The Sexuality Education in the US (SIECUS) Community Advocacy Project has tracked controversies in sexuality education over the years in order to gain an understanding of national trends as they emerge and reappear. During the 1999-2000 school year, SIECUS documented 122 debates regarding sexuality education in 31 states. This article provides an overview of debates regarding abstinence-only-until-marriage education on the federal, state, and local levels as well as state and local debates regarding other topics related to sexuality education. Overall, it was seen that communities have continually narrowed the scope of sexuality education. Some have adopted strict abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, some have excluded topics they felt were too controversial, some have rejected explicit materials, and some have even limited the discussion of basic information about puberty. In addition to such debates, many states and communities demonstrated concern about such subjects as appropriate content, opt-in/opt-out policies, and separating students by gender for presentations.
In an overview of the actions undertaken in both the Congress and the Supreme Court related to sexual orientation and abortion, it is noted that the Republican leadership in both houses of Congress have taken up many of the most important spending bills. These include the bill to include abstinence-only-until-marriage funding and the bill to provide evaluation funding. In the context of the US Supreme Court, its decisions have been focused on abortion and sexual orientation. Overall, the activities by both the US Congress and US Supreme Court serve to underscore the importance of the upcoming elections in the US. Further explanation states that the balance of the Court, being so precarious on such important decisions about fundamental rights, serves to highlight the importance of the election. Moreover, the composition of the Congress will play an important role in whether or not the abstinence-only-until-marriage program survives or thrives.
Martha Kempner, SIECUS education coordinator, analyzed the status of sexuality education programs in schools throughout the US during 1999-2000. In her article she pointed out that only strict, abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs were being accepted in America's schools with very little community debate. Kempner further stated that these proliferating abstinence-only-until-marriage programs have been taking the forms of one-time assemblies and semester-long classroom-based programs. Moreover, it was noted that other community debates during the period include appropriate content for sexuality education, opt-in/opt-out policies, and the separation by gender for classroom instruction. However, this discouraging picture drawn by Kempner is given hope in the August/September 2000 issue of the SIECUS Report. The Report published articles focusing on developments achieved regarding the issue of sexuality education in the US. These include the articles on the success of the national newsletter and Web Site called "SEX, ETC" and the semester-long program on sexuality education.
In response to the SIECUS Report entitled "Adolescent Sexuality and Popular Culture", Susan Bankowski of the Campaign for Our Children, Inc. explains why knowledge about popular culture is so important in work dealing with young people. It is noted that blame has often been placed on pop culture as contributing to American youth's early initiation into sexual activity. Various studies and groups of people cite the explicit display of sex in media as a major reason for such behavior of teens. However, in Europe, where teen birthrates are much lower and contraceptive use is higher than in the US, sex and sexuality are an accepted part of media expression. In view of this, Bankowski states that there is a need for sexuality educators to embrace the media that influence the teens with whom they work. Drawing on her own experience, Bankowski further explains that educators need to be aware of trends when selecting educational materials.
In the US, birth, pregnancy, and abortion rates have remained unacceptably high despite the declines experienced over the years. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 65% of teens engage in sexual intercourse before they graduate from high school, 18% of 9th-grade students initiate intercourse before age 13, and approximately 4 million teens in the US contract a sexually transmitted disease each year. The country's response on these dismal statistics have been unsuccessful, focusing only on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that are forbidden to discuss contraception and disease-prevention strategies. In view of this, the Network for Family Life Education launched the national newsletter and Web site ¿SEX, ETC¿. The goal was to provide up-to-date, accurate, balanced, and attractive materials that would change students' sexuality attitudes and behaviors. Developed by teens for teens, such an approach can push the envelope as to the kind of programs a school should implement if educators, administrators, and school board members will pay attention. Moreover, the approach holds the potential for an extraordinary new partnership between teens and caring adults that can move relevant, responsible sexuality education forward in a powerful and meaningful way.
