Nevada Schools Eye Shift to More Medically Accurate, Opt-Out Sex Education
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The Clark County School District is proposing a change to their current process of sex education by making it mandatory for students unless parents explicitly choose to opt their child out. This would be a shift from the current system where parents must explicitly opt their child in for health education.
The specifics of the district’s plans were not disclosed, but the proposal was included in a list of possible bill draft requests that the district intends to submit for the upcoming legislative session starting in February. The Clark County School District is the fifth-largest school district in the United States.
Nevada is one of only five states where parental permission is required for students to enroll in sex education. The other states with this requirement are Utah, Texas, Mississippi, and Arizona.
Assemblywoman Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, a Democrat, introduced Assembly Bill 295 in 2019. The bill aimed to make sex education an opt-out program and mandated the teaching of evidence-based and factual information on topics such as puberty, pregnancy, parenting, body image, and gender stereotypes. Although the bill failed in committee, Bilbray-Axelrod plans to reintroduce it in the upcoming session.
According to state statutes, schools in Nevada are only required to teach medically accurate sex education about AIDS.
In 2020, Nevada had the highest number of reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis in the nation. This demonstrates the urgent need for comprehensive sex education.
The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization, reports that only 17 states in the US require medically accurate sexual education. However, the definitions of medically accurate sex education vary significantly across states. Some states have health departments review the curriculum, while others base the curriculum on information from trusted medical sources.
The recent overturning of Roe v. Wade and the increasing public health crisis of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in America have sparked a renewed interest in expanding efforts to revamp sex education nationwide.
Currently, the Clark County School District does provide medically accurate sex education. However, Bilbray-Axelrod expresses concern for other counties in Nevada that may not have the same level of sex education resources.
Without a statewide mandate for sex education, rural counties and at-risk populations such as homeless youth or children in the foster care system face additional barriers in accessing this important education. Nevada has consistently had the highest rate of unsheltered unaccompanied youth and the highest rate of children in state care in the entire country.
Both homeless youth and foster youth have higher rates of sexually transmitted infections compared to their peers. It is crucial to provide sex education to these vulnerable populations, especially when they may not have parents or guardians to opt them in.
According to the 2019 Nevada High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Report, while 31% of high school students in Nevada reported having sexual intercourse at least once, 44% did not use a condom. Condoms are the only birth control method that helps prevent STIs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about half of the approximately 26 million new cases of STIs in the US occur among people aged 15 to 24. However, the CDC also states that medically accurate sex education can prevent HIV, STIs, and unintended pregnancies among teens and young adults.
The CDC’s data shows that reported cases of gonorrhea, primary and secondary syphilis, and syphilis among newborns in Nevada increased in 2020 compared to 2019. Early data suggests that this trend continued in 2021.
Aside from Bilbray-Axelrod’s 2019 bill, there have been other sex education-related bills in recent years. In 2017, Assembly Bill 348, which proposed periodic updates to the course content to ensure medical accuracy, was passed with support from Democrats, educators, and students. However, it was vetoed by then-Governor Brian Sandoval.
Sandoval justified his veto by emphasizing the importance of parental involvement in the sex education system, stating that while school boards and educators play a role, parents are the most crucial part.
If the issue of mandatory sex education does arise in the upcoming legislative session, it is likely to face opposition from conservative groups like Power2Parent. Erin Phillips, the president and CEO of Power2Parent, lobbied for Sandoval’s veto and believes that opt-out sex education is not a priority for vulnerable groups such as the homeless and foster youth.
At the national level, Representative Dina Titus, a Democrat from Nevada, co-sponsored the Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act of 2021. The act proposes comprehensive and medically accurate sex education curriculum. However, neither this bill nor a companion measure in the Senate has progressed beyond the introduction stage.
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