Tag: Sex Education

Stop Stereotyping Black Girls: Offer Inclusive Sex Education in Schools

As of this fall, GOP leaders and lawmakers in over a dozen states have passed bans on teaching human sexuality or stymied federal grants aimed at addressing sexual behaviors and lowering rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

While this negatively affects all children, it is particularly harmful for Black girls. Black adolescent girls in the United States experience poor sexual and reproductive health outcomes due to bullying and stereotyping. These health concerns persist throughout their lives and a lack of sex education is a key factor.

Breaking the Silence Around Sexual Abuse: The Ms. Q&A With Maya Golden About New Memoir ‘The Return Trip’

Award-winning multimedia journalist Maya Golden’s searing but redemptive memoir, The Return Trip, takes readers on a harrowing journey. The book offers a no-holds-barred look into the sexual abuse that began when Golden was 5 and charts her course through a troubled adolescence and young adulthood. Along the way, she probes the long-term impact of repeated sexual violation and zeroes in on the ways religious institutions, educational systems, and familial denial continue to intersect and allow the perpetuation of violence.

Golden spoke to Ms. reporter Eleanor J. Bader before The Return Trip’s Nov. 14 release. Their wide-ranging conversation touched on the book as well as the work of the 1 in 3 Foundation, a group Golden founded to support survivors of sexual assault.

How the World Is Letting Girls Fall Behind

The world is letting girls fall behind at an alarming rate. This International Day of the Girl, the world must reassess its commitments to girls everywhere—for a flourishing world and, most importantly, for the individual health, rights and well-being of each girl, no matter what. 

Girls will reach their fullest potential when global governments comprehensively prioritize their education, safety, health and autonomy.

How Anti-Abortion Centers Teach Sex Ed Inside Public Schools: ‘They Just Tried to Scare Us’

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Crisis pregnancy centers—which counsel women against getting abortions—began to pop up in the late ’60s, as states passed laws legalizing abortion. Today, Texas has the most crisis pregnancy centers of any state.

These groups’ sex ed efforts are widespread: More than 35 of these centers are involved in dozens of school districts across Texas. Within these programs—offered for free to school districts—students are taught if they have sex before marriage, emotional risks include depression, guilt and anxiety. They’re taught that condoms do not keep them safe from pregnancy or STDs. These approaches aren’t effective in preventing or changing behavior. Instead, they can cause students to stop absorbing information that might help them make informed decisions about sex in the future. 

Sexual Health Is Mental Health

As a youth sexuality educator, I have seen firsthand how comprehensive sex education that teaches young people healthy sexuality and communication, boundary setting, and consent is key to youth mental health and development.  

Arizona ‘Medical Students for Life’ Chapter Threatens Patient Health: ‘This Contradicts What We Are Taught in Our Curriculum,’ Say Students

Despite student government’s vote, anti-abortion group Medical Students for Life is now fully operational on Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine’s campus. 

What’s happening at Midwestern University illustrates the anti-abortion movement’s larger strategy: disseminate misinformation to confuse, deter and scare pregnant people out of getting abortions.

Independent Abortion Clinics Are Critical to the Healthcare Ecosystem—And Must Be Protected

Across the U.S., indie clinics are often the last line of defense. In 2022 alone, at least 42 independent abortion clinics have been forced to close or stop providing abortion care.

Despite ongoing challenges, we’ve seen the resilience of independent clinics and providers and heard the voices of voters and the public like never before. We need everyone in this fight to keep our clinics open.

The Future of Sex Education

If it’s been years—or decades—since you started a new school year, you may be surprised to learn that some areas of high school curriculum haven’t evolved for the better since you roamed the halls of your alma mater. This is especially true when it comes to sex education.

Young people today are less likely to receive instruction on key sex-education topics than they were 25 years ago. To get a sense of what the future of sex ed might look like, I interviewed several professionals and students about their own sex ed experiences and their visions on how sex ed can be improved.