Curriculum Violence in School-Based Sex Education for Sexual and Gender–Diverse Students

• In Event: The Politics of Curriculum: Sociocultural Contexts for Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Sexual and gender diverse (SGD) youth in the U.S. report that School Based Sexuality Education (SBSE) can be misleading, medically inaccurate, and marginalizing (citations deleted for blind review). In a 2019 national survey, only 8.1% of SGD youth reported exposure to positive representation of SGD identities in school health classes (Kosciw et al., 2020). The marginalization of SGD identities, orientations, and experiences in SBSE can be framed as a form of curriculum violence, which threatens the academic success and psychological safety of SGD youth (Ighodaro & Wiggan, 2010). Calling upon multi-methods data, this presentation will trace forms of curriculum violence in SBSE, explain the dire consequences of this violence, and illuminate how youth resist these dynamics.

Authors

• Katherine Clonan-Roy, Cleveland State University
  Presenting Author

• Khadeja Najjar, Cleveland State University
  Presenting Author

• Shereen Naser, Cleveland State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kimberly Fuller, Cleveland State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Goncy
  Non-Presenting Author