Robin Pickering: To the parents protesting SB 5395: Concerning Comprehensive Sexuality Education

To the parents who believe that you are capable of providing your child with all they need to know about sexuality, relationships, anatomy, how to counteract messages they receive online, puberty, and affirmative consent, etc. … I believe you. Or, rather, I believe some of you. I also believe that some of you are capable of teaching your child trigonometry. But most of us aren’t.

If any silver lining exists as we muddle unexpectedly through the realities surrounding the “post-COVID-19 new normal,” it is perhaps the increased appreciation for those who educate our children. While I watch parents scramble to help with their children’s assignments and attempt to motivate them and minimize distractions and answer their complex questions, I can’t help but be encouraged that parents may be developing a new appreciation for the skill required to effectively educate children.

And while many of us are entrenched in the immediate and very valid health concerns resulting from COVID-19, we are reminded of the importance of “the village” when protecting the health of those young and old living in our communities.

We must keep these important reminders in the forefront as we strategically move forward with long-term solutions to ensure the comprehensive health and safety of our youth. During these unprecedented times, let us be encouraged to embrace evidence-based curricular models and the expertise and skill of our professional educators.

To the parents who are protesting and planning on opting your children out of comprehensive sexuality education in schools, that is certainly your right. Contrary to some internet chatter, SB 5395 (a bill to requiring Washington’s 295 school districts to teach comprehensive sexual health education in grades K-12) upholds the right of parents to review the curriculum and opt their children out of any portion of the instruction that they choose.

To the parents who believe sex ed should occur in the home, in fact in many ways, that is already happening. Every time a story comes on the news, describing an act of sexual assault, your child is receiving sex education. Every time a public figure normalizes groping a woman without consent, your child is receiving sex education. Each time your child is exposed to explicit sexual content, sex education is happening. Messages about sexuality are embedded into video games, music, advertising and social media.

Youth have access to pornography through the internet in a way that generations before have not experienced. And this is not just those who are seeking it. According to recent research published in the journal Pediatrics, 42% of internet users between the ages of 10-17 had been exposed to online pornography in the last year. Of those who been exposed, 66% reported “only unwanted exposure” (referring mostly to shared unsolicited pictures and emails or shared files). So although it may be impossible to limit sexuality education to the home or any one single source, we can add trained educators to the list of those giving children tools to deconstruct the other messages they are receiving.

To the parents who believe kindergarten is too young to start sex education, consider that effective comprehensive sexuality education can help children develop skills to protect themselves against sexual coercion, intimidation and abuse. Perhaps the most successful example of this approach is in the Netherlands, where formal sexuality education starts as early as 4 years of age. Their rights and responsibility approach contributes to the Netherlands having one of the world’s lowest teenage pregnancy rates, one of the highest rates of contraception use, and significantly lower rates of STI infection including HIV infection rates five times lower than that of the United States.

Additionally, a more comprehensive approach to sexual education can have many other benefits. A growing body of research indicates that kids who are exposed to a comprehensive sexuality education experience showed: improved academic success; lesser rates of child sexual abuse; decreased risk of dating violence and bullying; healthier relationships; delayed sexual initiation; reduced unintended pregnancy, HIV and other STIs; and reduced sexual health disparities among LGBTQ youth.

To the parents who believe their children do not need to learn about sex because they aren’t having it, know that many are. According to recent data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, about 40% of high school students are sexually active. According to the same data, 3% of kids 13 or younger, 20% of high school freshmen, 36% of sophomores, 47% of juniors and 57% of seniors have engaged in sexual intercourse. These numbers are even greater locally, with about 10% of high school seniors reporting to have had six or more sexual partners, according to the Spokane Regional Health District.

Robin Pickering, Ph.D., is program director of Women and Gender Studies and an associate professor of health sciences at Whitworth University. The views expressed here are her own.