WRC 1013/1023: Freshman Composition: Exploring Critical Issues

"Educating children and adolescents in public schools about sex is a deeply inflammatory act in the United States."

"Although abstinence is theoretically effective, in actual practice, intentions to abstain from sexual activity often fail. Given a rising age at first marriage around the world, a rapidly declining percentage of young people remain abstinent until marriage."

"More than 93 percent of parents place high importance on sex education in both middle and high school. Sex education in middle and high school is widely supported by parents regardless of their political affiliation. Using data from a large diverse sample of 1,633 parents of children aged 9 to 21 years, we examined whether views on sex education differed by parents’ political affiliation. More than 89 percent of parents that identified as Republicans or Democrats support including a wide range of topics in sex education including puberty, healthy relationships, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and birth control in high school. In middle school, 78 percent or more of both parents that identified as Republicans and Democrats support the inclusion of those topics."

"'Our state has become the poster child for abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education,” said Kathy Miller, president of Texas Freedom Network at a Capitol press conference. “[At the Legislature], it sometimes seems that sex education is a four-letter word to only be muttered in adult company.'"

"For the first time since 1997, Texas education officials will consider a new statewide sexual education policy, and it could include teaching middle schoolers about birth control options beyond abstinence."

"In this book, I’ve spoken to people from around the country about what kind of sex education they would like. I’ve drawn on histories and testimonies, on politics and on culture to try and bring the conversation to where we, as young people, want it to be. Because despite thousands of years to-ing and fro-ing, all research done that actually asks young people what they want from sex education says the same thing: that there should be one, that it should be honest, age appropriate, taught without embarrassment and that it should be relevant."

"The chapter introduces the myth of asexuality and discusses its negative impacts in general and on students with developmental and other disabilities in particular. The chapter also discusses the shortfalls of prevention-based sex education. It concludes by arguing that the comprehensive sex education curriculum is the most effective method for equipping students in both general and special education classrooms with the knowledge they need to live more fulfilling, healthier, safer, self-advocating lives."

"In this essay, the author explores the concept of 'affirmative consent' as a sociolegal strategy for reducing sexual violence on college campuses."

"Sexual pleasure and satisfaction are integral components of the human sexual experience, yet these crucial aspects of sexuality are rarely placed on sexual education agendas. The objective of this paper is to explore the ways in which various groups of Service Providers (SPs) participating in the Toronto Teen Survey (TTS) understand the role of pleasure in sexual education for youth, highlighting the challenges and benefits of teaching pleasure in diverse settings."

"Assertions about how trauma physiologically impedes the ability to resist or coherently remember assault have greatly undermined defense against assault allegations. But science offers little support for these claims."

"Peritraumatic tonic immobility is more strongly associated with sexual trauma, particularly in childhood, than to other types of trauma in the general population."

"Active resistance is considered to be the ‘normal’ reaction during rape. However, studies have indicated that similar to animals, humans exposed to extreme threat may react with a state of involuntary, temporary motor inhibition known as tonic immobility. The aim of the present study was to assess the occurrence of tonic immobility during rape and subsequent post- traumatic stress disorder and severe depression."