Sex Education

With the eight years of the Bush presidency, we had been subjected to federal policy measures aimed at modifying sex education in our public schools. Since the election of President Obama, we have seen some significant changes.

This administration is no-longer using funding tactics to pressure school districts to switch the curriculum to Abstinence Only Sex Education. The Obama administration has leveled the field on funding in the early days of his Presidency.

Abstinence Only Sex Education doesn’t work. The vast majority of the American public knows that.

Our youth today are exposed to STDs at a level that our generation had never imagined. Having a comprehensive sex education that doesn’t sugar coat what dangers are out there is vitally important.

Development of important social skills is imperative. They include being able to recognize pressures from other people and to resist them, deal with and challenge prejudice, seek help from adults - including parents, school nurses and professionals - through the family, community and health and welfare services.

Sex education that works also helps equip young people with the skills to be able to differentiate between accurate and inaccurate information, discuss a range of moral and social issues and perspectives on sex and sexuality, including different cultural attitudes and sensitive issues like sexual orientation, abortion and contraception.

Sex education is also about developing young people's skills so that they make informed choices about their behavior, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices. It is widely accepted that young people have a right to comprehensive sex education, partly because it is a means by which they are helped to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, STDs and HIV/AIDS.