Sexuality Reflection

Did you know that 24 states in the US require their public schools to teach sex education and HIV education to their students (NCL.org)? Do they even need to understand sex or STDs? Well of course not. That’s why schools should not even teach these students sex because it’s just going to be too much for the high school students’ young mind, sex education will definitely motivate the students to have sex—regardless of their sexuality--, and it’s up to their not so busy parents to explain sex—and all its glory—to their children who are attending high school.

Passing presents us with two women who are similar bet different in their sexuality, these levels are identity, race, and class division. Irene and Claire fight to support and defend their own race and endure polite society. The commonality between these two women are Irene Redfield is passing through polite society and Clair is completely passing as white along with her white husband not knowing the truth. Color lines as white. She controls her entire family to ensure that not a word of dissatisfaction is said about her. In her fantasy world, she had not deserted her own African American inheritance. Instead of embracing who she is on the inside, Irene sees the outward white world as something to gravitate to, mimic, and aspire to. This time

Whether it is safe sex practices or even abstinence, all of these issues must be dealt with in an educational setting. Non judgmental open discussions need to be held at a mature environment in the classroom when discussing sex. Using Biology to introduce the reproductive systems is a productive way to start. However, sexual morals in the lecture would be a topic to stay away from.

Long before the development of iconic male-dominated American culture, the ideals of a patriarchal society have been implemented within the foundations of multiple civilizations, serving to dictate the actions of its individuals under the black-and-white confines of social constructions like gender roles, gender binary, sex roles, and many other aspects of everyday life that are still present at this very moment. One of the most crucial elements of contemporary American society that these limiting patriarchal values have latched onto is the comprehensive sexual education of it's youth. Undoubtedly, those who need it most are almost always doomed to receive the short-end of the stick with the introduction of Abstinence-Only education—a method that has been consistently proven to embed misogynistic and gender-discriminatory ideals within its shame-based and fear-centered curriculum, in addition to being profoundly ineffective in preventing the negative aspects that go along with unsafe sexual activity; much less effective than it's counterpart, Comprehensive Sexual Education. This unbiased, fact-based, and health-focused method of sex-ed serves to inform students about a number of topics in an age-appropriate context, allowing them to make choices they are comfortable and familiar with when it comes to a time they feel they are ready to make them, regardless of what sex, gender, or orientation they happen to identify with.

Let’s talk about sex. In western culture, many consider sex to be an inescapable topic. We are both fascinated with, and terrified of, talking about sex. For many of us, we “learned” about sex in a school sanctioned environment. Halting conversations, riddled with immature giggles at the first sign of a penis diagram, and ominous warnings that sex would lead to diseases, pregnancy, and death. Personally, my health teacher insisted on abstinence and refused to speak of sex at all. She explained New York State required schools to teach an abstinence-based curriculum. Sound familiar? In that case, I must apologize.

Sex education, arguably one of the most controversial topics to surface in American politics over the past half century, poses a complicated problem to citizens and lawmakers alike. Following the AIDS epidemic and spike in teen pregnancy in the 1980s, lawmakers and educators began drafting and implementing more sex education classes and courses in public schools in an attempt to remedy the ever-growing issue. While few object to the idea in itself, the method and content of its teaching is highly controversial. Should we teach abstinence or safe sex? How early should children be exposed to this material? How effective are these classes? These are just a few questions surrounding the issue, which are often disputed.

Sex Ed is an important subject to learn in school and a key part of the curriculum.

In a busy and complicated landscape of sexuality and gender, it is generally recognized that children need instruction in how to behave. Unfortunately, the way that adults wish young people to be introduced to sexuality is governed by diverse worldviews and values, and the subject is seen as so important that this disparity leaves little room for neutrality, much less reasoned compromise. In many cases, the education of children in sexuality is regarded on all sides as a life-and-death issue, involving fundamental assumptions about the role of public and private institutions and even the very stability of society, to say nothing of the potential risks to individuals. As When Sex Goes to School puts it, there is very little within the domain of American politics and the infamous “culture wars” that is not touched by or based in the realm of sexuality and gender, and sex education is an arena where each side seeks to have its values publicly established for the benefit of students.

