My Opinion on Washington’s Senate Bill 5395
Earlier this year, the Washington state legislature voted in Senate Bill 5395 to mandate comprehensive sexual health education in grades K-12. Citizens opposed to the legislation collected enough signatures to bring it to the November 2020 ballot for the citizens to decide its ultimate fate. The following are my thoughts on the bill.
I’ve read and heard many thoughts on Washington Senate Bill 5395 concerning comprehensive sexual health education. This is a matter that’s of special importance to me as the parent of children who come to my home with varying sets of circumstances who may or may not stay with me forever. The current law allows districts to use their own discretion in deciding to what extent they provide their students with sexual health education. Bill 5395 will still allow districts to choose their curriculum, and it will continue to allow parents to opt out of the sexual health education lessons.
The change in the law that is proposed is a mandate for all districts to provide at least one sexual health education lesson per year for students in grades K-5, and two sexual health education lessons per year in grades 6–12. For K-3 students, the instruction will be “in social emotional learning that is consistent with standards and benchmarks established by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction” (Washington Voter’s Pamphlet). In grades 4–12, the instruction should include six topics, which are listed in the pamphlet and include consent, prevention, and the “physiological, psychological, and sociological development process.” Again, parents who deem these 1–2+ (depending on the district) lessons per year inappropriate for their child are free to opt their students out of these lessons.
The most common argument I’ve heard against 5395 is that sexual health should be taught in the home. If you believe this, what steps are you actively taking to teach your kids about sexual health? What books do you have in your home that give them accurate information about bodies, boundaries, and consent? What was your education about sexual health? If it was entirely from a religious pamphlet or a single Christian book about sex with a dash of 1990s high school sex ed, then you likely aren’t equipped to offer your child comprehensive sexual health education.
This argument also neglects the fact that many kids do not have a stable home situation where accurate and complete information about sex is shared. Some kids come from homes where parents work long hours and aren’t around a lot to teach their kids this important information. Some kids grow up in homes where they are taught their bodies don’t belong to them, and they don’t get to choose who hugs, kisses, or touches them and when. Some kids are in foster care and move from one home to another so often that they either get no messages or mixed messages about sexual health. Some kids live in homes where there’s so much shame surrounding sexuality that they would never dare to ask a question or bring up the topic with a safe adult. Instead, they turn to their peers and the internet, both of which are a mixed bag of harmful and helpful information.
Every child deserves to be taught that their body belongs to them. Every child should be taught that they do not have the right to touch another person’s body without their consent. Every child should have access to sexual health education that affirms their right to healthy romantic and sexual partnerships. When you say sexual health education should be taught at home, you are denying the right of many thousands of children to have the same opportunity to know and understand these concepts as your kids. You are ignoring the fact that not every home is like your home.
Another argument I’ve heard is that children are more susceptible to abuse when they have information about sex. The opposite of this is true. Students who have been explicitly taught that their bodies belong to them, that they get to choose who they allow to touch their body and when, who are taught the correct terminology for their body parts, and (for older kids and teens) accurate information about mutual respect and pleasure in sexual relationships, are far less likely to experience sexual abuse. They are less likely to be abused by a romantic partner. They are less likely to have an unwanted pregnancy or get an STD. They are less likely to participate in sexually risky behavior. They are less likely to get an abortion. In foster care training we are counseled to be open and frank about sexual health in age appropriate ways because it protects our kids who are at such high risk for abuse, dating violence, STDs, and adolescent pregnancy.
Many of the folks who are against 5395 are the same folks who claim to be pro-life. Here’s the thing about abortion: Making it illegal doesn’t stop it from happening. People still abort their babies, they just find other ways to do it that are unsafe. Do you know what does measurably reduce abortions, though? Comprehensive sexual health education.
Vote for decreased abortions
Vote for safety in dating relationships
Vote for consent
Vote to prevent sexual abuse and empower victims
Vote for #metoo
Vote to approve 5395
Resources:
Abortion facts: https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/sexual-and-reproductive-rights/abortion-facts/
Benefits of sexual health education: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/whatworks/what-works-sexual-health-education.htm
