systems; (b) the menstrual cycle; (c)
hormones that regulate the system;
(d) fertilization and early cleavage;
(e) implantation; (f) the role of the
placenta; (g) stages of embryo and
fetal development; (h) general prob-
lems of pregnancy; (i) chromosomal
sex determination; (j) multiple em-
bryos; (k) the birthprocess; (1)genetic
abnormalities; and (m) intrauterine
medicine, such as amniocentesis, Rh
incompatibility,and others.
3. Sexual topics relating to growth
and development, including: (a) sex-
ual differences in growth curves; (b)
puberty and menarche; and (c) sec-
ondary sexual characteristics.
4. Venereal diseases.
Category II: Topics that are very
controversial but are of high interest
to students. These topics usually can-
not be included in life science or bio-
IntegratingSex Educationintothe K-12 Curriculum
DerekL. Burleson
Phi DeltaKappa
Bloomington, Indiana
Eachof the speakerson the panel
has made importantpoints,but all of
themgive me some problems.
Mayer'scase for sex educationis
eloquentand compelling.The shock-
ing butveryrealstatisticson venereal
disease,teenage pregnancy,and the
batteredchildare indicatorsof social
problemsthat have plagued us for
many yearsand that show littlesigns
of subsiding.Certainlythey need our
attention. However, I question
whetherschool-basedsex education
programsare going to solve these
difficult problems-as Mayer be-
lieves.
In the case of VD, I suggestthat,at
least initially,a successfuleducation
programcould lead to an increasein
the reportedincidenceof VD. One of
logy textbooks,but dependingupon
the philosophyand skillof the teach-
er and the attitudesof the school ad-
ministratorsand community, they
can often be taughtwithsupplemen-
tal materialsor with the help of re-
sourcepersons.Theyinclude:
1. Methodsof contraception;
2. Abortion;
3. Religiousattitudespertainingto
contraceptionand abortion;
4. Sex in relationto marriage;
experiments;
5. In vitrofertilization
6. Experimentswith in vitro hu-
man development;
7. Experimentswith artificialim-
plantation;
8. Sperm banks, fatherless chil-
dren, and the changingattitudesto-
wardparenthood.
CategoryIII:Topicsso emotionally
chargedthat they are consideredin
the realm of pornographyby a sub-
the mainobjectivesof a good VD ed-
ucationprogramis to convincepeo-
ple to go to a doctor or a public
health clinicif they have VD symp-
toms, and to get them to reporttheir
contacts.Once this is accomplished,
the individualand his/her contacts
become a publichealthstatistic.Pub-
lic healthofficersview VD as an epi-
demiologicalproblem,and statistics
are essential for their work. Yet, it
is paradoxicalto some that VD edu-
cation programs and media cam-
paigns can lead to increasedrather
than decreasedratesof incidence,at
leastat the outset.
Ifyou followmy logic,you can see
how this happens. Educationpro-
grams have convinced people that
they can be treatedquicklyand con-
fidentiallyif they go to theirdoctoror
publichealthclinic.Once treated,of
course, they become a statistic.To
me, thisis good education.
With teenage pregnancy,we still
stantialsegment of the population,
and that thereforeare unlikelyto be
tolerated in the large majorityof
science or biology curricula.These
topicsinclude:
1. Roleof foreplayin coitus;
2. Erogenouszones and types of
manipulation;
3. The roleof fantasy;
4. The natureof sexualclimax;
5. Oral-analsex;
6. Groupsex;
7. Positionsforcoitus;
8. The effectof drugson coitus;
9. Male-femalehomosexuality;
10. Age in relationto sexual re-
sponse.
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11. Frigidityand impotence;
12. Appropriateness of coitus
during early or old age, menstrua-
tion,and pregnancy;
13. Sex occupations-surrogates,
prostitutesand so on.
have the vindictiveattitudethat the
penalty a young woman must pay
before she can have access to con-
traceptionis one pregnancyor one
abortion.Withholdingcontraceptive
informationand services has never
been and willneverbe a constraintto
adolescent sexual activity. Helping
young women take the responsibility
fortheirown sexualityjustmight.We
have yet to testthathypothesis.
My reservationsregardingMayer's
defense of sex education in the
schools concernmotivationand per-
spective. I am as concerned with
those shockingstatisticsas he is, but
I doubtthatthe "scaretactic"type of
motivationwill result in the kind of
instructionalprogramin human sex-
uality that we really need. "Scare
tactics" are necessary to convince
some people, but I have seen some
of the crashsex educationprograms
based on such tactics,and the kids
willtellyou they areone bigjoke.
