History of Sex Education

The History of Sex Education

and

Methods of Sex Education for Children

The History of Sex Education

and

Methods of Sex Education for Children

Human Sexuality – Biology 15

Fall 2013

Instructor : Craig Petersen

SEX. Until just recently, this word or the act of sex, has normally been a stigma to most people. Anytime this word is used, it comes with a negative connotation. In the olden days, sex was not supposed to happen until the wedding night, between a man and a woman. This notion can be described as our metaphorical “window of perception” being clouded by many factors such as society, parents, and even religion. Current day, this ideal has drastically changed. Sex is now taking place before marriage, after marriage, between a man and a woman, between two men, and even between two women. With the possible dangers that can come from unprotected sex, sex education has come into play largely at schools to protect our youth, and make them more informed in their decisions. We will look at the basic history of how sex education started and a couple different types of methods of how sex education is taught to children, such as abstinence-only method as well as a more comprehensive approach.

What is sex education? Sex education Sex education is instruction on issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual activity, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, and birth control (Wikipedia). “Since there has been sex, there has been sex education, the first written document of sex education was found in China, written in 200 B.C.” (Gowen, pg. Intro xii). Sex has been around since the start of people on the Earth. It is no shock that a document was found from so long ago. For the sake of this paper, I will focus most of the research concerning the United States. “The rapid urbanization of the late 1800s and early 1900s was accompanied by an increased interest...