Sexual Education in Canada and the U.S

Sex Education includes information and instruction on issues relating to human sexuality, human sexual anatomy, the age of consent, safe sex, sexual reproduction, reproductive health, reproductive rights, birth control and sexual abstinence. Commonly, avenues for sex education are parents or caregivers, formal school programs, and public health campaigns.

Canada

Beginning in the late 1960's, in response to the increased sexual activity and the accompanying increase in unplanned pregnancies, health professionals, educators, social workers, and parents cooperated to develop sex education programs. The Public Health Agency of Canada's (2008) Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education have been used by communities as a basis for the development of a consensus on the fundamental values that should be reflected in school-based sexual health education. The Guidelines were formulated to embody an educational philosophy that is inclusive, respects diversity, and reflects the fundamental precepts of education in a democratic society.

Current Curriculum

	The grade at which children are expected to know the names of all body parts:	The grade at which children are introduced to the concept of sexual orientation:	The grade at which children are introduced to the concept of gender identity:	The grade at which children are told about STIs and their prevention:	The grade at which children are told about Internet safety and/or sexting:	The grade at which children are told about birth control:	The grade at which children are expected to understand consent:	The grade at which children are told about sexual abuse:
Ontario	Grade 1	Grade 3	Grade 3	Grade 7	Grade 4	Grade 7	Grade 7 (some mention in Grade 2)	Grade 4
B.C	Kindergarten	Grade 6	Grade 6	Grade 6	Grade 4	Grade 6 (unclear)	Grade 8	Kindergarten
Alberta	Kindergarten	Unclear	Unclear	Grade 6	Unclear	Grade 8	Grade 8	Grade 8
Saskatchewan	Grade 5 (possibly earlier)	Grade 3	Grade 1	Grade 6	Grade 4	Grade 9	Grade 9	Grade 3
Manitoba	Kindergarten	Unclear	Grade 5	Grade 7	Unclear	Grade 7	Grade 5	Unclear
Quebec	By 5 years old	By 5 years old	Between ages 8 and 11 years old	Between 12-17 years old	Unclear, but strong focus on safety/exploitation starting in kindergarten	Between 12 and 17 years old	Between 10-11 years old	By 5 years old
New Brunswick	Grade 6	Grade 8	Grade 6	Grade 9 and 10	Unclear	Grade 9 and 10	Grade 7, emphasized in Grade 9 and 10	Grade 8
PEI	Grade 6	Grade 8	Unclear	Grade 8 (expected to understand abstinence in Grade 7)	Unclear	Grade 8 (expected to understand abstinence in Grade 7)	Grade 9	Grade 8
Nova Scotia	Grade 3	Grade 3	Grade 4	Between Grades 5 and 7: HIV/AIDS mentioned in Grade 5, consequences of sex in Grade 6, contraceptive methods in Grade 7	Grade 8	Grade 7	Grade 7	Grade 5
Newfoundland and Labrador	Grade 4	Grade 9 (may be mentioned earlier)	Unclear	Grade 7 (HIV/AIDS mentioned in Grade 5)	Unclear	Grade 8	Grade 8	Grade 2

Effectiveness

There is a large body evidence of peer-reviewed published studies measuring the behavioral impact of well-designed adolescent sexual health interventions that leads to the definitive conclusion that such programs can have a significant positive impact on sexual health behaviors (e.g., delaying first intercourse, increasing use of condoms). For example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Compendium of EvidenceBased HIV Prevention Interventions (CDC, 2008) includes programs for adolescents ". . .that have been rigorously evaluated and have demonstrated efficacy in reducing HIV or STD incidence or HIV-related risk behaviors or promoting safer behaviours" (online).

Criticisms

Although sex education is improving and despite the general support for it, there is no substantial agreement on either objectives or content of sex education. In addition, there is a shortage of qualified teachers. A survey of teacher-preparation institutions found but few offering courses specifically designed to prepare teachers of sex education and even fewer planning to do so. A knowledge gap can also be seen. For example, a 2002 study by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada revealed that there is a serious level of misinformation among secondary school students about the implications of risky sexual behavior (Boyce et al. 2003,). According to their findings, ‘less than half of Grade 9 students and slightly more than half of Grade 11 students know that Vaseline is not a good lubricant’. Even more troubling, two-thirds of Grade 7 students and one-half of Grade 9 students believe that there is a cure for HIV/AIDS (Boyce et al. 2003,).

