1) Advocating for Adolescent and Young Adult Male Sexual and Reproductive Health (November 2018)
- This article in the Journal of Adolescent Health addresses the comparative lack of resources aimed at adolescent males compared to their female peers. What barriers exist around the world for young men to access sexual and reproductive healthcare services?
2. What Science Tells Us About Sex Ed (September 2018)
- Research points to approaches that enhance young people’s knowledge, autonomy, and informed decision-making. This article is a great starting point for an overview of the current state of art.
3. Streetwise to Sex-wise (June 2018)
- Newly updated after a long hiatus, Streetwise to Sexwise returns with an all-inclusive model of sex education for high-risk youth. Lessons are both clear and simple while serving as a part of a comprehensive sex-ed curriculum.
4. Annex Teen Clinic: Smart about Sex (June 2018)
- This interactive site that allows young people to find answers to questions they may otherwise feel too embarrassed to ask. The Annex Teen Clinic provides a variety of confidential sexual health services and education so that young people have access to resources and support.
5. Sexual Minorities in Heteronormative Sex Education (January 2018)
- Sex-ed in the U.S. has notoriously left something to be desired. This study looks more closely at the tendency for sexual education to be heteronormative and the effects that this has on individuals. Participants of this study advocated for inclusive sex ed that would include all identities.
6. Protecting the Next Generation (December 2017)
- From the North Carolina Family Policy Council, this article contrasts the two main rival approaches to sex-ed in the U.S.: “Sexual Risk Reduction (often referred to as ‘Comprehensive Sex Education’ and favored by organizations such as Planned Parenthood) and Sexual Risk Avoidance (formerly known as ‘Abstinence Education’)” the latter favored by conservative groups. Whatever your views, the article helpfully charts the shifts in approaches in a conservative U.S. state in response to local and federal changes in approach.
7. A History of Sex Education in the United States (January 2014)
- Sex-ed in U.S. public schools has evolved from its start in the 20th century from an abstinence-based approach to the modern focus on pregnancy-prevention. Authors Huber and Firmin provide an in-depth analysis of the what’s changed.
8. Queering Sex Education (April 2012)
- U.S. sex-ed focuses on pregnancy and disease risk and tends to leave out discussion of safer sex when it comes to homosexuality or other practices beyond the heteronormative. In this article the Journal of LGBT Youth looks at approaches to address this gap.
9. Battling a Sex-saturated Society (2011)
- A California Polytechnic political scientist addresses the largely conservative Christian campaign for abstinence-only sex-ed that lost key federal support in the wake of Barack Obama’s presidency, and how the movement responded to the shift in Obama’s tenure to more evidence-based “comprehensive” sex-ed approaches.
10. Discourses of Exclusion: Sexuality Education’s Silencing of Sexual Others (January 2010)
- Sex-ed curricula focus and heterosexuality, sometime to the exclusion of any discussion of homosexuality and other sexual variances. LGBTQ youth are particularly at risk for being left out of the conversation, and this article presents ideas to foster inclusivity.
11. Sex and HIV Education Programs (March 2007)
- There have been countless studies undertaken to answer the question: Does sex-ed jumpstart sexual activity among young people? Looking at over 80 studies measuring the impact of sex and HIV education on behavior, the author determines that such programs are generally effective in delaying and reducing sexual activity and increasing condom or contraceptive use.