Sex Ed

Sex Education Battle in the USA on a Political Level

The controversy surrounding sex education began as long ago as the late 19th century, when concerns were developed over sexually transmitted diseases. By the time of the first decade of the 20th century, progressives were calling for Canada sex education to be taught in schools. There was an immediate and visceral reaction from conservatives, who believe that exposure to sexual education would entice young teens to become sexually experimental. Through the years since then, the controversy has remained, generally being split along ideological lines. In the last two or three or four decades, there has been a push for what is termed abstinence only education, which recommends that students not engage in sexual activity until they are married. But these programs, alone, have proved to be less than successful at preventing either sexual activity, pregnancy, or sexually transmitted diseases. Yet the impetus to make sure that abstinence only programs are in schools continues, particularly with a push from the Christian Right, which is deeply concerned about the morals of American children, and for that matter the morals of the country as a whole. The following research studies, articles and reports bear out the fact that abstinence only education is not affective, and that other interventions, such as comprehensive sex education which involves instruction in the use of condoms, other types of birth control, and social and emotional risk factors which contribute to the likelihood of sexual experimentation and pregnancy.


Greenberg, Bradley S. "The Body Human: Sex Education, Politics, And Television." Family Relations, v32 n3 p419-25 Jul 1983. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ287860&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ287860

The article looked at the responses of 121 fifth and sixth grade students to the television program which contained basic sex education information. The results of the study showed that the program effectively disseminated a modest amount of knowledge which students needed. The authors of the article that discussed the political context of the project in terms of parent reaction and school board policy.


Apple, Michael W. "The Politics Of Official Knowledge: Does A National Curriculum Make Sense?" Teachers College Record Volume 95, Number 2, Winter 1993. Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/class/educ232b/Apple.pdf

Though not specifically geared to sex education per se, Apple makes a case for how we decide what is taught in schools, and whose narrative takes precedence over others. It is clear that conservatism is in the ascendancy, and it is the conservative narrative about sex education that appears to sway schools and school boards that the conservative sex education agenda is the one that ought to be adopted. But Apple cautions that this is not an appropriate approach. As he says, "we live in a society with identifiable winners and losers. In the future, we may say that the losers made poor “consumer choices” and, well, that is the way markets operate, after all. But is this society really only one vast market? As Whitty reminds us, in a time when so-many people have found out from their daily experiences that the supposed “grand narratives” of progress are deeply flawed, is it appropriate to return to yet another grand narrative, the market? The results of this narrative are visible every day in the destruction of our communities and environment, in the increasing racism of the society, in the faces and bodies of our children, who see the future and turn away."

Moran, Jeffrey P. Teaching Sex: The Shaping Of Adolescence In The 20th Century.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 2000.

Like a true historian, Moran delves into the history of sex education from the beginning of the 20th century, highlighting both the fears and hopes of parents, educators, politicians, and reformers. The success or failure of sex education is, for many people a statement about the moral fate of the nation. Some of the argument over sex education is about condom distribution in schools, or the more extensive use of an antiabortion curriculum. But Moran believes that these arguments miss the main point of sex education, which is that adolescents need to be educated about sex. But it is just this point which is the most anxiety-provoking. When people talk about teenagers and sex, it raises fears that have to do with children and sex, and this provokes anxiety in nearly everyone. Moran deals with this successfully in his book.

National Survey of Public Secondary School Principals. "Sex Education in the U.S.: Policy and Politics ." Kaiser Family Foundation. March 2002. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=14903


The Kaiser Family Foundation. Issue update speaks to several issues of sex education, including HIV/AIDS education, and abstinence-only education, which is been supported by the federal government since 1981, when Congress passed the Adolescent Family Life Act. The AFLA had as its goal the prevention of premarital teen pregnancy. The educational mandate established what was termed 'family centered' programs which were to 'promote chastity and self-discipline.' The act also had is a priority adoption as a preferred option for pregnant teens, and the provision of support services for pregnant teens for teens who are already parenting. Several other programs were spun off from the original act, and these programs are still in force with application by grant.


Kaiser Family Foundation. "Sex Education In The US: Policy And Politics." 2002. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/youthhivstds/upload/Sex-Education-in-the-U-S-Policy-and-Politics.pdf

In this policy update, the Kaiser Family Foundation discusses the wide variation in the kinds of sex education programs which are offered in high schools in the United States. Some states adopt abstinence only education programs, while others adopt more progressive sex education programs. Abstinence only education generally teaches abstinence until marriage, and that is the only option available to teenagers, people who favor this point of view believe that any discussion or education about contraception and safe sex sends teenagers, at best, mixed message which contradicts the absolute meaning of abstinence, and that is what encourages sexual activity in teens. Among schools in the United States, some form of sex education is taught and 95% of public secondary schools. Most principals, comprising 58% say that their sex education curriculum is comprehensive, which means that schools encourage teens to wait to have sex but if they do not, they should use birth control and practice safe sex 34% of principals say their sex education programs are abstinence only, by which they mean that students should not have sex until they are married.


