Sex Education
Get insights into how schools teach about sexual health, relationships, reproduction, sexual orientation, gender identity, and abstinence
Sex Education's Shortcomings Leave Students 'in the Dark'
School nurses, psychologists, counselors, and other health workers give low marks to their district or school's sex education curriculum.
Curriculum
Video
Beyond the Birds & the Bees - What Comprehensive Sex Education Looks Like
Sex education - and what it covers - varies widely from district to district, even school to school. In some areas, there is still an ongoing debate about whether this is a subject best left to parents, not teachers. Those who support comprehensive sexuality education say both have a role to play. Parents can communicate family values; teachers can cover everything from medically accurate information to relationship dynamics.
Shafia Zaloom, a health educator and consultant based in San Francisco, travels to schools around the country teaching sexuality education. Zaloom believes this instruction should start as early as kindergarten, with the youngest students learning about empathy and understanding emotions. She outlines what it looks like from the earliest years through high school.
Read more: edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/05/16/sex-education.html
Curriculum
Video
Should Schools Rethink Sex Education in the #MeToo Era?
Yes advocates believe these sorts of approaches to sex education may be rare. While 29 states and the District of Columbia mandate sex education, only 38 percent of high school students and just 14 percent of middle school students are receiving comprehensive sex education, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To see what it might look like, we sit in on a wide-ranging sex education class at Georgetown Day, and attend a meeting of male students working to include men in the #MeToo conversation. (June 12, 2018)
Student Well-Being & Movement
Opinion
It's 2018. It's Time to Update Sex Ed.
In the age of #MeToo, schools have an important role to play in combating sexual harassment, writes sociologist Lorena Garcia.
School & District Management
Could the #MeToo Movement Change Sex Ed.?
The #MeToo movement has brought widespread attention to gender-based harassment in all walks of life. Will it do the same for sex education in schools?
Equity & Diversity
#MeTooK12 Seeks to Spotlight Problem of Sexual Assault in Schools
After months of discussion of workplace sexual assault and harassment, organizers hope the #MeTooK12 campaign will shine a spotlight on sexual violence in public schools.
Equity & Diversity
Consent, Contraception, and LGBT Issues: Sex Ed. Bills States Considered in 2017
There were a total of 64 sex education bills proposed in 27 states and Puerto Rico during 2017 legislative sessions.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Responding to and Preventing Sexual Violence Must Be Higher Priority for K-12, Experts Tell Lawmakers
While there's been a spotlight on sexual violence on college campuses in recent years, sexual assault and harassment are also problems in elementary and secondary schools, a panel of experts told a congressional task force on sexual violence.
Student Well-Being & Movement
DeVos Kills Obama-Era Guidance on Title IX and Sexual Assault
The U.S. Department of Education withdrew Obama-era guidance on Title IX and sexual assault Friday, and it released interim guidance it plans to leave in place while it seeks public input to inform a new policy.
Student Well-Being & Movement
DeVos' Actions on Title IX and Sexual Assault Could Affect K-12 Schools, Too
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Thursday plans to revise Obama-era civil rights guidance on Title IX and sexual assault, a move that could affect elementary and secondary schools.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Off Teen Pregnancy Prevention Funding
Teen pregnancy prevention programs set to end in 2020 will now lose funding in 2018 after the Trump administration opted to end federal grants, Reveal reports. Many of those programs targeted teen girls from minority populations that are at higher risk for early pregnancy.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Opinion
We Aren't Doing Enough to Teach Girls About Sex (Q&A)
Abstinence-only "garbage" fails to prepare kids for positive sexual encounters and relationships, says Peggy Orenstein in a Commentary Q&A.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Should Schools Teach About Sexting, Consent? Nevada Students Pitch Rule
A panel of Nevada students has proposed a bill that would require high schools to teach about issues like sexting, consent, and driving under the influence.
School & District Management
Teen Birth Rates Hit All-Time Low, But Disparities Persist
Births to American teenagers have dropped 40 percent in the last decade, hitting an all-time low in 2014, new federal data show. But Hispanic and black teens still have significantly higher rates than their white peers.
Curriculum
Sex Education Programs Don't Meet Federal Recommendations in Many States
Nearly half of the high schools examined in a recent report don't include all 16 recommended topics in their sex education programs.