There is no denying sexually explicit or suggestive content is everywhere around us. Daily, we are bombarded with sex in media, entertainment and in the marketing of goods and services.
Sex is all around us, yet we hesitate to talk about in public forums.
For the youth in our community, what is the responsibility of school systems to educate students about how to break through the sensitivity and discomfort of “the sex talk?”
“We can relate sexual health to everything. It is a core piece of being human,” said Taryn Gal, MPH, CPH, CHES, executive director at the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH).
“It really relates to everything we do. It’s mental health, emotional health, physical health. There has been so much put on in terms of shame and stigma around sexual health, whether it be on behaviors or sexual orientation. We need to talk about it and normalize it.”
Founded in 2008, MOASH is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring young people have access to medically accurate, research-informed sexual health services and education that is developmentally appropriate and inclusive across the spectrum of sexuality.
“Our work is trauma-informed and affirming of all young people, especially those who’ve been silenced or ignored or not have their voices heard in these spaces,” said Gal. “We do a lot of work centering the voices of the LGBTQIA+ youth and youth of color, expectant parenting youth, and disabled youth.”
Under Michigan law, comprehensive sexual education is not mandatory according to the current revised School Code (PA 451 of 1976) and State School Aid Act (PA 94 of 1979) provisions regarding the teaching of HIV/AIDS, sex education, health education and physical education in state-area schools.
However, HIV and STI education in school is legally required to inform adolescents on “[dangerous] communicable diseases; human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency virus infection.”
Abstinence from sex is heavily stressed during school instructions on sexual health. The policy justifies this by saying abstinence is a “responsible and effective method for restriction and prevention of these diseases and is a positive lifestyle for unmarried young people.”
Since 1981, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars on abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) programs despite studies suggesting the no-sex curricula does not stop teens from having sex.
“Largely, we need to know young people have informed education on sex before stepping into sexual lives,” said Myriha Shephard-Burton, program coordinator at Teen Hype.
“Not everything important is taught in schools. It’s important to try engaging young people because they are already talking about, sometimes already sexually active. It only does a disservice to have young folks get their education from the world, mostly their peers or the internet, and most of those messages they receive aren’t healthy models needed to build and maintain healthy relationships.”
Teen Hype is a Detroit-based organization serving 1,500 youth per year and in 2022 worked with an estimated 15 middle and high schools. They offer several in-school and after-school programs on life-skills and discussion on sex education and leadership building in comprehensive sex education with tools including self-advocacy and assessing risk and consent.
For parents/guardians concerned about available sex education programs at local schools, Michigan requires an opt-out policy for teachers to need written permission from parents/guardians to allow their child to participate in partial or any sex education class instruction.
According to a country-wide policy brief collected by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), most states have policies regarding parental consent for sex education, with the majority favoring opt-out—including Michigan.
Bringing Comprehensive Sex Education to your School District
A 2018 national survey conducted by GfK on behalf of Planned Parenthood found that a majority of 1,001 voters aged 18 years and over said that it was “very” or “somewhat” important to have sex education: 89 percent approval for middle school and 98 percent approval for high schools.
Comprehensive sex education in Michigan schools is left up to the discretion of school districts. The Michigan Department of Education mandates that school districts cannot offer sex education instruction unless a Sex Education Advisory Board (SEAB) is established by the board of the school district.
“Sex education law in Michigan is very local,” said Gal. “So, it’s a very powerful decision. It’s really based on where you are in Michigan. Even… Southeastern Michigan has a broad variety of what districts decide to offer if they decide to offer anything.”
The SEAB would be responsible for outlining best practices and permissible topics in the curriculum. The board will be appointed two co-chairs, at least one of the board chairs and half of the general board members need to be a parent of a child attending a school in the district.
A comprehensive sex education curriculum can include topics ranging beyond sexual and reproductive health and STI/HIV, but can include trauma-informed lessons on relationships, LGBTQ+ inclusive content and navigating bodily autonomy and consent.
“The biggest misconception about sex ed is that because we want to educate, then we are encouraging youth to engage in sex,” said Kalya Shannon, 21, a youth co-facilitator of MOASH’s Racial Equity Council.
“In actuality, youth who are more educated in sex are more likely to refrain from having it because they fully understand the severity and responsibility that comes with it,” she said.
“The information that is out there, whether it be the internet or porn, is very heteronormative, male focused. The state policy is fear-based abstinence and not doing us any favors to not talk about it, when like it or not, youth are curious. Everyone has the right to know and protect their bodies.”
