Sex Education Queerness

Sex Education and Queerness Since its introduction into the educational system, sex education has always been a topic of debate. What should be taught? When? By whom? Parents, schools, and the government have frequently been at odds with each other, disagreeing on what information is appropriate for what students, and when. Religious and cultural values have become a part of the conversation, as well as scientific studies looking at what sorts of curricula are effective and the effects on students. Amidst all of this debate and conflict, LGBTQ+ students’ needs have not always been centered. Historically, there has always been a lack of acknowledgement of what these students need, or even their existence at all. As a result, LGBTQ+ …show more content…
Not much, as it turns out. Education has not always been separate from familial values, but the system currently in place in the United States sets the values of schools and the government in contrast with values taught by parents and families. Sex education, in particular has been a tool used to disrupt norms and messages that students could be receiving from outside their school environments, whether those messages are coming from peers, the internet, family, or larger community spaces such as churches, sports teams, or other youth organizations. It is supposed that schools know best, and the government, whether it be state or federal (or local), knows best what schools should be teaching. When it comes to sex education, the government has decided that abstinence-only lessons are the most effective. This is meant to keep high schoolers from engaging in sexual activity at all, and fails to acknowledge that although they are being told not to, high school students are still having sex. Santinelli and his colleagues explain that “although abstinence is theoretically fully effective, in actual practice abstinence often fails to protect against pregnancy and STIs.” But although study after study has shown that the states that have the strictest policies have the highest levels of STIs and unplanned teen pregnancy, most states still employ abstinence-only curricula. A 2007 study of youths age 10-17 found that 45% of youth internet users had been exposed to pornography in the past year, and an entire two-thirds of the population that had encountered internet porn reported unwanted exposure. The large percentage of unwanted exposure indicates young people are being exposed to sex on the internet even if they are not actively seeking it out. So schools’ assumptions that sex is not something teens are thinking about (a necessary assumption to validate an abstinence-only curriculum) is unfounded.