Sex education is important and the Ontario government took a stand on this critical issue when they re-vamped the curriculum in 2015 to make it more comprehensive and reflect modern issues. Ontario readers know that the current Conservative government does not place the same value on comprehensive sex education and repealed the 2015 curriculum. They replaced it with something similar to the 1998 version; this outdated sex education curriculum ignores topics such as gender diversity, consent, and the correct names for body parts. The Ontario Teacher’s Union supported the updated curriculum and parents were consulted on every change but that did not stop the government from repealing the modern curriculum designed to help children navigate a digital world and keep them safe and healthy.
Why should we care about sex education? Is lecturing students about birth control, consent, and STIs even effective? The answers to these questions lie in academic journals and research papers that most Canadians do not have access to, or choose not to read. There were many updates to the 1998 curriculum, and one of the most important is the discussion of sexuality and gender diversity. Today we will discuss an article that examined the impact of sex education on lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual young women. Women and men both need to learn about sexual heath at school but the researchers choose to study females because they looked at outcomes such as birth control use, pregnancy, and pregnancy termination. These outcomes directly impact young women regardless of sexual orientation.
I was surprised to learn that lesbian and bisexual women stated that they engaged in sexual intercourse with a male partner earlier than straight women. Part of the joy of research is that you are constantly learning and your assumptions about a topic are often challenged. Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty, the researchers found different consequences of sexual education exposure for straight and sexual minority women. They also found that the timing of sex education is important, as sex education should occur before engaging in intercourse if it is to be most effective. This brings me to the first shocking finding: bisexual and homosexual young women were more likely to have received sex education after that had already had sexual intercourse with a male partner. Here I was thinking that homosexual women are completely uninterested in men and never engage sexually with them.
Sexual minority women and sexual minority men are often excluded from conversations and treated as an afterthought by society in general. It appears that the sexual health of bisexual and homosexual young women is not a priority for the current government and the statistics on their response to sex education is concerning. The study found that receiving sex education increased reports of pregnancy in sexual minority participants by 2.51 times. There is also some encouraging news, in general participants who received sex education were 1.44 times as likely to use birth control pills compared to those who did not.
I was surprised to learn that lesbian and bisexual women stated that they engaged in sexual intercourse with a male partner earlier than straight women. Part of the joy of research is that you are constantly learning and your assumptions about a topic are often challenged. Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty, the researchers found different consequences of sexual education exposure for straight and sexual minority women. They also found that the timing of sex education is important, as sex education should occur before engaging in intercourse if it is to be most effective. This brings me to the first shocking finding: bisexual and homosexual young women were more likely to have received sex education after that had already had sexual intercourse with a male partner. Here I was thinking that homosexual women are completely uninterested in men and never engage sexually with them.
Sexual minority women and sexual minority men are often excluded from conversations and treated as an afterthought by society in general. It appears that the sexual health of bisexual and homosexual young women is not a priority for the current government and the statistics on their response to sex education is concerning. The study found that receiving sex education increased reports of pregnancy in sexual minority participants by 2.51 times. There is also some encouraging news, in general participants who received sex education were 1.44 times as likely to use birth control pills compared to those who did not.
So you might ask, what is there to do? Fortunately the current sex education curriculum is temporary and it will be replaced. You can choose to vote, protest, and organize politically to have your voice heard and stand up for sexual minorities that are not represented in the current sex education curriculum. If you are still unconvinced, read the 2015 curriculum and see for yourself. The updated sex education curriculum also covers the topic of mental health and teaches children how to take care of their emotional, spiritual, and social well-being. It is a shame that people chose to protest the new curriculum without reading the document.
Bodnar, K., & Tornello, S. L. (2018). Does sex education help everyone?: Sex education exposure and timing as predictors of sexual health among lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual young women. Journal of Educational & Psychological Consultation,doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/10.1080/10474412.2018.1482219
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