Sex education advocates say Minnesota needs guidelines, too

In early January, a coalition of health and education groups released new national guidelines for sex education. The new standards (click on pdf file at end of article) have gained particular attention for their inclusion of education around sexual orientation and bullying, and of guidelines for young students:

• A second grader should use proper names for body parts, and also be able to explain how the media and society influence the different ways girls and boys act, and to demonstrate how to show respect for different types of families.
• A fifth grader knows how reproduction works, as well as how to find trustworthy adults to talk to about sexual orientation.
• The eighth grader can differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, and has a plan to promote respect for all school community members.
• By the end of junior high a standard-based student can competently use a condom, and they know that a person who is raped is not at fault.
• High school seniors would know which laws relate to sexual health care services and have analyzed their own responsibility in informing partners about STD and HIV status.

The document laid out research-based benchmarks for students’ knowledge on topics ranging from anatomy to relationship competency. Minnesota lacks such clear guidelines, according to local advocates for sex education, leading to inconsistencies among sex education programs in Minnesota. Advocates say that if the state were to implement research-based guidelines like the newly released standards, schools would be more capable of delivering curriculum that could reduce rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Minnesota hardly has any guidelines for sex education. State statute requires that districts implement a program to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, but whether that means an hour’s chat during eighth grade health class or annual sex ed units in high school is up to the districts. Districts must provide technically accurate information, but it’s unclear where that information should come from. The statute does say that curriculum must help students abstain from sex until marriage. Minnesota also offers benchmarks for health education, but few of the benchmarks relate directly to sex ed.

“There is no mechanism, and there’s no funding to actually track what school districts are doing,” said Katherine Meerse, board chairperson of Teenwise, an organization that advocates for teen parents and adolescent sexual health, “We don’t really know what the outcomes are.”

Meerse said schools struggling with competing demands and tight budgets may not have the resources to determine which sex ed curriculum is best for their community. “Good leadership involves helping schools in the state understand what works to prevent teen pregnancy and providing them the resources to implement what works,” she said.

Minnesota Department of Education spokesperson Keith Hovis said the department does not have plans plan to revamp its sex education policies.

A 2006 survey conducted by the Minnesota Department of Education found that 86 percent of high school sex education teachers characterized their sex ed program as abstinence-based. Fewer teachers reported covering sexual orientation than any other topic. Only 32 percent said they required students to practice using condoms. The study found that most students receive 10 to 25 hours of sex education during their K-12 career. According to a report published by Teenwise, in 2010, 20 percent of Minnesota high school freshmen and 50 percent of seniors reported having had sex. Only 61 percent of 12th graders reported using a condom the last time they had sex.

For the last decade, Teenwise, in coalition with groups like the Minnesota AIDS project, have advocated for a bill that would require all Minnesota schools to provide sex education. The bill came close to passing in 2008, but failed because of lack of support from former governor Tim Pawlenty. The coalition did not introduce the legislation in 2011 because of an unsupportive legislature.

In January 2011, the Minneapolis school board passed a resolution calling for LGBT-specific sex education. Jessi Tebben, outgoing coordinator of Minneapolis LGBT program Out4Good, said that the district has since developed a pilot training program focused on gender-inclusive sex education for health teachers, and is developing supplemental materials for sex ed classes, related to sexual orientation. She said those materials won’t be implemented sooner than next year.

St. Paul Public Schools health and physical education coach Terri Lahr said Teenwise helped the district choose their curriculum. Teachers have discretion over whether or not they will address sexual orientation. She said the district is working to standardize sex education curriculum for elementary grades.

Officials from both districts said the new standards will be considered during future discussions about sex education instruction.

“I’m supportive of statewide legislative action, but I also think that there’s huge potential for standards to be implemented at local level,” said Minnesot AIDS project spokesperson Amy Brugh. She added that without guidance from the state, students in some districts will not have access to information that could be vital to their health.

JOSH-FoSE-Standards.pdf

2011AdoHealthReport.pdf

2011AdoHealthReport.pdf

Alleen Brown

Alleen Brown (alleenbrown@tcdailyplanet.net or Twitter @AlleenBrown) is a freelance writer from Minneapolis.