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This curriculum on sexual education was designed to educate middle-school-aged students in the Southwest United States about sexual education. There is a lack of continuity when teaching sexual education in the United States due to the lack of national regulations discussing sexual education. Since there is no national requirement for sexual education curriculum and curriculum can differ from state to state, county to county, and even district to district, this curriculum provides a solution to this problem. This curriculum was designed to educate students in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas and follow each state’s specific laws. This curriculum stresses the importance of abstinence while also recognizing that abstinence is not a possible solution for all students. The goal of this curriculum is to educate students about the complexity of sexual encounters before they engage in them. This curriculum covers topics such as Gender Identity and Intersectionality; Sexual Orientation; Puberty; Consent and Power in Relationships’ Sexual Intercourse; and Contraception and Protection. After the duration of this course, students should be well-equipped with the tools and understanding to make well-informed decisions about their sexual health.
Communicating with Confidence: Evaluating Sexual Education Exposure’s Effect on Sexual Communication
Data used from 293 participants aged 18-25 was used to perform descriptive analyses and linear regressions adjusted for significant covariates. Exposure to a comprehensive sexual education curriculum was found to be significantly positively associated with increased sexual communication confidence, while exposure to an abstinence only until marriage curriculum was not found to be a significant predictor. All resources were found to be positively associated with sexual communication confidence with the exception of health class, which was an insignificant predictor.
Comprehensive sexual education is an important factor in increasing young adults’ confidence in sexual communication of information and preferences. However, sexual education delivery in health classes in the United States is currently ineffective. A reevaluation of how sexual education should be delivered in the United States is needed.