Correction: This story contained incorrect information about Putnam City Public Schools. It has been corrected.
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Oklahoma public schools vary widely in the amount of sex education they provide students, with some of the largest districts offering limited or no programs, according to a check of nearly a dozen districts by Oklahoma Watch.
Among the state's five largest districts, the largest, Oklahoma City Public Schools, provides no sex-education classes to students at any grade level, though the district once offered a comprehensive program two decades ago.
Tulsa Public Schools began providing a comprehensive program this school year and will expand the classes later this semester. Among the next three largest districts, Moore Public Schools offers the least amount of sex education, teaching only HIV/AIDS education; Edmond and Putnam City public schools conduct short-term events for the student body as a whole.
The Oklahoma Department of Education does not keep records of which of the state's 520 districts teach sex education. The state is one of 29 states that don't mandate sex education in public schools, according to a recent report by the Guttmacher Institute, a research nonprofit. Along with 32 other states and the District of Columbia, Oklahoma does require HIV/AIDS-prevention education in schools.
Some studies have found that comprehensive sex-education programs help reduce teen birth rates, with one study showing such programs don't increase sexual activity or sexually transmitted diseases.
Oklahoma has the nation's fourth-highest teen birth rate, with 6,496 births, or 50.4 per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19, in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teen pregnancies have declined in Oklahoma and nationally, with Oklahoma's rate dropping by about 14 percent since 2007.
In 2011, 50 percent of female high school students and 51 percent of male high school students in Oklahoma reported having sexual intercourse, according to a state profile by the Sexuality and Information Council of the United States, a nonprofit devoted to education about sexuality and reproductive health. That compares with 46 percent and 49 percent nationwide.
Comprehensive sex education includes medically accurate information on topics such as relationships, human development,abstinence, the benefits and side effects of all contraception, disease prevention, and how to avoid unwanted sexual advances, according to the sexuality council. HIV/AIDS education includes a discussion of the spread and prevention of the disease.
Oklahoma law requires school districts to send notes to parents informing them of all sex education and HIV/AIDS-preventionclasses. Parents can opt their children out if they don't want them participating. In many districts, some required classes, such as health or biology, cover the basic biological facts of reproduction.
Here's what Oklahoma Watch found in its checks with school districts:
Largest districts
Oklahoma City Public Schools had a comprehensive sex education program about 20 years ago but has since phased it out due to the need to spend more time focusing on college preparedness and standardized tests, said Susan Johnson-Staples, college career readiness and guidance services director.
Now high school students get some related information in biology and anatomy classes and in elective health and family classes, she said.
"I think over the last many years, there has been this tremendous emphasis to make sure our kids are academically prepared when they leave school," Johnson-Staples said. "I don't think it is that there isn't a need (for sex education). I don't even think it's a case of people perhaps don't recognize a need. The focus is just over here (on academic subjects)."
Tulsa Public Schools partnered with several local organizations to start teaching comprehensive sex education and pregnancy-prevention in the fall something never done before in the district. The classes started in two middle schools and two high schools, said Jim Walker, Tulsa's Youth Services executive director, who is helping with the initiative. Because the curriculum was successful in the fall, Tulsa Public Schools will introduce it in all high schools this spring, Walker said.
The"evidence-based" classes were taught at three different grade levels about once a week during the semester, Walker said.
Moore Public Schools teaches only HIV/AIDS education, spokesman Jimi Fleming said.
Edmond Public Schools has a two-hour annual program for eighth-graders that addresses puberty, drugs and alcohol use, symptoms of and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), abstinence, and the ramifications of unprotected sex, spokeswoman Susan Parks-Schlepp said.
Sex education aspects, such as sperm and egg cell fertilization and abstinence, are taught in required classes such as health and biology. Extracurricular family planning classes also include discussions of STIs, safe sex practices and abstinence, Parks-Schlepp said
Putnam City Public Schools, the state’s fifth largest district, requires all freshman boys and girls at Putnam City North High School to attend health forums about abstinence and sexually transmitted diseases, unless they opt out.
All three of the district’s high schools offer optional classes on health and family and consumer science. The classes cover a range of topics, including body care, fertilization, reproduction and abstinence, spokesman Steve Lindley said.
Other districts
Lawton Public Schools teaches only state-mandated HIV/AIDS-prevention, spokesman Keith Mitchell said.
