Public schools in Washington are not required to teach sex education. According to the article, “state laws only requires school districts to teach students about HIV and AIDS prevention every year”(Morton 2020). The article stated that “the lack of a consistent, statewide set of standards for sex education means students may fill in the gaps themselves and expose themselves to risks”(Morton 2020). Adolescents in Washington are failing to get proper sex education from school because of this non-requirement law. However, things may change soon. It was recommended to the state to “require all public schools to provide some form of sex education to every student”(Morton 2020). This proposal left the people confused. Not everyone understood why children need to learn about this topic and related topics in elementary school. Currently in Washington schools, are only required to teach about HIV and AIDS prevention. If a teacher chooses to go beyond this, they have to follow the “states Healthy Youth Act”(Morton 2020). This act is appropriate for students of all ages and is medically and scientifically accurate. According to the article, the state defines sexual health education as “an individual’s developing body, mind and social interactions… skills to build healthy and meaningful relationship, choosing healthy behaviors and understanding the influence that family, peers and the media have on sex”(Morton 2020).
This article relates to the sex education in schools section of the chapter. The power point stated “all states are somehow involved in sex education for public school children”. Not all states receive information about HIV and AIDS, some states require parental consent before teaching the lessons, and some states even allow the students to “opt-out” on the lessons. Washington is one of the states that require parental consent before teaching the lesson, and allows parents to have the student opt-out. Washington is also one of the states that is required to teach about HIV and AIDS prevention, and allows school districts to decide of they want to further the lessons into to actual sex education.
From this article I learned a lot. I wasn’t aware that all schools in Washington aren’t required to teach the same sex education. I didn’t know that it was the school districts choice of what each student learns and when they learn it. I had a sex education unit in my sophomore year of high school, and I remember I learned a lot about sex and sexual behaviors. The class was taught about the different types of sex, relationships, consent, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases and infections, as well as birth control methods. I think it’s fair to say that my school taught all there was to know about sexual behaviors. Because of the good education I received on the topic, I never thought about the education other schools taught. Since sex education is public information, it was surprising to find out not everyone receives the same level of it.
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Sociology 201 