Copy this CollectionOnly 24 American states and the District of Columbia require sex ed classes in public schools. Most often, when discussing comprehensive education programs or abstinence-only syllabi, we have turned to the statistics of teen pregnancy or STD rates to justify either side of the contentious debate. But in recent years, the conversation has shifted, leaving space for more comprehensive sexual orientation-inclusive programs that teach age-adjusted concepts of consent as early as preschool and use social-emotional curricula to discuss sex in the context of healthy relationships and human rights. And for those states lacking the legal nudge, innovators are packaging education for delivery in new venues - online, on TV, or at home.
With many schools reconsidering sex ed programs in the wake of the #MeToo movement, this collection offers examples and stories of tested and evolving approaches. Journalists cover teachers working across the rapidly changing and digitizing world, from the U.S. to Uganda to Canada, to best disseminate this crucial knowledge. From peer to peer programs to online tools to porn literacy classes, these nonprofits and teachers are changing our historic notion of sex ed.
“It’s not like you’re teaching sex in elementary school," Debra Hauser, Executive Director for Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based organization, told the Chicago Tribune. "If you’ve got a good, quality, comprehensive sex ed program, what you get is this scaffolding of topics that helps young people to identify things.” Many of these initiatives hope to establish building blocks in early grades, so students can continue to draw on this background when they do come across what we traditionally think of as sex ed. Could this integrated and holistic approach appeal to both advocates of comprehensive and abstinence education?
