The Canyon Independent School District in Texas has recently come under fire for a sex education curriculum scandal. Sexual health advocate Katie Gustainis Vela obtained what seems to be a work sheet or PowerPoint slide from an abstinence-only sex education course that literally compares non-virgins to used toothbrushes and pieces of gum — in other words, trash. The moral of the lesson was indicated at the bottom of the sheet, which read, “People want to marry a virgin, just like they want a virgin toothbrush or stick of gum.”
Approaches to sexual education like these are far past the point of teaching youths about the potential risks of being sexually active, only hammering in the idea that engaging in any form of sexual activity before marriage makes you a less valuable person. This is problematic for a couple of reasons.
First, teaching abstinence-only in schools is like raising a child and demanding that they never smoke cigarettes, but never explaining to them why. Obviously, smoking imposes much greater health risks than engaging in safe sex, but the idea of telling kids and teenagers “no, no, no” and never actually educating them about the potential risks — or about the cautions they can take to avoid those risks — is nothing more than an accident waiting to happen. And the numbers don’t lie. According to the Office of Adolescent Health, Texas has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the U.S., ranking fifth out of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia in final teen birth rates among females aged 15-19. Back in 2008, Texas ranked third in pregnancies for women aged 15-19. Don’t be fooled by thinking this is just another one of the Lone Star State’s typical shenanigans, either. According to the Guttmacher Institute — which seeks to advance sexual and reproductive health through research, policy analysis and public education — Texas is just one of the 19 states teaching strictly abstinence-only material.
Second, teaching this to young, impressionable kids, like the middle schoolers from the Canyon Independent School District, can be extremely problematic when dealing with issues of sexual abuse. Elizabeth Smart, a famous victim of rape and kidnap and now an abduction awareness advocate, spoke up about abstinence-only education at a Johns Hopkins University forum on human trafficking in May of this year. She stated that it makes rape victims feel “filthy.” Smart, who grew up in a strict Mormon family, spoke about being taught lessons just like the ones taught in Texas, specifically in regards to women. Smart urged for lessons that teach children that they are valuable no matter what. Failing to do so, she claimed, leaves victims of rape without a will to seek help.
Third, not only does this curriculum teach kids to shame and devalue themselves, but it also teaches them that it’s okay to devalue other people. Instilling this idea that what is “pure” is more valuable is the origin of the “slut shaming” phenomenon so prevalent in everyday life.
I don’t think a majority of teens and young adults actually believe that someone who has engaged in premarital sex is a less valuable person, but I do think most are guilty of using the word “slut” or something of the same meaning at least once. So, why is that? Has the idea of a slut been so ingrained in our minds that we don’t even consider the implications of the word at all when using it?
The word “virgin,” even when used in a non-insulting manner, holds very serious implications itself. The idea of being a virgin, which suggests being “pure,” implies that anyone who isn’t a virgin is impure. And this rhetoric is so deeply rooted in everyday life that it often goes unnoticed. Even the traditional white wedding dress, for example, is a historical symbol of the bride’s purity prior to entering marriage.
The case in Texas is an extreme example of a common, more subtle message. Of course this kind of formal sex education has to stop immediately. However, even those of us who aren’t directly teaching kids that once they lose their “innocence” or “purity” they’re as good as chewed gum need to reevaluate and be more mindful of the words we are using.