There’s a renewed effort on Beacon Hill to create a statewide, comprehensive curriculum for sex education. But it’s not entirely clear whether such an effort is necessary or welcome.
Some form of sex ed or “health class” is taught in most middle and high schools in Massachusetts. But the curricula aren’t consistent, and some say, aren’t enough.
"The only sexual education that I got came from volunteer groups," said 19-year-old Astrid Pena. "And when we would ask questions they said, 'Oh, we can’t answer that.'"
Pena grew up in Jamaica Plain and attended Catholic and public schools. She says her sex education was all about what not to do.
“But they never spoke about it being something human, or it’s ok to feel this and it’s ok to feel that, and people your age are going to be curious," she said. "They made it seem like this is the information you need, and hold off on exploring for as long as you can."
Contrast that with the sex ed curriculum taught at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School.
"We mean this genuinely when we say to the kids, we want you to have amazing sex,” said Sarah Greeley, who teaches "wellness" at Lincoln-Sudbury, where students take at least 10 classes on sexuality before they graduate.
“We want you to have sex that feels good and is fun, and we reduce the risk as much as possible," Greeley said. "When do you have that amazing, mind-blowing sex? Well, that’s part of what makes it good, knowing when you’re developmentally ready.”
Wellness at Lincoln-Sudbury covers a wide range of topics — from exercise to birth control. And student questions are encouraged.
"I would love to see schools commit to giving quality health education program," said Susan Shields, head of the Wellness Department at Lincoln-Sudbury. "A curriculum — so it’s not the one-time shot of bringing in a consultant: 'Oh, we’re going to have a speaker about about dating violence.' It’s looking at their school and thinking about it from a comprehensive standpoint.”
Massachusetts has a 65-page "Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework," but schools aren’t required to use it. According to state law, each of the 351 cities and towns in the commonwealth decides what to teach and how.
“If they decide within a school district that they’re going to teach health education, then my bill asks that it be comprehensive,” said Democratic state Rep. James O’Day of West Boylston, next to Worcester. And the key word here is “comprehensive.” O’Day is sponsoring a bill that would set uniform standards for health classes.
“We’re not only talking about abstinence, and that we’re not just talking about sex," he said. "We want conflict resolution, healthy relationships, contraception.”
O’Day’s major concern is that some schools are teaching abstinence but not birth control. In addition to teaching both, his bill requires that all classes be medically accurate and age-appropriate. And parents will still have the ability to opt out, like those who think it’s the parents’ — not the schools’ — job to teach children about sex. But O’Day is skeptical.
“I don’t think all our parents are taking the time and the effort to really have heart-to-heart conversations with their children about how do you protect yourself, what’s the difference between contraception and abstinence, and really having those talks,” he said.
What students are currently taught statewide is hard to pin down. Although the Department of Education has some stats from high schools that self-report.
“Fifty-three percent required students to take two or more health education courses,” said Katie Millett, director of the state Office for Nutrition, Health and Safety. "And 74 percent taught nine key pregnancy, HIV, or other STD prevention topics in a required course."
The bill is currently in the House Ways and Means Committee, which is determining whether it will cost the state anything to implement a health education curriculum. The bigger challenge may be defining what comprehensive sex ed really is and whether it’s even necessary to mandate.
