Taylor Miller

Rubric

Sex Education Preparation

Today’s youth have been overwhelmed with sex. There is sex in the movies, mentions in

young adult literature, and references in popular music. As children grow, they acquire

knowledge that prepares them for the future. Schools and teachers struggle with the issue of

how to help their students adapt to becoming sexually healthy adults. In addition, they often

face the challenges of teaching safe behaviors regarding sex education without crossing the line

with parents. Sex education has been a major concern for teaching because some parents want

it taught in schools while other parents do not for many reasons. The proper implementation of

sex education in schools will provide teenagers with the correct information that will enable

them to make acceptable decisions in life. In addition, there are many gender and sexuality

discourses that affect the equal and quality education of democratic equality to ultimately

produce democratic citizens. To ensure the success of democratic equality in the schools,

teacher education should prepare future educators to address issues of gender and sexuality

within the classroom and schools.

The purpose of education is to ensure that all students are equipped with the right tools and

resources to become a participating member in society through democratic equality. Without

education, people would not develop opinions or perspectives to change the world around

them. It is essential for all aspects of life. Democratic equality focuses on providing equal

opportunity for all types of students, prepares students to live in a democratic society, and

contributes to the good of the common people. In order to become an informed citizen,

students need to be taught a well-rounded array of knowledge that includes issues on gender
and sexuality. By informing students about gender and sexuality discourses, they will be better

democratic citizens. Preparing students for the responsibilities and choices of adulthood helps

them to socialize in meaningful ways within a community, as well as in work and life. Citizens

need to understand the importance of engagement in a democracy. Democracy cannot work

effectively without the participation of informed citizens. Being more knowledgeable about

sexual and gender discourses creates a more informed citizen. Sex plays an important part in

our social and personal lives. It is something that every group of people in the world has in

common and acts as a universal role in human life. Sexuality surrounds all things that make us

who we are and is shaped by culture, values, and education. In addition, it influences our views

about individuality, family, parenthood, and community.

Homophobic name calling can lead to emotional distress among students in schools. In

addition, it can lead to lower self-esteem and even depression. According to Pascoe in Dude,

You’re a Fag, he touches upon masculinity and dominance control in schools and how high

school boys use the fag appellation. The fag appellation is an aspect of gender policing, in which

boys point out and ridicule others who lack masculinity, heterosexual attainment, or strength.

In chapter three he dives deeper into adolescent male homophobia. The use of the word fag

focuses centrally on homophobia. Fag is not only an identity linked to homosexual boys but an

identity that can temporarily adhere to heterosexual boys as well (Pascoe, 2005). The use of the

word is mainly used in joking relationships among boys. This joking manner results in insults

targeted towards the marked student. Regardless if the student identifies as homosexual or any

other sexual identity, the negative connotation to the word is not an acceptable use of the

word. The lack of accurate representation being used with the word shows that students are not
informed of how hurtful their words feel to other students. Pascoe shares a story of a student

named Ricky who identifies with being homosexual. Since the students at his high school strictly

identify him with his sexuality, he often goes to school knowing he will be harassed that day.

Ricky shares his input on his daily difficulties and explains how it is really hard to go to school

and get used to the fact that everything is going to be okay because he never knows how kids

are going to react to him (Pascoe, 2005). His story is a great example of one of the many

problems that students with varying sexual identities encounter on a day to day life at school.

Just as males have their discourses, females have them as well. In Good Girls written by

Elizabeth A. Armstrong, the discourse of slut shaming enables sexual experimentation for the

high-status women whose definitions prevail in the dominant social scene. It serves as a form as

sexual privilege (Armstrong, 2014). Women’s participation in slut shaming is common for young

women in America. It is the practice of making judgements about females based on their sexual

activity or the assumptions regarding their sexual activity. The assumptions can be influenced by

how they dress, how they present themselves, of even the rumors spread around. Often times

females feel targeted at school because the vast majority of dress codes are geared towards

female clothing. Students are being pulled and kept out of class for being sexualized based off

the clothes they wear. According to Armstrong, slut discourse helped establish and maintain

boundaries between high and low-status women. She believes that higher class women

consider their performance to be one of a “classy female” just because of their economic status,

a point to prove that they were not trashy. Low status women, from less affluent backgrounds,

were more susceptive to being labeled as slutty. The absence of equality in these arguments

lead to another issue of lack of understanding of everyone’s ability to be informed.

