Let’s face it: sex is the ultimate taboo. There aren’t many topics out there that can send a room full of adolescents into various states of hysteria, discomfort, curiosity, embarrassment, and confusion all at once. It isn’t to our avail that the very same topic has a similar effect on our elders; when adults around us cringe, twiddle their thumbs, and attempt to smoothly change the subject, the taboo of sex is further exacerbated.
Unfortunately, the sex taboo comes with the taboo of sexual education. In-school sex-ed may be supported by 93% of the American population (as of a 2004 poll by NPR), but it remains a touchy topic. Educators don’t want to overstep their bounds in teaching youth about sex, but parents don’t usually have the right tools, patience, and openness to teach their children properly. In this way, young adults are deprived of pivotal information that could change the face of our lives, relationships, and health.
Sexual education isn’t something new; it was first discussed by the United State’s National Education Association in 1892. Government funding was first awarded to sexual education in 1918 with the Chamberlain-Kahn Act in an attempt to educate WWI soldiers about STDs. In the 1920’s, sex-ed programs became part of the standard United States school curriculum. Further advances were made in the field of sex-education with the founding of SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) in 1964 by Dr. Calderone (then director of Planned Parenthood). The 1980s HIV/AIDS pandemic catapulted sex-ed into the hot seat as the U.S. scrambled to determine how American youth should be educated about STDs. Today, each state determines whether or not sex-ed and/or HIV education is mandated in public schools.
So why is there any opposition to sex-ed? I suppose for some adults it’s a “between a rock and a hard place” type of situation—by showing young adults safe ways to have sex, they feel as though they are encouraging sex. But if they do not educate adolescents, there is an increased risk of teen pregnancy and STDs for the many teenagers who have sex anyway. So the question is, which battle should adults pick: preventing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases or preventing sex? After all, abstinence is the most effective form of birth control.