Irvine, Janice M. Talk About Sex: The Battles Over Sex Education In The United States, With A New Preface. University of California Press, 2004.

This book, Irvine discusses the history of the culture wars over sex education while she examines the politics of sexual speech in America. She examines the tension between professional sex education advocates and the politicized Christian Right on the other. She focuses explicitly on the role that sexual speech plays and cultural politics, showing how an emerging Christian Right uses sex education as one of its battlegrounds, and how that went on to dominate public conversation on the subject of sex education


Bleakley, Amy, Michael Hennessy, and Martin Fishbein. "Public Opinion On Sex Education In US Schools." Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 160, 1151-1156, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.plannedparenthoodaffiliatesofohio.com/files/Resources/Bleakley_etal_PublicOpinion.pdf

This article examines US public opinion on sex education in schools in order to determine how the publics preferences the preferences of policymakers and researchers. The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted between July 2005 in January 2006. Specifically examined was support for three types of sex education in schools – abstinence only, comprehensive sex education, and condom instruction. Nearly 82% of those responding to the survey indicated that they supported programs that teach students about abstinence education and other methods of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Nearly 70% supported the teaching of how to properly use condoms. Abstinence only sex education programs receive the lowest level of support, at 36% and the highest level of opposition, at about 50% across the three program option. All three options were supported by conservatives, liberals, and moderate respondents, including abstinence only programs, but the extent of support for abstinence only programs varied significantly.


Goldberg, Stacey. "The Battles Over Sex Education: History, Politics, And Practice." Senior Research Project, Trinity College, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/educ/Research/2007/Goldberg_SexEd.pdf

Goldberg delves into some of the history of sex education, and makes it clear that the debate over sex education and implementation of sex education in the schools is much older than is commonly believed. The debate, in fact, began in the first decade of the 20th century, when debates about the condition of the American family coincided with the increasing concern about the spread of venereal disease. But most people felt, during this time, this issue was too volatile to implement. According to Moran (2000, p. 48), " Sex educators feared that their teachings might arouse precocious sexuality, and this apprehension shaped their entire program. In particular, the educators’ fear of prematurely debauching their adolescent students led them to emphasize their scientific status.” Eventually, all states but California had, as a matter of legislative practice, implemented sex education programs in their schools. Again, the two sides of the issue broke evenly along party lines, with progresses favoring sex education as a means of addressing mushrooming numbers of teens who were pregnant, and with conservatives trying to take control of education while believing that sex education was one of the reasons for the mushrooming numbers of teens are pregnant.


Santelli, John S., Laura D. Lindberg, Lawrence B. Finer, and Susheela Singh. "Explaining Recent Declines In Adolescent Pregnancy In The United States: The Contribution Of Abstinence And Improved Contraceptive Use," American Journal of Public Health, 2007, 97(1):1–7.

The authors examined the contributions a declining sexual activity and improved contraceptive use with regard to the recent decline in adolescent pregnancy rates in the United States. Data was used 1995 and 2002 for women who are 15 to 19 years of age, and the authors developed to indices: the contraceptive risk index, which summarized the effectiveness of contraceptive use among sexually active adolescents, and the overall pregnancy risk index which was calculated according to the contraceptive risk index score and a percentage of individuals who reported sexual activity. The contraceptive risk index declined by a third overall and by nearly half among those teenagers between 15 and 17 years of age. The rise in contraceptive use was due to an increased use of condoms, birth control pills, withdrawal, and a decline in non-use. A decline in US adolescent pregnancy rates is now beginning to mirror the pregnancy rates in other countries, and the decline can be directly attributable to improved contraceptive use.


Brown, Jane D, ed., Managing the Media Monster: The Influence of Media (From Television to Text Messages) on Teen Sexual Behavior and Attitudes, Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2008.

