuality. According to UNFPA, it is taught over several years, introducing age-appropriate information consistent with the evolving capacities of young people. It includes scientifically accurate, curriculum-based information about human development, anatomy and pregnancy. It also includes information about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. And it goes beyond information, to encourage confidence and improved communication skills. According to UNFPA, curricula should also address the social issues surrounding sexuality and reproduction, including cultural norms, family life and interpersonal relationships.

The reach of comprehensive sexual education

A U.S. review concludes that "the overwhelming weight of evidence shows that sex education that discusses contraception does not increase sexual activity". The 2007 study found that "No comprehensive program hastened the initiation of sex or increased the frequency of sex, results that many people fear." Additionally, the report showed "Comprehensive programs worked for both genders, for all major ethnic groups, for sexually inexperienced and experienced teens, in different settings, and in different communities."
Further, evidence shows that a combination of comprehensive sexuality education and access to birth control appears to decrease the rates of unintended pregnancies among teenagers. A meta-analysis that compared comprehensive sexuality education programs with abstinence-only programs found that abstinence-only programs did not reduce the likelihood of pregnancy, but rather may have increased it. Studies show that curricula providing accurate information about condoms and contraception can lead to reductions in the risky behaviors reported by young people as well as reductions in unintended pregnancies and STIs. Programs that teach only abstinence have not been shown to be effective. The individuals in this study were also found to be less likely to engage in violent relationships and to have a lower rate of STIs and unintended pregnancy.
Other studies have found that "few sexual health interventions are designed with input from adolescents. Adolescents have suggested that sex education should be more positive with less emphasis on anatomy and scare tactics; it should focus on negotiation skills in sexual relationships and communication; and details of sexual health clinics should be advertised in areas that adolescents frequent."
According to the United Nations Population Fund, human rights issues, gender equality and gender roles should be integrated into every aspect of these discussions. This includes human rights protection, fulfillment and empowerment; the impact of gender discrimination; the importance of equality and gender-sensitivity; and the ideas underlying gender roles.