~ Late 1800’s and early 1900’s:

• Victorian values of self-restraint still active - Sexual restraint was required for "the good of the order"
• Sexuality defined in terms of Judeo-Christian values linking sexuality with sinfulness
• Sexual behavior allowed and approved only within the confines of marriage and only for the purpose of childbearing
• Strict sanctions against "non-procreative sex" such as extramarital affairs, oral sex, anal sex, and same-sex behaviors
• Views of sexuality supported patriarchy – semen was thought to be absorbed by the male body to create "the true, the beautiful, and the useful"
• Sexuality education endorsed the "sexual necessity" of adolescent males – endorsing the idea that boys "needed" to have sex because of their hormone-driven desires
• Negative view of women and sexuality - Women were encouraged to learn the importance of their sexual "duties" to their husbands
• Sexuality education focused a lot on the connection between sex and sickness, especially sexually transmitted diseases
• Sex education suggested that most diseases were the result of sexual sin and immoral behavior (immoral behavior = God punishes you and you get a disease)

~1910 – 1950:

• Strong emphasis on "sexual hygiene" movement to rid society of "venereal diseases" – especially among soldiers and sailors during WWI and WWII
• Freud’s ideas about sexuality were very popular during this time
• Recognized that sex ed was necessary for young people to try and stop the "moral decay" and "indecency" that adults felt was commonplace in the younger generation
• Women were required to be chaste for fear of arousing "male lust"

~1950’s:

• Alfred Kinsey and colleagues published research that shook society's ideas about sexuality to their very core
• "Family Life Education (FLE)" entered into the scene - It encouraged young people to be cautious and respectful about sexual activity
• FLE provided a slightly more even-handed approach that then previous decades but still relied heavily on fear and guilt to discourage sexual behavior
• Sex ed curriculum warned girls to beware of the sexual advances of men/boys
• Was the gold standard of sex ed for nearly 20 years

~1960’s- 1970’s:

• Major controversy erupted in the United States about sex education
• Many topics were restricted or abolished entirely from curricula such as masturbation, contraception, and gay/lesbian issues
• Counterculture movements suggested that the ruling class tried to control the working/lower classes by controlling their access to sex education and family planning services
• Criticism of sex ed programs as "too liberal" and progressive may have been a reaction to the radical, "free-love" countermovement within the U.S. culture
• Many saw sex education as an attempt to "drive a wedge" between parents and children
• Others saw sex education as necessary to shore up the apparent continued decline of morality among young people

~ 1980’s:

• Reagan administration blocked much of the funding for sex ed programs and family planning services in general
• "Just Say No" rules the day
• Abstinence-only sex education is touted as the cure-all for society’s sexual problems such as high rates of teen pregnancy, high rates of sexually transmitted infections, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic
• Heavy use of Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage curricula that encouraged young people to "pet [their] dog, not [their] date"
• Resurgence of the old idea of sexual sin = disease in the wake of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
• The idea of using scientific research to "prove" that comprehensive sex education or abstinence-only education are effective enters into the debate. Now, it’s no longer just someone’s opinion about what works, both sides have "evidence" to support their argument.

~1990’s:

• The debate about sexuality education continues and people tend to fall into one of four groups of thought
• Sex, and sex education, is inherently bad and sinful and should never be taught
• Teaching sex education in schools undermines the authority of parents and the Church, and should be taught, but at home and at church, not in schools
• Sex education is necessary, and should be taught in schools, but should be censored in content, tone, message, and audience to avoid "encouraging promiscuity"
• Sex education is a necessary and essential component of a quality public school education and should be mandatory for all young people in grades K-12
• Many teachers, school administrators and school boards struggle to provide sexuality education to students because of these controversies
• Many teachers struggle to answer the tough questions from young people for fear of getting fired from their jobs

~2000’s

• In the late '90s – early 2000's, the Clinton Administration initiated measures within the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate abstinence-only education using scientifically tested methods of program evaluation
• A work in progress...What will it be? What will we do to ensure the continued safety and well being of our children? What will you do to ensure that your children are able to grow up to be sexually healthy, well-adjusted adults?

References

Carlson, D. L. (1992). Ideological conflict and change in the sexuality curriculum. In (Ed.) J.T. Sears, Sexuality and the curriculum: The Politics and Practices of Sexuality Education (pp. 34-58). New York: Teachers College Press.

Earls, R. F., Fraser, J., & Sumpter, B. (1992). Sexuality education – In whose interest? An analysis of legislative, state agency, and local change arenas. In (Ed.) J.T. Sears, Sexuality and the curriculum: The Politics and Practices of Sexuality Education (pp. 300-327). New York: Teachers College Press.

Maddock, J. W. (1997). Sexuality education: A history lesson. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 314, 1-22.

Moran, J. P. (2000). Teaching sex: The Shaping of adolescence in the 20th century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Sears, J.T. (1992). Dilemmas and possibilities of sexuality education: Reproducing the body politic. In (Ed.) J.T. Sears, Sexuality and the curriculum: The Politics and Practices of Sexuality Education (pp. 7-33). New York: Teachers College Press.

Government Reform Minority Office. (n.d.). Politics and Science: The effectiveness of abstinence-only education: Investigating the state of science under the Bush Administration. Retreived September 12, 2005, from http://democrats.reform.house.gov/features/politics_and_science/example_abstinence.htm