High schools across the country aren’t shying away from issues of sex. Evanston Township High School is no exception.
In March, Congress introduced the Responsible Education About Life Act, a bill that designates federal funds for medically accurate information to help students make informed decisions about sex. For the last decade, Congress has only provided funding for abstinence-only programs.
Despite a fiery ongoing debate between teaching comprehensive or abstinence-only sex education in public schools, ETHS is part of a possible trend toward offering teenagers a wide range of sexual information from abstinence to contraception.
Kathy Miehls, director of public and alumni relations for ETHS, said the school takes a comprehensive approach to sex education. She declined to comment further, but ETHS students say the school’s program is more liberal compared to others.
“They talk more in the terms if you’re going to have sex, not only the reasons why you shouldn’t have sex in general,” ETHS senior Adrienne Hoop said.
Lakita Garth-Wright, a board member and former chairwoman of the national pro-abstinence organization Abstinence Clearinghouse, said there is a trend toward adopting comprehensive sex education in high schools.
“When it comes to sex, common sense goes out the window,” she said. “In my opinion, a kid who is out there having promiscuous sex is a greater threat to public health than a kid who is a drunk driver. It’s a ripple effect, so we’re actually being consistent with common sense.”
Sophomores at ETHS are required to take a one-semester health course for graduation, which includes a section on human sexuality. Students learn about topics such as sexually transmitted diseases, different methods of contraception, teenage pregnancy and abstinence.
Maura Brannigan, a Weinberg freshman and former ETHS student, said she learned a lot from the health course.
“Frankly, I was a little surprised that ETHS was so forward with it, but I think it’s great,” Brannigan said.
Other Northwestern students said their high schools completely avoided the topic of sex in health classes. Weinberg sophomore Ashley Whang said a large majority of students at her high school in Alabama were uninformed about sex.
“The topic was very taboo for me just because it wasn’t acceptable to talk about it in school,” she said. “It was really weird coming to college when people were so open about it.”
Though some, such as Garth-Wright, said teenagers are too young to have sex, others said it is better to be prepared.
“I think it’s good they do it sophomore year because it’s the age when everyone starts to think about sex more,” Hoop said. “I think it’s better to do it too early than too late. It’s a good age to start becoming aware of things.”
Garth-Wright said the media is propagating misinformation to the public about the philosophy behind abstinence-only programs.
“We’re not teaching young people to engage in expressing love or affection or emotions with their zippers and dresses down,” she said. “Abstinence-only means it’s the only 100 percent way of avoiding STDs and staying safe.”
