Sex Education in Hawaii
When I was in 7th grade, my health teacher gave everyone in the class this birth control chart detailing the effectiveness of each birth control, the side effects, and how the birth control was being used.
I distinctly remember trying to choose my preferred method of birth control through element of elimination. I removed the pill, patch, and ring because their use increased the risk of blood clots in the veins and their almost 1/10 chance of getting pregnant. I immediately removed all the least effective methods of birth control–even at 12 years old, I was determined to make a well informed decision.
At the end, I felt split between an intrauterine device (IUD) and a Nexplanon implant. For my adolescent imagination, the invasiveness of inserting an object up into my uterus didn’t sit well in my stomach. So I decided, at the age of 12, that I’d be using the Nexplanon implant once I became sexually active. The implant is a 4 cm long flexible rod that is inserted in your upper arm. Six years later, at my first visit to the gynecologist, my very first Nexplanon implant was inserted into my upper arm.
The content of sex education varies widely from state to state as there are no federal regulations on the education requirements for sex education and these decisions are made at either a state or local level. In 2015, Hawaii’s Board of Education policy was updated such that sexual health education taught the following:
- age appropriate, medically accurate health education
- stresses that abstinence is the surest way to prevent STDs and unintended pregnancies
- contraception
- methods of infection prevention to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI)
- human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- include age appropriate, medically accurate health education
- Parent’s may “opt-out” of their child if they so desire
When I was 12, I was very impressed with the resources my teacher had given me. But I have now realized that there were so many nuances that weren’t discussed in our health class that should have been. The side effects of hormonal birth control are a lot more complicated than just blood clots, it can also decrease the attraction women might have to their partner, making women 10 percent less accurate in their emotional recognition. Birth control has serious effects on how we regulate emotions, or cause depression. My education had not been LGBTQA+ inclusive–the sex education content was made only for cis-gendered, heterosexuals. Including accurate representation of transgender, lesbian, gay, disability communities is very important in destigmatizing and promoting sexual health. Additionally, it is vital that our sex education classes cover the importance of consent.
Sex Education Policies from State to State
Sex education varies widely from state to state as there are no federal policies indicating how sex education should be taught. Our education has a significant impact on our perception of the world around us and can have serious societal impacts. As a small case study, let’s take a look at the relationship between sex education policies in other states and their correlation with teen pregnancies.
- Arkansas has 27.8 births per 1,000 teenage girls. The following are Arkansas’ sexual education policies
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- Arkansas law does not require schools to teach sex education or HIV or other STIs instruction.
- The option to either Opt-in or Opt-out of sexual health education and HIV
- Instruction regarding contraception is not addressed.
- Abstinence is a required topic of instruction for sexual health education and HIV Prevention.
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- Mississippi has 27.9 births per 1,000 teenage girls. The following are Mississippi’s sex ed policies.
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- Mississippi schools are required to teach sex education.
- Curriculum is not required to include instruction on consent.
- Schools must receive written permission from a parent or guardian before a student can participate in a sex education course. This is referred to as an “opt-in” policy.
- Mississippi has no regulation regarding medically accurate instruction.
- Curriculum must stress abstinence through “abstinence-only” or “abstinence-plus” instruction.
- Promote heterosexual marriage.
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- California has 9.9 births per 1,000 teenage girls. The following are California’s sex ed policies.
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- California schools are required to teach sex education.
- Sex education instruction must be comprehensive.
- Curriculum must discuss abstinence.
- Curriculum must be culturally inclusive of students of all sexual orientations and gender identities, include instruction on gender identity and expression, and when providing examples of relationships and couples, include examples of same-sex relationships.
- Curriculum must include instruction that provides students with “knowledge and skills they need to form healthy relationships that are based on mutual respect and affection, and are free from violence, coercion, and intimidation.”
- Parents or guardians can “opt-out” children from sex education instruction.
- Sex education instruction must be medically accurate.
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In Mean Girls Coach Carr “Don’t have Sex”, shows a comical yet accurate representation of sex education in America.
Societies Perception of Sex is Perpetuated by Biases in Sex Education
In class, we saw how Pamela Nettleton’s “Brave Sperm and Demure Eggs Fallopian Gender Politics on Youtube” demonstrated the ways the heteronormative stereotypes influence the teaching of human fertilization. The word of science has a lot of power in shaping how our society views the world and the “natural” state of things. Imposing gender scripts into science obscures the common understanding of gender.
