Just Say No might be the right way to sell an anti-drugs message but I’ve never been convinced it can be applied to teenagers and sex. Here, author and ethicist Leslie Cannold writes about an abstinence-only sex education program called Choices, Decisions, Outcomes which sounds lovely and innocuous on the surface but is actually duplicitous and dangerous.
Leslie writes….
It’s a little odd that this man is wearing a wedding ring…
“Your children have a right to sex education. This right is a component of their sexual rights, themselves a subset of the human rights guaranteed to them in international laws, human rights documents and other consensus statements.
But don’t cry out for joy or fly off the handle with rage just yet. Because whatever abstract entitlement our kids have to accurate, relevant and age-appropriate information about sex, relationships and reproduction in the classroom, most aren’t getting any. Education, that is. They are getting plenty of sex, some of it unwanted, as well as sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and, if they are same-sex attracted, a worrying dose of suicidal thoughts.
Yet, despite such incontrovertible evidence of need, Australia lacks a comprehensive national sexual and reproductive health strategy. We don’t even have basic minimum standards for what our kids can be taught. Into this policy vacuum comes Choices, Decisions, Outcomes,CDO for short, an “innovative value-based education program for adolescents” that “encourages responsible decision making regarding sexuality”.
CDO uses foetal models and flip books to instruct year seven and eight students about “self worth” and “self respect”. In later years, free giveaways such as comics and friendship dolls help teach kids that peer pressure causes teen sex, which unavoidably results in pregnancy, infertility, sexually transmitted infections and diseases that kill.
CDO is the brainchild of Jane Power. Jane’s background is as counsellor at Pregnancy Help Geelong, an approved Right to Life organisation.CDO’s core values are “to respect human life from conception” and “to encourage saving sexual intimacy until marriage and then only between husband and wife”. Interestingly, this statement of values is not available on CDO’s website, to which students undertaking the course and their parents are directed.
CDO’s partner organisation, Real Choices Australia, says the program has been delivered to more than 100,000 Australian children. Real Choices Australia’s affiliation is not apparent from its website, but it seems to have links to the Catholic Church. Certainly, the funding for CDOis coming from somewhere. A new education team’s kit costs $3000, and their audio-visual requirements another $2000. Thankfully, we’re all contributing to the cause. Donations to Real Choices Australia are tax deductible.
One mother first heard about CDO was when her daughter came home from school to report that pashing makes you pregnant. The girl attends a public school in country NSW.
Pro-life, abstinence-only sex education is duplicitous, presenting false information about the “side-effects” of abortion and either refusing to talk about contraception, or mentioning only (inflated) failure rates. When it is taught in public schools, it crosses the line, pushing religion into the secular school system where it doesn’t belong.
But the biggest problem with abstinence-only sex ed is that it doesn’t work. A report on the effectiveness of the US Government’s significant investment in abstinence-only sex education found that youth delivered the program had as much sex with as many partners, and started having sex at the same time, as other adolescents.
Worse, when kids are taught CDO they miss out on abstinence-plus approaches that really work. Programs that reduce sexually transmitted infections without increasing rates of teenage sex.
State and federal politicians have questions to answer. They need to explain why ineffective abstinence-only sex education is being taught in public classrooms, and why they won’t put a strategy in place to make sure all our kids get the facts.
Dr Leslie Cannold is an author, researcher, ethicist and vocalist. You can visit her website here and follow her on Twitter here
UPDATE: After this was first published in Fairfax newspapers, Leslie heard from the hard-working mum she mentions in the column that her daughter will no longer be exposed to the program. Ulladulla High School has cancelled it. However, thousands of mostly private school students in NSW and other states won’t be so lucky.”
I remain realistic about the fact that adolescent girls have always been curious about sex and sexuality and we needn’t totally freak out about it. Instead, I believe we should try to manage their natural interest by responsibly providing them with the information they seek when they’re seeking it or sometimes a little earlier.
This goes to the heart of the debate about what’s age-appropriate and it’s a tricky one because who is best equipped to judge that? If a girl has questions about sex or contraception when she’s 14 and you think she should be 18 or married, whose interests are being served by denying her that information or delaying her access to it? Not hers.
Do you think teaching abstinence only is a realistic and safe approach? How did you learn about sex? Did you have a sex education program at your school? If you have kids, how are they learning about sex?
Top Comments
I never thought I'd quote Glee for sex-ed lessons, but I loved it when Burt Hummel said to Kurt, "Don't throw yourself around like you don't matter...because you matter." That's it. That's the best advice you can give them. If you believe they matter and they know it, that advice will help.
I went to a Catholic CO-ED boarding school in the late 1980's, and we got a very dry but accurate education of sex.
I had none of the negative/lack of educational experiences others here had. The school was run by the Marist Brothers, and I learnt when I was older that they do tend to be more open minded than other orders.
Just to clarify, I am and always have been an atheist at heart, pro-choice, and pro-support for homosexuals etc etc...but I really have nothing about the sex education (or anything else) at the catholic boarding school to bitch about.