 If educating student on these discourses is the solution to stopping these issues in the

classroom and preparing students to contribute to a democratic society, how do future

educators need to be prepared? Sex education in public middle and highs schools is frequently

taught by health teachers who lack training on human sexuality or on legal and ethical

classroom management concerns that arise when discussing sex education with teens in the

classroom. Sharon Lamb proposes many guiding principles for the future of sex education and

how it should be implemented in schools. Through Lamb’s article preservice teachers should

receive a sex education that is ethics based, relates to inclusion of society, and educates

students on sexual identities and practices.

The first argument is that sex education needs to be ethics-focused, and students must also

receive training in ethics that would include justifying one’s own views, and entertaining

competing ethical perspectives (Lamb, 2013). Lamb references the unequal treatment of

women and girls in the U.S. society in conversations. This conversation then leads into the

definition of consent and the morality of a person with multiple sexual partners. The overall

goal is for teachers to instruct ethical dialogue on these kinds of topics. Students need to be in

charge of their own well-being. Having an ethics based sex education will equip students with

the knowledge and skills to empower their well-being and dignity, develop respectful

relationships, and consider how their choices will affect that of others.

Her next point is that sex education courses should focus on learning about sex in society

through the inclusion of relevant readings from different types of literature, history, and social

sciences. By including these relationships in the classroom, it shows students that human

sexuality is a big part of life and contributes to what it means to be a human (Lamb, 2013).
Exposing this type of literature and history to students can open their eyes and give them a

better understanding of their own views or someone else’s. It also gives the students the

opportunity to ask questions that they may not have the opportunity to ask elsewhere.

Additionally, being informed of gender and sexuality bullying and bias can influence students to

use their knowledge to solve today’s issues to make a better future.

The last argument is that sex education courses ought to be inclusive of all sexual identities

and practices. Students should be exposed to a variety of relationships and sexualities because

in all reality, students will likely meet someone that will identity with a different sexual

orientation as them. It is important for students to learn about other ethical perspectives to

reflect on their own perspectives regarding relationships and sexualities. One cannot assume

someone’s sexual orientation based on how they look so it is important to accommodate to all

students that will be in the room. Since sex education often focuses on heterosexual sex

education and lack understanding of other sexual identities, the students who identify

differently do not receive the same message on what healthy relationships or safe sex may look

like for them. Having an inclusive sex education teaches students honesty about gender and

sexual orientation and can help eliminate stereotypes and create a more accepting environment

that acknowledges different experiences among all types of students.

In addition to parents, teachers play a vital role in providing students with information they

need to protect their health and futures. Since sex education is a controversial topic, it is

essential to equip future educators with knowledge of how to address gender and sexuality

within the classroom. Approaching this teaching with an ethics based method with ensure that

students justify their peers’ views but also their own. Students will gain a greater understanding
of society and culture through learning and reading about connections to gender and sexual

identities in literature and history. By providing an inclusive sex education program with

multiple approaches to different sexual and gender identities, students will gain a diverse

understanding of their peers. Overall, preparing educators and informing all students on gender

realties of discourse and behavior can create informed citizens that are prepared to participate

in a democratic society.
 References

Armstrong, E. A., Hamilton, L. T., Armstrong, E. M., & Seeley, J. L. (2014). “Good Girls”: Gender,

Social Class, and Slut discourse on Campus. Social Psychology Quarterly, 77(2), 100-122.

Lamb, S. (2013). Just the Facts? The Separation of Sex Education from Moral

Education. Educational Theory, 63(5), 443-460.

Pascoe, C. J. (2005). ‘Dude, You’re a Fag’: Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag

Discourse. Sexualities, 8(3), 52-83.