That being said, the way we teach sexual education is also crucial in shaping societal outcomes and societal perceptions of sex, as we have seen in Arkansas and Mississippi. Only 19 states require that the sex education taught is medically accurate. In Arkansas, the absence of instruction on contraception and focus on only abstinence leaves the students with limited information to make the best decisions regarding their sexual health. Even with states teaching about contraception, there is often slut shaming undertones and abstinence is treated as the morally correct path.
Nettleton’s insights into the influence of gender stereotypes in teaching human fertilization resonate in the context of sex education policies. Even more so than science, government policies and education policies are deeply tied to societal narratives of gender and sexuality. These policies then perpetuate traditional expectations around sexuality and have serious societal implications as we only briefly saw with teen pregnancy rates. In Nettleton’s analysis, we saw that while medical textbooks have changed their language hinder the influence of heteronormative stereotypes, many YouTube videos are still maintaining those influences. I believe it is important to educate students with the most medically accurate knowledge; sexual education should be inclusive and comprehensive so that we can empower students to make informed decisions about their bodies and relationships.
Sources:
- https://rhntc.org/resources/birth-control-methods-options-chart?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social
- https://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/TeachingAndLearning/HealthAndNutrition/sexed/Pages/default.aspx
- https://sexeducationcollaborative.org/states/mississippi
- https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/facts-american-teens-sources-information-about-sex
- https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ed634cf870724768ad832464b905d7da
- https://sexeducationcollaborative.org/states/california
It was eye opening to read about your sex education experience and the considerations you were making at a young age with the limited information you had, and then to think that a lot of people aren’t even given that starting education. Do you think the lack of information about some of the nuanced effects of hormonal birth control and absence of LGBTQA+ inclusive content has influenced your perspective on sex education and sexual health now that you’re older? I know that in my experience I wasn’t taught a lot about the ways different birth controls – which their use is often considered common practice – can have side effects on a person’s body physically but also emotionally and mentally, and it was something I had to research myself and decide on my own as I got older while also experiencing added pressures from my own doctor. I think a more in depth education could be very beneficial to students, but also a non-biased approach is important for controlling and dispelling social stigma within society as well.
I actually was given this exact table when I was in sex Ed! And because of it, I too wanted to go on birth control. In fact, I actually did go on birth control on September 8th last year. I had an IUD implanted since at the time I was in a heterosexual-passing relationship, and I wanted to lighten my extremely heavy period. All those things considered, it was a rough road toward getting that medical care. In particular, my sister had an adverse mental health reaction to the pill, so that sparked a huge conflict between us because she was worried I would struggle severely with my mental health like she did. What I later learned was that negative reactions in one family member make it more likely that you will have the same negative reaction, as such I am glad I chose the IUD. However, before I got it I was definitely worried it was going to be a horror show. Why? Because I had heard horror stories of people passing out from the pain or screaming through the insertion. But I hadn’t heard anything from my doctors about the subject. As such, there was quite a bit of fearmongering around the issue of birth control in my life. I wonder if anyone else has been scared off from birth control before, and I wonder what society gains from obfuscating good information about birth control?
Thank you for sharing your experience with sex ed! My own experience with the topic is quite sad and infuriating. I attended a catholic high school and never (to my recollection) got a sex ed talk. The boys in my class did receive such an education, but the girls were separated at the time to be lectured on dress code and not dressing “slutty” (in the words of the administration). The only time parenting ever came up was in my religion class during senior year, when the male teacher stressed that women were born to be caretakers, of their husband and their children. Abortion care was stressed as a horrible thing only evil people do and birth control or contraceptives were never brought up. I’m glad you shared a bit about the debate around birth control and the education about side effects. So many people are prescribed birth control while relatively young with limited understanding of what they are signing up for. Changing the education system in regard to sex ed is so important, especially as more and more states restrict the rights of women to make their own health decisions.
This is super interesting to read since I feel that sex ed in different states is so different. I grew up in Virginia and from my recollection most of our curriculum followed a preaching of abstinence. We learned a lot about STD’s but it almost felt as if it was meant to make kids afraid rather than teach them. The statistics about birth rates relative to different requirements of sex education is really interesting to me because such a simple thing has such a large affect on people’s lives. Interestingly enough, Virginia’s teen birth rate per 1000 girls is 13.1. I’m sure there are other factors at play but doing a deeper study on how different policies in education as well as other factors such as medical resources would be interesting.