Illinois lawmakers are currently preparing to vote on comprehensive sexual health education for Illinois’ youth (House Bill 2675). As it stands, Illinois does not require that teachers use an evidence-based curriculum, so there’s nothing to ensure students will get the information they need about reducing sexually transmitted diseases, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. There’s also nothing to stop inaccurate, ideologically driven, abstinence-only doctrine being passed off as sex education in the classroom.
When Elizabeth Smart – the young woman from Utah who was abducted, raped and held captive for nine months as a 14-year-old in 2002 – was taught sex education at school, she was told (prior to her harrowing experience of rape) that if she lost her virginity before marriage, she would be considered worthless, like a ‘piece of chewed gum.’ Needless to say, Elizabeth is clear about the personal wellness consequences she suffered as a result of her abstinence-only education.
Smart has recently commented on her experience, noting, ‘I thought, “Oh my gosh, I’m that chewed up piece of gum, nobody re-chews a piece of gum. You throw it away.” And that’s how easy it is to feel like you no longer have worth, you no longer have value. Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value.’ Unfortunately, the lesson Elizabeth was taught was not the opinion of a one-off teacher, but has been repeated in many Illinois classrooms.
Abstinence-only conservatives suggest their approach protects children’s wellbeing, but Smart’s experience and piles of studies prove these negative messages are just plain ineffective when measured against the goal of discouraging teen sex. According to a 2007 study commissioned by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, abstinence-only programs have had ‘no impact on rates of sexual abstinence.’ If anything, abstinence-only programmes only serve to leave young women and men in the dark and misinformed.
House Bill 2675 requires that medically accurate, age-appropriate information on reducing sexually transmitted diseases, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies be the new sex-education standard for middle and high school students. The 2007 study noted that 40% of the comprehensive programs examined delayed the initiation of sexual intercourse, reduced the number of sexual partners and increased condom or contraceptive use. All the bill requires of schools is to include accurate information about contraception and STI prevention, surely that’s not a lot to ask?
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