LGBTQ Sex Education

Although many things in society have changed positively for those who associate with being LGBTQ, sexual education curriculums still lag behind. Often LGBTQ sexual education isn’t included or has sparse information about it in sex-ed curriculums because there are complications attached such as issues regarding religion, personal beliefs, identity, and etc.

United States

Current Curriculum

Commonly, American schools that have sexual education programs include "instruction on sexual health topics including human sexuality. HIV or STD prevention and pregnancy prevention are more commonly required in high school than in middle or elementary school". Some schools address sex-ed topics as early as grades 5 and 6, but not much is covered so it is not very significant. A large proportion of schools are doing little to prepare students in grades five and six for puberty, much less for dealing with pressures and decisions regarding sexual activity. What students learn varies widely in the United States because decisions are decentralized. States have differing laws governing what is taught or what is left opted out. Some state laws leave curriculum decisions to individual school districts.

Effectiveness

Children that receive sexual education or information on it are far less likely to engage in early sexual activity. And if they do, they’re far more likely to be responsible, to use appropriate methods of contraception or control. Also, providing sexual education has brought many positive outcomes. Improvements in contraceptive use have led to a decline in pregnancy rates from 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in 1990 to 68 per 1,000 in 2008. The majority (86%) of this decline was due to contraceptive use, and 14% to decreased sexual activity. The 2008 teenage abortion rate was 17.8 abortions per 1,000 women, or 59% lower than at its peak in 1988.

Abstinence only

Sometimes referred as Sexual Risk Avoidance Programs, teaches abstinence before marriage as the "only morally correct” option of sexual expression. Often information regarding contraception and condoms for the prevention of STDs and unintended pregnancy are censored or not mentioned. Although abstinence is theoretically fully effective, in actual practice abstinence often fails to protect against pregnancy and STIs. Few Americans remain abstinent until marriage; many do not or cannot marry, and most initiate sexual intercourse and other sexual behaviors as adolescents. Although abstinence is a healthy behavioral option for teens, abstinence as a sole option for adolescents is scientifically and ethically problematic. From 1998 to 2009, most federal funding for sexuality education focused almost exclusively on abstinence-only programs. The foundation was laid in 1981, when the United States Congress passed the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA). The purpose of the program was ‘to prevent premarital adolescent pregnancy by promoting the values of chastity and self-discipline, as well as to promote adoption as the preferred option for pregnant adolescents and to provide support for pregnant and parenting adolescents. The AFLA became a central organizing tool for subsidizing the developing abstinence‐only based curriculum in schools. Broadly, there are two kinds of abstinence‐based programs that operate in the United States: abstinence‐plus and abstinence only. Abstinence‐plus policies ‘promote abstinence as the preferred option for adolescents; this policy allows contraception to be discussed as effective in protecting against unintended pregnancy and STD or HIV’. Abstinence‐only policies ‘require that abstinence be taught as the only option outside of marriage; discussion of contraception is either prohibited or its ineffectiveness in preventing pregnancy and STIs or HIV is highlighted’.

Criticisms

The federal government has spent over a billion on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, and continues to pour large amounts of funding into these programs, despite the fact that no abstinence-only-until-marriage program has been proven effective and recent evidence shows negative effects on the health of young people. Also, Abstinence-only programs threaten fundamental human rights to health, information, and life. In contrast to the positive impact in delaying sexual intercourse seen with some comprehensive sexuality programs, no scientific evidence that abstinence-only programs demonstrate efficacy in delaying initiation of sexual intercourse was found. Other than the fact that information is distorted or dis-included as well, abstinence-only programs adversely impact not only sex education programs, but health programs too. This is largely due to the amount of funding that goes to abstinence-only programs.

Comprehensive Sex Education

Comprehensive Sex Education addresses age-appropriate physical, mental, emotional and social dimensions of human sexuality. This approach teaches about abstinence as the best method for avoiding STDs and unintended pregnancy but also teaches about condoms and contraception to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and of infection with STDs, including HIV. It also teaches interpersonal and communication skills and helps young people explore their own values, goals, and options. Information given regarding risk, prevention, and responsible behavior is intended for promoting healthy decision-making.

LGBTQ Sex Education

LGBTQ sex education is included some parts in some curriculums, often the community or aspects of it are painted in a negative way. Most middle and high school students report that they've never been taught anything positive about LGBTQ people, history or events. Moreover, most students don't have access to such courses because of laws that explicitly prohibit the development and implementation of such curriculums. Eight states that have such laws are Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.