Jenks Public Schools uses an abstinence-based sex education curriculum called "Worth the Wait" for students in grades seven and higher, spokeswoman Bonnie Rogers said.
Seventh-gradeeducation includes information on reproduction and puberty, reasons not to have sex, symptoms of STIs, and legal issues regarding sexual contact and sexual abuse.Students in grades 10 and 11 learn about fetal development and prenatal care, testing and treatments for STIs, and contraceptive details.
Mid-Del Public Schools, which serves Midwest City and Del City areas, does not teach sex education beyond HIV/AIDS-prevention.
Norman Public Schools does its sex education as an event outside of regular classes in middle school. Students in grades six through eight learn about body image, body parts, relationships, pregnancy, STIs and puberty all with a focus on abstinence, spokeswoman Shelly Hickman said.
Enid Public Schools offers seventh-grade students a countywide event with an abstinence focus.
Union Public Schools in Tulsa County three years ago launched its Carrera program, devoted to pregnancy-prevention, sex education, academic achievement and life skills. The weekly class will eventually be taught to students in grades six through 12, Superintendent Kirt Hartzler said.
Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism service that produces in-depth and investigative content on important public-policy issues facing the state. For more Oklahoma Watch content, go to oklahomawatch.org
Rules of Conduct
Welcome to the discussion.
12 comments:
Dana Asher posted at 8:04 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
nothing will stop Oklahoma's "race to the bottom" on any subject!
Mert Rozman posted at 6:26 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
[thumbup]
Gerry Smythe posted at 5:17 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
Gordon, Perhaps "mandate" was a poor choice of words, but…
The parents have completely failed to educate their children about sex.
The schools have miserably failed to teach this curriculum.
The evidence to prove these statements lies in the article documenting that Oklahoma is the 4th worst in teen pregnancy.
I am anti-ignorance. This problem could be reduced with education.
Do you have any other solution?
Gordon Mills posted at 4:20 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
GS, there's that word 'mandate' again. Apparently you believe that all decisions regarding behavior should be taken from the hands of the citizens and mandated by those who wear black dresses.
Gerry Smythe posted at 4:02 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
Considering that Oklahoma is 4th worst in the nation, anyone capable of deductive reasoning should be able to conclude that the current programs have been a total failure.
This state needs to mandate a comprehensive sex education program. It is the only PROVEN way to reduce teen pregnancy.
Bernie Cremin posted at 3:04 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
What is the teen pregnancy rate in Oklahoma? Any one know?
Females aged 15-19--- 47.8% per 1,000 and it is 31% in the United States.
by race, ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white 3,261
Non-Hispanic black 825
Sexual behaviors among high school students (grades 9-12), 2011
Percent of high school students who have ever had sexual intercourse Oklahoma
Total 51%
Male 51%
Female 50%
Birth control use among sexually active high school students (grades 9-12), 2011
Percent of high school students who used a condom during last sexual intercourse
Oklahoma
Total 57%
Male 61%
Female 54%
Regardless of what you think should be taught, Oklahoma teens are having sex. Not all teens, but many teens.
Why shouldn't schools teach teens about reality, about options. If not the schools, parents should be doing it.
If it isn't a parent or teachers, then it will be a peer, who may not have the correct information, and or misleading information.
Of course, you think that your children are all going to be virgins until they marry, but that isn't the truth. Some teens and some adults for that matter are going to have sexual intercourse or some other form of sex before they are married.
Gordon Mills posted at 2:34 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
If you check all the stories on the Tulsa World website today, it would seem they have an inordinate amount of sex on the brain.
Jean Taylor posted at 1:12 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
Schools teaching birth control is same as condoning teen sexual promiscuity. If the public school system feels they should teach sex education, Jenk's "Worth the Wait" sounds like their school program might be on the right track.
Jean Taylor posted at 1:04 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
Gordon, [thumbup] I like OKC's change, too. And if a school is going to teach sex education to their students, Jenk's "Worth the Wait" sounds like it puts the emphasis where it should be.
Bernie Cremin posted at 12:02 pm on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
Just place a dime between your knees and fight the natural urges. Abstinence.
Mert Rozman posted at 9:26 am on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
The thinking seems to be that if we don't tell kids about s-e-x, they won't discover it on their own until they are much older.
Sounds reasonable.... [huh]
Gordon Mills posted at 6:42 am on Sun, Jan 26, 2014.
I like the Oklahoma City Public Schools emphasis on academic preparation.