This class main purpose I felt was to try and solely scare us from having sex. The only topics discussed in this class were about sexually transmitted diseases. I never understand why my high school made this a mandatory class, this class was strictly saying don’t have sex its bad your going to die from disease. The only thing I took away from my four years at that high school was in religion class and that was that sex is a gift and it should come from free consent of both people in the act. I firmly believe this statement. There is a huge responsibility in sex as presented in the video of John Oliver. Instead of teaching and telling kids that sex is bad, why don’t we teach and make them understand the safety and responsibility that sexual intercourse comes

The debate over whether comprehensive sexual education should be taught in schools is no less heated than it was when it first became a contemporary controversy in the 1960’s. Some argue that it should not be taught at all, in or out of the home. What many are unaware of is that sexual education has been a major moral dilemma since the year 1892, when the National Education Association passed a resolution citing the need for “moral education in the schools” (Cornblatt). This hot-button issue has made notably slow progress over the course of history, largely due to religious principles enforcing conservatism. Today, sexual education is mandatory in public schools in 22 of 50 states in the U.S. Due to little advancement made in the administration of sexual education programs, citizens of the U.S. have overlooked a deeper underlying issue – and that is, at what stage in adolescence is it necessary and most beneficial for this complicated, life-long learning process to begin? Also due in part to the slow progress these programs have made over time, some parents have even neglected to touch upon the issue entirely. What’s more, these continued failures to be proactive have led to the misuse of some of society’s most prominent resources. Non-“abstinence-only-until-marriage” sexual education in institutions of education,

Since comprehensive sex education has little funding but a plethora of support, it could be alleviated through advocates spreading awareness through the community through social media and communication to enlighten individuals on the topic. Therefore, developing a potential curriculum could become possible for local school boards to approve. Many supporters of comprehensive sex education believe that it should start from kindergarten until 12th grade. By doing so, instructors can use behavioral goals and age-appropriate language that is understandable and coherent for the respective age group. Also, there is a large amount of time to cover the necessary topics on sexuality, reproduction, sexual organs since this curriculum would occur for nearly thirteen years of the student’s life. As mentioned earlier, the state and school board direct the type

This class was, potentially, the most enlightening out of any of our classes this semester. I tend to think about myself as incredibly open-minded and well-rounded when it comes to understanding the different aspects of human sexuality, but this class showed me how little I truly know. Listening to this class’s guest speakers illuminated me to the depth of the BDSM community that I had previously been blind to. While I had known some about BDSM from simply a fetish/paraphilia/technical standpoint, I wasn’t aware that it also denoted such a rich community. I suppose that I could have expected that BDSM would have it’s own community, but, since it is outside of my realm of sexuality, I was simplistic in the way that I understood BDSM as only a fetish. My simplistic thinking is made worse when I consider the fact that one of my closest friends was a professional submissive for a few years prior to coming to Reno, but I never asked many questions because I felt that it would be too personal or would show potential holes in my knowledge. This is why I am so glad that we had guest speakers for this topic in class.

Over the last 50 years there has been an extreme societal shift in both the moral compass and the sexual behaviors of people; especially in the United States. The attitudes that were once held are much more relaxed than ever before. This has forever changed the landscape of sexual behavior on both ends of the age spectrum. Thanks to television and the media, young people and exposed to sex at younger and your ages. Children as young as nine and ten are having sex. In addition, thanks to the pharmaceutical industry and drugs like Viagra, seniors are engaging in risky behaviors too. This is why it is so important have an adaptable curriculum to educate children and re-educate adolescents and adults of all ages on sexuality issues. However for the purposes of this paper, we will only focus on a potential curriculum for elementary, middle, high school aged children and young adults. The cross sections of topics that must be covered should include Anatomy & Physiology, Puberty, Self-Image, Sexual Identity and Orientation, Interpersonal Relationships, Sexual Reproduction, and Sexually Transmitted Disease.

Less than forty percent of schools across the country required a sex education for graduation (Firger). Preventing teen pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases can come from educating students about their sexual health. It is crucial that all schools relay the proper sex education for their students to provide a valuable education that students will take with them for the rest of their lives. However, less than half of high schools across the nation educate students on all sixteen of the nationally recommended topics for sex education (Firger). There is an immense need for altering how schools are delivering sex education to their students.

As millions of teens are heading back to school, they are going to be learning the same old stuff, the usual studies include-history, math, science. But many students and parent’s surprise, there will be an extra class included in the curricula: Sex Education. In most public schools, there is some form of teaching of sex education. However, there is an even bigger question that is arising. “What kind of sex education are our children getting and is it enough to help?” There is a huge national debate going on over whether the whole ordeal over if kids should or should not be taught in school about sex. It shouldn’t matter what side of the fence you are on or your school, what is important is to know how to