Last week New York City Public Schools decided to mandate all middle and high school students be taught sex education. The timing of the mandate coincided with Mayor Bloomberg’s three year $130 million initiative to improve the lives of African-American and Latino teenagers.
The decision to mandate sex education stems in part from the high rate of teenage pregnancy and HIV among African-Americans and Latinos teenagers who according to city statistics:
“…are far more likely than their white counterparts to have
unplanned pregnancies and contract sexually transmitted
diseases…when we look at the biggest disadvantages that
kids in our city face, it is African-Americans and Latinos that
are most affected by the consequences of early sexual
behavior and unprotected sex[i].”
Students are already receiving HIV education as part of a state mandate and there were some schools prior to this recent mandate that taught sex education from the abstinence perspective without discussing the use of contraception as an alternative. The new mandate will require schools to teach a semester of sex education in the 6th or 7th grade and in the 9th or 10th grade.
Students will be taught from two suggested curriculum: HealthSmart and Reducing the Risk which have been used in the past by some middle schools. Schools would also have the opportunity to partner with state and city approved health and human service agencies for sex education training and instruction. The semester long class will be a mixture of lecture, role playing exercises, and utilization of statistics to dispel false perceptions and opinions with researched-based data. There will also be candid discussions about the risks of unprotected sex. Parents will be able to opt their child out of the instructions on birth control[ii].
As one of the cities with the highest rates of HIV cases and teenage pregnancy among African-American and Latino men and women, New York City Public Schools is following in the footsteps of 20 other states and the District of Columbia
In order for future generations of African-American and Latinos to have a chance to succeed, using sex education to remove health and lifestyle barriers is a strategy with enormous potential. While there are many critics against teaching sex education in schools from religious and parent groups, hopefully over time, public perception will change and understand the necessity of teaching sex education in schools. The argument that teaching sex education in schools will cause young adults to become sexually active cannot be the primary reason for withholding potentially lifesaving information from young adults who are exposed to mixed or one-sided messages about sex.
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