IT'S NOT A STORK

It's Not a Stork: The Effects of Virginia’s Sexual Education Program

Harleigh A. Britt

Legal Studies Academy

First Colonial High School

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Abstract

This paper will explore the topic of sexual education in schools, including the differences

between comprehensive sex education, and abstinence-only programs and their effects on

teenagers. An analysis of several pieces of legislation protecting these programs, as well as a

precedent case will be presented. Both sides of sexual education will be explored, and the

differences made clear by the author. The analysis of both forms of education will show the

many effects on students that both programs have, including lower or higher teen pregnancy

and STI rates based on what is taught in each program. The author will end the analysis with a

focus on the state and sexual education system in Virginia.

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It's Not a Stork: The Effects of Virginia’s Sexual Education

As children, the old-as-time saying of the ‘stork bringing home a baby’ is thought to be

perfectly reasonable. How else would a baby come home? As these same children grow older,

they enter school-age and ask themself, “Was it a stork?” The questions that come from the

curiosity of a child. This curiosity, through education, can grow and help the child, or be shot

down as quickly as the question came up. The topic of sexual education and comprehensive

knowledge of sex in schools is not one taken lightly. For decades, abstinence was and still is

taught as the only way to go. This one-way path down a multiple-lane road is one that can hurt

a child’s curiosity and allow for an unsafe and unknowledgeable future.

Sexual education, or family life education as it's more often referred to, is defined as,

the teaching to school-age students the basic knowledge of their bodies, relationships,

emotions, and many more essential topics. In the Virginia Department of Education’s Standard

of Learning for Family Life Education, sexual education is defined as “instruction as appropriate

for the age of the student in family living and community relationships; the benefits, challenges,

responsibilities, and value of marriage for men, women, children, and communities; the value

of family relationships; abstinence education; the value of postponing sexual activity…” (VDOE,

2020)

Abstinence-ONLY

Abstinence-only based programs are also referred to as “sexual risk avoidance

programs.” These high school programs teach abstinence as the only safe and morally

acceptable way to keep students safe from unwanted pregnancies and STIs, while completely

neglecting to teach about different forms of contraception. Historically, the federal government
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has given funding to strictly abstinence-only programs who adhere to the 8-point definition,

sometimes referred to as the

A-H definition. Programs qualified for funding must ensure that (Social Security Act, 1935):

A.) has as it's exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health

gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;

B.) teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected

standard for all school-age children;

C.) teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid

out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, and other associated

health problems;

D.) teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of

marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity

E.) teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have

harmful psychological and physical effects;

F.) teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful

consequences for the child, the child’s parent, and society;

G.) teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and

drug use increase vulnerability to sexual advances, and

H.) teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual

activity.

Abstinence-Plus
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Planned Parenthood defines comprehensive sex education as “high-quality teaching and

learning about a broad variety of topics related to sex and sexuality, exploring values and

beliefs about those topics and gaining the skills that are needed to navigate relationships and

manages one’s sexual health” (What Is Sex Education? n.d.). Similarly to abstinence education,

comprehensive sexual education has a list of standards of learning for their curriculum,

outlining what should be being taught to those in a comprehensive program (National

Sexuality, 2011):

1.) Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention

to enhance health.

2.) Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and

other factors on health behaviors.

3.) Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information and products and

services to enhance health.

4.) Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to

enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

5.) Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.

6.) Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health.

7.) Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid

or reduce health risks.

8.) Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community

health.
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Through comprehensive sexual education, students are given medically accurate, and age-

appropriate information about refraining from sexual activity, but they are also educated and

given resources about contraceptive options, and sex-safe practices. Instruction on topics such

as reducing unplanned pregnancies and preventing STI’s are provided through these programs,

that wouldn’t normally be found in an abstinence-only curriculum.

Effects on students in schools

A mere 22 states in America require that, if taught, sex education must be medically, or

“technically correct.” Many states define their medically accurate information by the standards

of the Department of Health’s review, to ensure accuracy. Other states allow the information to

be based on information from published authorities, whom medical professionals can rely on.

