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"Moral Education in Schools"
At this time public officials saw the need for sexuality in schools. In response, the National Education Association discussed sexuality education for the first time and passed a resolution that called for "moral education in schools".http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/10/27/the-sin-of-yielding-to-impure-desire.html</a>
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Chicago First High School Sex Education
In 1913, Chicago became the first major city to implement sex ed for high schools. The program didn't last long, though. The Catholic Church soon launched a campaign against the initiative. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/10/27/the-sin-of-yielding-to-impure-desire.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/10/27/the-sin-of-yielding-to-impure-desire.html -
American Social Hygiene Association (ASHA)
Founded in 1914 by the New York physician Prince Morrow and the religious crusader Anna Garlin Spencer, the American Social Hygiene Association (ASHA) recommended reforms to accomplish the twin goals of medical and moral improvement. After leading police crackdowns on prostitution and presenting a series of sex education lectures to adults, ASHA and related societies proposed a program in "sex instruction" for high-school-age youth. ASHA's leaders hoped to give youth correct information. -
U.S. Department of Labor's Children's Bureau
The earliest sex-education film, Damaged Goods, warned soldiers of the consequences of syphilis. A 1919 report from the U.S. Department of Labor's Children's Bureau suggested that soldiers would have been better off if they had received sex education in school rather than from this video. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/10/27/the-sin-of-yielding-to-impure-desire.html -
Lucy S. Curtiss wrote "Sex Instruction through English Literature"
In 1920, an English teacher named Lucy S. Curtiss wrote an influential article called "Sex Instruction through English Literature" that encouraged teachers to draw on classical literature when explaining sex to students. -
American Medical Association Pamphlets
In 1954, the American Medical Association worked with the National Education Association to publish a series of pamphlets that became the basis of most school-based sex education programs.
http://connection.ebscohost.com/education/sex-education-schools/history-sex-education -
First Birth Control Pill Developed
In 1960, the first birth control pill was developed.
http://connection.ebscohost.com/education/sex-education-schools/history-sex-education -
Contraceptives Legal for Married Couples
In 1965 contraceptives were made legal for married couples.
http://connection.ebscohost.com/education/sex-education-schools/history-sex-education -
Contraceptives Legal for Unmarried Couples
In 1972, contraceptives were permitted for unmarried people as well.
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Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA)
National conservative groups approached local school boards and national politicians with the message that: sexual behavior among unmarried young people is an epidemic, and abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in school are the solution. One of their early successes at the national level came as part of the which was passed in 1981 and is widely considered the precursor to todays abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
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90% of U.S. Schools Offer Sex Education Program
By 1988, over 90 percent of all U.S. schools offered some sex education programming.
http://connection.ebscohost.com/education/sex-education-schools/history-sex-education -
AIDS Epidemic
As the 1980s drew to a close, the entire country was paying attention to the new AIDS epidemic. With the epidemic came even more calls for sex education, and advocates and educators used this momentum to push for policy changes, training and resources.
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State Laws and Mandates
By 1989, 23 states had passed mandates for sexuality education, an additional 23 states strongly encouraged sex education, 33 mandated AIDS education and 17 additional states recommended it.
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SIECUS published “Sex Education 2000: A Call to Action”
In June of 1989, SIECUS published “Sex Education 2000: A Call to Action,” which outlined 13 goals that would ensure that all children received comprehensive sexuality education by the year 2000.
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Welfare Reform Act
Religious conservatives, in particular, helped add provisions for abstinence education to the 1996 WELFARE REFORM ACT, and the federal government for the first time began to direct tens of millions of dollars to abstinence education programs, most of which were tied to religious groups rather than the more traditional public health organizations. -
Abstinence Case Study
Opponents of comprehensive sex education also claim that such programs undermine traditional family values and condone abortion and homosexuality. Abstinence, they say, is the only appropriate choice when educating young people about sexuality. Supporters of abstinence-only programs point to such evidence as a 1997 study which concluded that young people who pledged to remain virgins until marriage were more likely to start having sex at a later age than those who did not take such a pledge. -
Special Projects of Regional and National Significance–Community-Based Abstinence Education (SPRANS-CBAE)
In 2000, conservative lawmakers upset by what they saw as states’ dilution of the abstinence-until-marriage message (some states were using Title V funds for media campaigns, youth development, and after school programs that lawmakers felt were not sufficiently focused on abstinence), created an additional $20 million federal funding stream, the Special Projects of Regional and National Significance–Community-Based Abstinence Education (SPRANS-CBAE).
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U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Government Reform
In December 2004, the U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Government Reform led by Rep. Henry A. Waxman released a report showing that 80 percent of the most popular federally funded abstinence-only education programs use curricula that distort information about the effectiveness of contraceptives, misrepresent the risks of abortion, blur religion and science, treat stereotypes about girls and boys as scientific fact, and contain basic scientific errors.
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Teen Pregnany Rates Study
A November 2006 study of declining pregnancy rates among teens concluded that the reduction in teen pregnancy between 1995 and 2002 was primarily the result of increased use of contraceptives.19 However, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics show that teen birth rates are again on the rise.
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CBAE Program Funding
In 2007, the CBAE program, as it was now called, was funded at $113 million.
http://www.futureofsexed.org/background.html