This work examined the influence of media on teen sexual behavior. The purpose of this report is to inform practitioners and program providers about what up-to-date research says about teens and media influence. There have been studies from several decades which examined the influence of the media on teen sexual behavior. The RAND Corporation, in fact, reported that sexual content on TV was linked with teen pregnancy. The report examines in detail the ways in which the media influences in positive and negative ways teen sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.
Chandra, Anita, Steven C. Martino, Rebecca L. Collins, Marc N. Elliott, Sandra H Berry, David E. Kanouse, and Angela Miu. "Does Watching Sex On Television Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings From A National Longitudinal Survey Of Youth," Pediatrics, 2008, 122(5):1047–1054.
The authors examined television sexual content and youth exposure to that, and how that shapes sexual attitudes and behavior which may ultimately influence reproductive health outcomes. Data was taken from a national longitudinal survey of teens from 12 to 17 years of age and was used to assess whether exposure televised sexual content was an accurate predictor of subsequent pregnancy for girls or responsibility for pregnancy for boys. The authors found that exposure to sexual content on television was an accurate predictor of teen pregnancy. Teens who were exposed to high levels of television sexual content were twice as likely to experience pregnancy within the following four years compared with those who were exposed to lower levels of sexual activity on TV.


Kaye, K., K. Suellentrop, and C. Sloup. The Fog Zone:
How Misperceptions, Magical Thinking, and Ambivalence Put Young Adults at
Risk for Unplanned Pregnancy. Washington, DC: The National Campaign to
Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy., 2009 . Http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/fogzone/pdf/fogzone.pdf

This survey showed a range of factors that put unmarried young adults at risk for unplanned pregnancy. According to this survey, only about half of unmarried young adults who are sexually active use contraception every time. These unmarried young adults are not consistent with their contraception use, and they're often not careful. Many unmarried young adults say there have little knowledge of contraceptive methods and most had not even heard of the less common method such as the intrauterine implant. To the extent that they have heard of various methods most expressed little confidence in their effectiveness. Some see a future in which they will be parents but they are not certain about the timing and circumstances which would be most efficacious are starting a family. Additionally, most expect to marry and have children with their current partner, and that is an unrealistically high number.


Marty, Robin. "Back To School: The Politics Of Sex Education In The States." RH Reality Check. 2010. Retrieved from http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/node/14225


Marty discusses the most recent developments in sex education, which on increasing reliance on abstinence only education, which is, as has been mentioned in other studies, far less effective in protecting teens from pregnancy than are other types of sex education programs. The author gives the example of Florida, which has the highest rate in the nation in a HIV cases. Florida also is the state with the third-highest rate of AIDS cases. Florida ranks 12th in the nation in the numbers of teen births, a rate that increased by 7% in one year, 2006. And yet Florida is among the states considering abstinence only education, again, which is been proven to be less effective than other kinds of sex education programs. The same thing is happening in many other states, as conservative politicians gain control of houses of government and governorships.


Abma, Joyce C., Gladys M. Martinez, and Casey E. Copen. "Teenagers In The United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, And Childbearing, National Survey Of Family Growth 2006–2008," Vital and Health Statistics, 2010, Series 23, No. 30.
This report examined and presents estimates of sexual activity, contraceptive use, and births among male and females 15 to 19 years of age in the United States between 2006 and 2008. The data came from the National Survey of Family Growth. During this period, about 42% of female teenagers who had never been married and about 43% of male teenagers who had never been made had had sexual intercourse. The data shows that the level of sexual experience has not changed significantly from 2002. Among these never married teenagers, 79% of females and 87% of males used some form of contraception the first time they had sex. Teenagers of contraception has not changed since 2002, though, while condom use was the most common form of birth control for teenagers, economies has increased among males. There was also significant increase the percent of female teenagers who had used a periodic abstinence method.
Buhi, Eric R., Ellen M. Dailey, Alison Oberne, Sarah A. Smith, Tali Schneider, and Hollie J. Fuhrmann, "Quality And Accuracy For Sexual Health Information Websites Visited By Young People." Journal of Adolescent Health, 2010, 47(2):206–208.

