Eighty-four percent of parents support sex education in middle school. But sex education is so much more than learning about the birds and the bees. It’s also incredibly beneficial in helping kids learn how to relate to each other, how to be kind and respectful — it can even improve mental health.
So how does this happen? Let’s take a look at the sex education topics experts say should be taught in middle school sex education:
- Consent and healthy relationships. This is about learning how to set and respect personal boundaries. It also includes how to deal with peer pressure.
- Personal safety. This means bullying prevention, how to identify someone who may be a sex trafficker or abusive, and how to get help from a trusted adult.
- Body image and self-esteem. This covers learning to love and care for your body, as well as learning and practicing how to make big decisions — and how to trust yourself in making those decisions.
- Media and culture. This includes learning how to think critically about the messages the media sends us about sex, bodies, and relationships. It also includes learning how to stay safe online and how to have a healthy relationship with social media.
- Respect for diversity. This is about learning how to respect people of all genders, sexual orientations, races/ethnicities, abilities, bodies, religions, etc.
- Gender and orientation. This means learning about different gender identities and sexual orientations, to help all young people figure out who they are (remember, we ALL have a gender and a sexual orientation).
- Sexual health basics. This includes learning about how pregnancy happens and how it can be prevented — as well as what sexually transmitted infections are, including HIV.
Wondering how you can make sure your kid’s middle school is teaching this kind of sex ed? We’ve got you covered.
To start, you can share this blog with other parents you know, and talk about what you’d like to see taught at your kid’s school. You can ask your school staff for more information about what they do teach, and ask them to include these topics. If they don’t have a health teacher on staff, you can contact your nearest Planned Parenthood’s education program to see if they can teach in your kid’s school.
Age-appropriate sex education prepares young people for today’s world and sets them up for success in all their relationships. Let’s help them get the sex education that they deserve