The reliably controversial question of adolescent sex education has long revolved around birth control and abstinence education. But for parents of children raised on smartphones and social media, the new sex-ed conundrum has more to do with issues like sexting, bullying, and porn. A three-year study on teen sexting published in 2012 found that 57 percent of the high schoolers in the group had been asked for a naked picture of themselves. More than a quarter of those in the study (28 percent) had complied and almost a third (31 percent) had asked for such photos themselves.
So how can parents and communities usher their sons and daughters into the world of sexual relations while protecting them from harm or hurting others? Since 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken a multi-pronged approach that leverages parents, schools, local health departments, and positive peer pressure in a preventive program called Dating Matters.
During its five-year, four-city pilot, the CDC is focusing on preventing dating violence among middle-schoolers in Baltimore, Chicago, Oakland, and Fort Lauderdale. As part of follow-up research to assess the program’s effectiveness, the pilot will compare an eighth-grade-only program in schools with a comprehensive approach spanning three grades and multiple spheres of influence.
The latter model starts in sixth grade, when students—and their parents, as necessary—start learning about healthy relationships. From there, the program expands to topics like unhealthy relationships (with both romantic partners and substances), concluding with a section on “safe dates” in eighth grade.
While the Dating Matters trial (which concludes in 2016) focuses on stopping violence before it starts, the authors of Mating Intelligence Unleashed want to stop violence upstream by changing the attitudes it stems from. In the concluding chapter to their book, evolutionary psychologists Glenn Geher and Scott Barry Kaufman argue that “sex education for adolescents should shift to mating education.”
The New Sex Education Focuses on Preventing Violence
Last edited {1}
Attachments
Images (1)
Comments (0)