Adolescents are influenced by the company they keep, and though they get sex information from their peers, they do not rate their peers as good sources of sex information. They feel poorly informed and feel that they have picked up negative and unwholesome attitudes. It is a rare adolescent who can say, "I've had adequate sex and family life education."
The school is one community agency that reaches all the adolescents; hence it
must be taken seriously as a locale of sex and family life education. But sex and family
life education now offered in the schools is not adequate. There is a shortage of
qualified teachers, the curriculum often avoids open and honest consideration of topics
that are regarded as politically and morally sensitive, and sometimes questions from
students meet with a refusal to answer on the part of the teacher. Reticence about
answering questions is an intolerable condition for sex education or for any other kind
of education.
Students give the schools a low rating as sources of sex and family life education,
and teachers rate low as guides for adolescents in comparison to parents and peers.
Counselors in the schools are overloaded with academic and vocational counseling-
often for the college-prep student; the time allotted to personal and interpersonal
problems is severely limited.
The church doesn't rate well either as a source of information or guidance in sex
matters. There is no consistency in church sex and family life education. Whether or
not a child has an adequate sex and family life education depends on the particular
congregation and the particular clergyman; no overall adequate, consistent religious
programming can be assumed. Adolescents give religious sources-church, clergymen,
parochial education, and religious literature-low ratings as sources of sex and family
life education. Most major religious bodies are rethinking their stances on sexual
behavior and ethics; and some pastors receive training in counseling. These are
hopeful signs.
Back of much of sex as a problem lies the basic fact that in the United States
adults have not clearly thought through what kinds of sexual morality and sexual
behavior they respect and support. Reasonable and responsible persons,
knowledgeable and rational on other subjects, are commonly naive, emotional, and
erratic in discussions on sex. This inhibits the emergence of a well-thought out
consensus within any community. Emotional reactions need to be replaced by rational
discussion, evaluation, and decision making. Some kind of community brainstorming
should precede the introduction of a comprehensive sex and family life education
program in a community, but it often does not. Community leaders are not convinced
of their responsibility to lead in this area.
Lack of community solidarity is apparent in the lack of cooperation between
home, church, school, and other community institutions. Adolescents live in the
community, not in one or more of these institutions; hence the need for cooperation on
a community-wide program. Looked at from a slightly different point of view, if a
community is providing activity (educational and recreational) outlets commensurate
with the needs of adolescents, unchaperoned dating need not begin at such an early
age and need not carry so much of the load of boy-girl activity.
In my judgment, every community should have a coordinated program of sex and
family life education including education in erotic intimacy, the relationship between
sex and love, sexual attitudes and values, physiological aspects of sex and
reproduction, and rationale for and techniques of conception control; this program to
be developed cooperatively by all youth-serving agencies of the community in
consultation with parents, experts in the field, and youth themselves.
The community must also understand that if a program of sex and family life
education is adequate, it cannot be expected to lead to non-involvement and
continence. It may have the effect of increasing rather than decreasing sexual activity.
Once a community has instituted a program of education, it must consider its
responsibilities for making conception control information and materials available to
all single persons of dating and marriage age. In light of the population explosion and
concerted efforts to reduce unwanted out-of-wedlock pregnancies, all adolescents and
adults, both married and single, must consider that coitus without contraception is
not in the best interests of persons or of society. The community must also decide what
responsibilities it has for providing counsel and services in the area of abortion.