LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - A new report released by sex advocates details when children should be taught about their bodies and how.
The National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12 (http://on.kthv.com/wr5WZU) is presented by The Future of Sex Education, an initiative started by sex education advocates.
According to FoSE, the goal of the report is "to provide clear, consistent and straightforward guidance on the essential minimum, core content for sexuality education that is age-appropriate for students in grades K-12.
In the report, it says 40 individuals from the fields of health education, sexuality education, public health, public policy, philanthropy and advocacy convened for a two-day meeting in December 2008 to create a strategic plan for sexuality education policy and implementation.
Report writers say this is to address the inconsistent implementation of sexuality education nationwide and the limited time allocated to reaching the topic.
The report is designed to:
- Outline what, based on research and extensive professional expertise, are the minimum, essential content and kills for sexuality education K-12 given student needs, limited teacher preparation and typically available time and resources.
- Assist schools in designing and delivering sexuality education K-12 that is planned, sequential and part of a comprehensive school health education approach.
- Provide a clear rationale for teaching sexuality education content and skills at different grade levels that is evidence-informed, age-appropriate and theory-driven.
- Support schools in improving academic performance by addressing a content area that is both highly relevant to students and directly related to high school graduation rates.
- Present sexual development as a normal, natural, healthy part of human development that should be a part of every health education curriculum.
- Offer clear, concise recommendations for school personnel on what is age-appropriate to teach students at different grade levels.
- Translate an emerging body of research related to school-based sexuality education so that it can be put into practice in the classroom.
The report also explains why there is a need for sexuality education in public schools. The report says the U.S. has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the industrialized world. Each year more than 750,000 women ages 15-19 become pregnant, with more than 80 percent of these pregnancies unintended. Also, while young people in the U.S. ages 15-19 make up only a quarter of the sexually active population, one in four of them are contracting a sexually transmitted disease each year.
There is also a need to address harassment, bullying and relationship violence in school. According to the 2009 National School Climate Survey, nearly nine out of ten lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students reported being harassed in the previous year.
The report says health programs in school can help young people succeed academically. Also, teens who received comprehensive sexuality education were 50 percent less likely to report a pregnancy than those who only got abstinence-only education.
Parents overwhelming favor comprehensive sexuality education in public school at the national and state level.
The report spells out the standards by grade level. By the end of the second grade, students should be able to do certain things such as use proper names for body parts including male and female anatomy, explain all living things reproduce and describe the characteristics of a friend.
By the fifth grade, students should be able to explain the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur during puberty and adolescence and explain ways to manage the changes, define sexual orientation and define the process of human reproduction.
By the eighth grade, students should be able to define sexual intercourse and its relationship to human reproduction, describe the signs and symptoms of a pregnancy, define STDs including HIV and how they are transmitted.
By the twelfth grade, they should be able to differentiate between biological sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression use contraception and birth control correctly.
These are not the only things students should know, you can find out more by reading the full report online in PDF format.
(Source: The Future of Sex Education)