Sex education is a comprehensive teaching approach that encompasses various topics related to sex and sexuality, helping individuals navigate personal relationships and sexual health. Effective programs include a focus on human development, relationships, personal skills, sexual behavior, and societal impact while addressing issues like sexual violence. Successful sex education is early, inclusive, trauma-informed, and taught by trained professionals, leading to informed decision-making and improved health outcomes for young people.

1. Sex/Sexual Education

2. Sex Education
• Sex education is high quality teaching and learning about a broad
variety of topics related to sex and sexuality.
• It explores values and beliefs about those topics and helps people gain
the skills that are needed to navigate relationships with self, partners,
and community, and manage one’s own sexual health.
• Sex education may take place in schools, at home, in community
settings, or online.

3. Comprehensive sex education refers to programs
that cover a broad range of topics related to:
• Human development, including puberty, anatomy, sexual orientation, and
gender identity
• Relationships, including self, family, friendships, romantic relationships,
and health care providers
• Personal skills, including communication, boundary setting, negotiation,
and decision-making
• Sexual behavior, including the full spectrum of ways people choose to be,
or not be, sexual beings
• Sexual health, including sexually transmitted infections, birth control,
pregnancy, and abortion
• Society and culture, including media literacy, shame and stigma, and how
power, identity, and oppression impact sexual wellness and reproductive
freedom

4. Sexual Health Education Programs
• The rate of sexual assault among victims 12-years old or older
increased from 1.4 to 2.7 per 1,000 persons.
• This increasing rate of victimization is in line with recent research
from the Centers.
• An Sexual Violence Survey data illustrates the risk to male and female
victims, between ages 10-17, to be approximately 1 in 4 and 1 in 3
individuals, respectively

5. • studies have uncovered evidence indicating comprehensive programs
are successful when they include
health goals,
preventive methods,
physical/psychosocial risk and
protective factors,
• fostering of safe environments, and the incorporation of active
participation and multiple activities throughout the course

6. Advantages of Sexual Health Education
Policy
 Focus on preventing adverse sexual behavior and subsequent
consequences.
Professional development specifically targeted to teaching sexual
health content.
 Focus on teaching four domains (including several specific topics
under each domain):
Human sexuality
Pregnancy prevention
HIV prevention
Sexually transmitted diseases prevention.

7. • Tailored interventions for the needs, concerns, and expectations of
students.
Young people being educated to make informed decisions for their
sexual health.
Expanded health education topics reviewed in school.
• Aspects of the community, peers, youth, and academic collaboration in
the health education curriculum.
Primary focus on HIV/AIDS, STD prevention, alcohol, and drug
education, with possible incorporation of sexual health education

8. • sex education that’s culturally responsive and inclusive helps young
people develop the social and emotional skills they need to become caring and
empathetic adults.
• This type of sex education early and often leads to appreciation of sexual diversity,
dating and intimate partner violence prevention, development of healthy
relationships, prevention of child sex abuse, improved social/emotional learning,
and increased media literacy.
• It also helps young people avoid unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted
infections (STIs).

9. Sex education works best when it’s:
• Taught by trained professionals
• Taught early and often throughout the lifespan
• Includes both information and skill-building activities
• Evidence-informed
• Inclusive of LGBTQ+ youth
• Rooted in anti-racism practices
• Trauma-informed
• Adapted to the needs of the community

10. • https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Publications/Sexual-Health-Education-
Component-of-Comprehensive-Health-Education/Components-of-
Sexual-Health-Education