COMMUNITY BENEFITS
Incorporating comprehensive sex education into curriculum beginning as early as kindergarten benefits larger communities as a whole. One such benefit is a change in community norms.
The greatest positive change in community norms that comes from comprehensive sex education is when the prevalence of rape and violence, and the acceptance of said rape and violence, in our culture is challenged. Sexual harassment, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence are all too common in our society. Too many people turn a blind eye to sexual harassment in the workplace, or don’t speak up when they see a friend engage in nonconsensual activity. Comprehensive sex education programs have the power to change that.
In 2005, a bystander intervention program was successful in significantly affecting participants’ knowledge of sexual violence, date rape myth acceptance, and bystander efficacy over time. Participants in both treatment groups knew more about sexual violence, were less likely to endorse rape myths, and had a greater sense of efficacy intervening as a bystander after completion of the program. These effects continued to last even after the participants were no longer in the program as well; most program effects persisted at four and twelve month follow-ups (Banyard, Plante, & Moynihan, 2005).
Comprehensive sex education equips young people with the necessary knowledge and skills to challenge societal norms, prevent sexual assault and intimate partner violence, and maintain healthier relationships (Banyard, Plante, & Moynihan, 2005; Rollston, Wilkinson, Abouelazm, Mladenov, Horanieh, & Jabbarpour, 2020).
Comprehensive sex education also leads to another positive change in community norms, which is greater sexual satisfaction and self-efficacy amongst the individuals in our society.
Good-quality sex education increases sexual enjoyment later in life by helping students develop the confidence to carry out positive sexual health behaviors (Schalet, 2011; Nurgitz, Pacheco, Senn, & Hobden, 2021). In a study conducted in 2021, it was found that the quality of sex education that an individual recieves is positively correlated to increases in their self-efficacy, sexual confidence, and levels of sexual satisfaction (Nurgitz, Pacheco, Senn, & Hobden, 2021).
It is important to cover topics of sex education in a safe and accepting instructional environment in order to give students the confidence to go at their own pace and avoid being swayed by social pressures, skills that are important to the development of satisfying sexual relationships in adulthood (Nurgitz, Pacheco, Senn, & Hobden, 2021). Conveying acceptance of teen sexuality encourages students to ask questions and seek guidance when needed, which increases their chances of not only learning but also applying that learning in their adult lives.
As a result of access to medically accurate, sex-positive, consent-based sex education, communities experience positive changes in legislation.
As it currently stands, federal legislation is not supportive of comprehensive sex education, nor is it supportive of changing the conversation surrounding consent, sexual harassment, or assault. At the federal level, the statute that defines sexual assault contains no actual definition for sexual consent. In fact, the word consent does not appear at all in the federal statutes describing the two major classes of sexual assault (18 U.S.C. § 2241, 2018; 18 U.S.C. § 2242, 2018).
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This legislation is disappointing to many.
However, the recent ‘Me Too Movement’ has demonstrated that changes in legislation are possible when society is more knowledgeable and aware. A review conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts found at least 32 lawmakers who left office, or lost influential positions in legislatures, in the face of sexual harassment accusations (Beitsch, 2018).
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The ‘Me Too Movement’ has also been cited in passing legislation to improve the testing of rape kits and to extend the statute of limitations for victims who want to file civil lawsuits against their abusers (Beitsch, 2018). The ‘Me Too Movement’ brought knowledge and awareness to larger society about the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault, and as a result some legislation changed for the better.
If all students were to have access to comprehensive sex education, then perhaps a more educated society would also advocate for more positive changes in legislation as well.