CONTROVERSIES 313
 The alternative is a sex education
programthat is carefullyplanned and
integrated in the K-12 health and
science curricula with content and
teaching methods appropriate to the
physical and emotional growth of
children and young people. Such
developmental programs exist in
some school systems, but they are
not necessarily labeled sex educa-
tion. Isn't it time that the central role
of human sexuality in the life cycle
is treated in a natural and dignified
manner devoid of the subterfugeswe
have used in the past?
McAuley tells us he has been
trained as a scientist who deals with
facts. He feels that sex education in
the schools should be limited to the
biological facts of human reproduc-
tion. He acknowledges, however,
that sexuality also touches on many
value issues in which the school, as
an agent of the government, has no
business meddling. He is concerned
about indoctrinationby the state, and
about the violation of parents' rights
in the moral education of their chil-
dren. These are legitimate concerns
in a democratic society. However,
our schools do not operate in a value-
less vacuum. Our schools reinforce
the values of parents and the broader
community and not infrequently
instill a few values that parents have
A Responseand A Proposal
Norman D. Anderson
North CarolinaState University
Raleigh
Mayerhas used two examples,in-
creases in venereal disease and
increasesin teenage pregnancies,to
make a strong argument for our
schools' providing more effective
instructionin the area of sex educa-
tion. Smallwood,by presentingthree
categories of topics, has given us
some idea of whatmightbe included
in sex educationunder varyingsets
of conditions. McAuley feels very
314 THE AMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER, MAY 1978
neglected, such as manners or cor-
rect speech. McAuley is, I suspect,
concerned about sexual values and
the conflicting and often controver-
sial views surrounding topics includ-
ing premarital sex, abortion, and
homosexuality.
Dealing with controversialissues is
not a new thing in our schools.
Teachers, especially in the social stu-
dies, have had long experience in
handling controversial political top-
ics. Many school districtshave written
policies on the treatment of contro-
versial issues, the essence of these is
that schools and teachers must pro-
ject a neutral view, but at the same
time see that both sides or many
points of view are presented when
dealing with controversial issues.
Many teachers have, in addition,
received training in values clarifica-
tion techniques that are useful in
helping one to understand values
and value choices.
Today's young people are ex-
posed to sexual issues from every
point of view through the mass me-
dia. What are they to make of these
issues? Where else can they test
their ideas, sort out the conflicting
opinions, formulate rationales for
their own behavior. I submit that the
school provides a forum for this kind
of process; moreover, the school is
strongly that sex education should be
limited to the biological facts of the
reproductioncycle.
There are undoubtedly hundreds
of ways one could respond to these
three presentations and considerably
differing points of view. The central
point of the issue, however, seems to
center around the teacher. How can
the individualscience teacher resolve
the issue of what to teach? Which of
Smallwood's topics are to be in-
cluded, and which are to be left out?
One is tempted to suggest this is a
local problem and should be resolved
within each community. Although
negligent if it avoids this important
responsibility.
Smallwood has been courageous
in trying to delineate what can and
what cannot be taught in a sex edu-
cation course. As a biology teacher,
his choice of topics seems appro-
priate so far as it goes. As a textbook
writer,he exercises the conservatism
that is required to have a textbook
adopted widely. But, as any exper-
ienced sex education teacher can tell
you, if you run a dialogue-centered
classroom, curious young minds are
not going to stick to the text, nor are
they going to be satisfied with strictly
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biological approaches to sexuality.
Some of Smallwood's "forbidden"
topics will surface. They may not
be in the formal curriculum,but they
are on the minds of young people. I
am not advocating that they should
be in the curriculum,but I hope that
teachers who are conducting sex ed-
ucation classes will be prepared to
handle questions on these topics
when they arise with accuracy and
objectivity.
In conclusion, I hope that it will not
be too long before we can start to
concentrate on "What Constitutes a
Good Sex Education Program?"
rather than on "Should the Schools
Teach Sex Education?"
this approach has merit and often
has the enthusiastic support of those
who wish to restrictsex education to
the "basic facts," local control has its
limitations. The parents of students
in a given science classroom may
have views differing as much as
those represented by Mayer and
McAuley. What is the science teacher
to do in that kind of situation?
It also should be pointed out that
groups that advocate local control
often are busy behind the scenes try-
ing to get state and federal legislation
passed that would greatly restrictthe
scope of sex education.