In a 2002 study done by the Unversity of Washington, teens who received

comprehensive sex education were 60% less likely to report unplanned pregnancy compared to

those who received little to no sexual education.

According to the National Library of Medicine, the United States has one of the highest

rates of STDs and pregnancies among teens in the world.

A report in the Journal of Adolescent Health, done in 2008, showed that comprehensive

sex education, with the information given about the forms of contraception, lead to teens

having lower percentages of unplanned pregnancies, as compared to those who were given an

abstinence-only education, or not sexual education at all. Students were provided with options

and information that helped them to be more prepared as teenagers, and as adults. They were

given an in-depth education that will allow them to be adequately informed about their options

regarding their sexual health.

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Legal Aspects

In 2014, a precedent case of American Academy of Pediatrics v. Clovis United School

District, the Gay-Straight Alliance of CUSD, several parents and the American Academy of

Pediatrics filed a lawsuit against the school district for providing students with only abstinence

education and giving their students misinformation about sexual health and forms of

contraception. This case set a precedent as the first of it's kind and allowed for laws in

California that made “medically accurate, science-based and bias-free” comprehensive sexual

education in schools mandatory.

In 1998, federal funding was provided for abstinence-only education programs, those

same programs that followed the A-H definition. This funding was part of Section 510, or Title

V, and gave $50 million of annual funding to these programs. The funding of these programs

will show that the federal government will not support comprehensive sexual education

programs, and instead supports the teachings of abstinence and that out-of-wedlock sexual

activity will have many harmful effects on students later in life. This shows the favoritism

towards abstinence-only programs and disregards the agenda of combating teen pregnancy

and STI’s.

In Virginia

Students in Virginia are provided with an abstinence-only curriculum in school. Students are

taught to refrain from sexual activity until marriage, and as teenagers age, this will be proven to

not be very effective as a way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs.

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Sexual education is not something that is normally and widely spoken about. Many

people tend to push the importance of these programs to the back burner and miss entirely the

issues presented with a “closed” form of sexual education. Allowing students access to

important information and education is helping to prepare them for a safe and healthy life, well

into adulthood. Limiting these students to a curriculum that doesn’t give them the proper,

medically accurate, unbiased, and comprehensive information regarding their sexual health,

emotional health, and many other topics sets them up for a future that will be consequently,

detrimental for them. All students, no matter what school or what state they live in, should

have access to a sexual education program that sets their future up for success. It's time that

students be given the comprehensive education they need, and it's finally time for students,

and adults alike, to experience a safe, and knowledgeable future.

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References

America's sex education: How we are failing our students. (n.d.). USC University of South

Carolina. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://nursing.usc.edu/blog/americas-sex-

education/

Impacts of four title v, section 510 abstinence education programs. title v, section 510 funding.

(1998). Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

https://aspe.hhs.gov/report/impacts-four-title-v-section-510-abstinence-education-

programs/title-v-section-510-funding#:~:text=Beginning%20in%20fiscal%20year

%201998,standard%20for%20school%2Dage%20children.

Leung, H., Shek, D. T., Leung, E., & Shek, E. Y. (2019, February 16). Development of Contextually-

relevant Sexuality Education: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review of Adolescent

Sexuality Education Across Cultures. US National Library of Medicine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6406865/

National Sexuality Education Standards. (2011). Advocates For Youth.

https://advocatesforyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/josh-fose-standards-

web.pdf

Planned parenthood glossary. (n.d.). Planned Parenthood. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/glossary

State personal responsibility education program. (2020, October 6). Family and Youth Services

Bureau. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/fysb/resource/prep-fact-sheet#:~:text=Through

%20the%20State%20Personal%20Responsibility,)%2C%20including%20HIV%2FAIDS.
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State policies on sex education in schools. (2020, October 1). NCSL.

https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-policies-on-sex-education-in-schools.aspx

Teen pregnancy prevention program. (n.d.). Office of Population Affairs.

https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs/teen-pregnancy-prevention-program-tpp

What is Sex Education? (n.d.). Planned Parenthood.

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/for-educators/what-sex-education