The authors looked at online sexual health information quality and accuracy. One hundred seventy seven sexual health websites were reviewed, the authors found below average quality but few inaccuracies in the website content. The authors found that websites which were the most technically complex with content or those with controversial topics were the most in accurate. The authors found no correlation between in accurate information and website quality.
Boonstra, Heather D. "Sex Education: Another Big Step Forward—And A Step Back," The Guttmacher Policy Review, 2010, 13(2):27–28.
The author maintains that with the passage of health-care reform legislation in 2009, federal policy on sex education and teen pregnancy prevention managed to take a step forward, but also step backward. The legislation calls for an end to ineffective sex education efforts which are focused solely on abstinence only education. The legislation recommends that federal programs which are linked to a rigid definition of abstinence only education be shifted to programs which are evidence-based, medically accurate, age-appropriate. The money allotted to these programs will go toward replicating programs which have been proven to reduce teen pregnancy and address associated risk factors. A lesser amount of money was set aside to develop innovative strategies which show some promise, and other money has been sent aside for training, technical assistance, evaluation, outrage, an additional program support activities. The funding streams do not however require states to match their federal allotment state or local contributions. If a state decides not to participate in the first two years its allocation will be given out in the third year to community-based organizations which work in the state. Unfortunately, however, the legislation also reapproved abstinence only education programs for five more years, slowing the transformation of US policy to an evidence-based comprehensive approach, which is been shown to be much more effective.
Jemmott III, John B., Loretta S Jemmott, and Geoffrey T. Fong. "Efficacy Of A Theory-Based Abstinence-Only Intervention Over 24 Months: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Young Adolescents," Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 2010, 164(2):152–159.
The authors evaluated the efficacy of abstinence only intervention programs and their impact on preventing teen sexual involvement. The study was a randomized controlled trial, with a total of 662 African-American students in grades six and seven. The students were exposed to an eight hour abstinence only intervention which was aimed at reducing sexual and of course; another eight hour safe sex only intervention which promoted condom use; and eight and 12 hour interventions which targeted both sexual intercourse and condom use; and another eight hour intervention which was a health promotion control intervention which targeted health issues which were not related to sexual behavior. Abstinence only intervention reduced sexual initiation, and did not affect condom use. The eight and 12 hour comprehensive interventions reduce self reporting of relationships with multiple partners. Other differences between interventions and controls were not significant.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
"Policy Brief: Title X Plays a Critical Role in Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy." February 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/Briefly_PolicyBrief_TitleX.pdf

This policy brief discusses the effects of Title X, which is currently hotly debated among the presidential candidates, on teenage pregnancy. According to the brief, 89% of voters are in favor of public funding for family planning services, 72% of Republicans and independents are in favor of legislation that would make it easier for people of all income levels to obtain contraception, 90% of evangelicals believe that birth control or other hormonal methods of contraception are acceptable for women 18 and over, and 90% of the board of the National Association of Evangelicals is in favor contraception. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recognized family planning is one of the 10 great public-health achievements of the 20th century. It is designed to reduce unintended pregnancy and increase the numbers of females and need of publicly supported contraceptive services and supplies. These things are expected to improve the nation's public health.

Williams, Jean Calterone. "Battling A ‘Sex-Saturated Society’: The Abstinence Movement And The Politics Of Sex Education." California Polytechnic State University, Sexualities, Vol 14, No 4, 416-443. 2011. Retrieved from http://sexualities.sagepub.com/content/14/4/416.abstract doi: 10.1177/1363460711406460
The abstinence movement in the United States, as a movement by the Christian Right, links abstinence before marriage with Christian morality, sexual purity, and heterosexual marriage. In the last 10 to 15 years in the US, there have arisen several abstinence groups for which abstinence is a single issue. These groups advocate a response to sexuality that they consider 'values-based,' and they have had some political success in advocating their view that abstinence education is the only legitimate form of sex education. Since the election of President Obama, however, these groups found themselves with a crippling loss of funding an equal loss of allies. This article, using interviews with the directors of four of these groups, analyzes the groups’ agenda and strategies.


Sparks, Sarah D. "Study: Religion And Politics Affect Teen Birthrates More Than Sex Ed." Inside School Research. 2012. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2012/02/study_culture_affects_teen_pre.html

This article by Sarah D. Sparks discusses the relationship between religion and politics as it affects teen birthrates and sexual education as it affects teen birthrates. The author found that comprehensive sexuality education courses are positively correlated with lower teenage birth rates. That correlation, however, is not as powerful as the factors of religion, politics, and demographics in a student's home state. Students in states that are religiously and politically conservative have higher birth rates than students in less conservative states, according to a study in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Guttmacher Institute. "In Brief: Fact Sheet: Facts On American Teens’ Sources Of Information About Sex." February 2012. Retrieved from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-Teen-Sex-Ed.html

The Guttmacher Institute examined the sources of American teens information about sex. They concluded that most teens initiate sex in their late teen years, and by the 19th birthday seven and 10 teen men teen women have had sexual intercourse. The pregnancy rate among young women has declined significantly since 1990, for modern 17 pregnancies per thousand women to 68 pregnancies per thousand women in 2008. A strong majority (86%) of the decline in teen pregnancy between 1995 and 2002 was directly attributable to improvements in contraceptive use, whether teams used a single method of contraception or multiple method simultaneously. Also shown was a substantial decline in contraceptive non-use. 14% of the decline in teen pregnancy is attributable to decreased sexual activity.