Sex Ed as Civics Education: From the Personal to the Social

• In Event: Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Democratic Citizenship in Education Paper Discussion (Roundtable) Session

Abstract

Why is sex education taught within the framework of health education? This approach teaches adolescents “facts” to enable them to protect themselves. But how then do students develop views about sex in society? How do they negotiate sexual relationships in ethical ways? We use our experience developing and teaching the Sex Education for a Caring Society Curriculum as well as classroom discussions of 9th graders to answer these questions and elucidate how students in a democratic classroom work through social issues regarding sex. We focus on sex education as a form of civics education by exploring two recurring conversations: one that ignores power differences, and another that confronts the individualized, neoliberal perspective that pervades ethical discussions on sex.

Authors

• Sharon Lamb, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Aleksandra Plocha, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Renee Randazzo