**Explicit Content**
Worth It Sex Education Goals
Encourages students to find value in the permanent, instead of temporary pleasures like sexuality, material items, or social status.
Differs from both Comprehensive and Abstinence-only programs.
Tackle issues like pornography, premarital sex, suicide, and teen pregnancy by encouraging students to treat themselves respectfully.
Encourages critical thinking towards making decisions about sex.
Does not use graphic imagery.
Promotes abstinence only.
Comprehensive Education
The curricula that many schools recommends is informed by SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Counsel of the United States) National Guidelines for Comprehensive Sex Education and the Future of Sex Education Initiative.
Notes on SIECUS
SIECUS Guidelines are split by age group. Level 3 is equivalent of Worth It’s Middleschool age group. These Guidelines recommend leading explicit conversations about issues like gender dysmorphia, abortion, fantasies, masturbation, oral and vaginal sex, and STDs. While they affirm abstinence is the best way to avoid consequences of sex (STDs, pregnancy, etc.), SIECUS encourages safe sex over anything. SIECUS recommends teaching children as young as five years-old about issues like fantasy, masturbation, and abortion. Some of the content from the Guidelines is quite disturbing. One section on masturbation for the Level 1 age group (5-8-year-old children) states, “Touching and rubbing one’s genitals to feel good is called masturbation. Masturbation should be done in a private place.” SIECUS Guidelines also talk about alternative relationships to marriage, such as living together without being married. There is even some talk of divorce and why a married couple may choose to get a divorce. These Guidelines are used to build sex-ed curricula in elementary, middle, and high schools across the nation.
HealthSmart
Another commonly used sexual education curricula is called HealthSmart, which is written by ETR Associates. HealthSmart ties a nice bow onto its curriculum and claims to encourage abstinence, body image, and self-worth, but actualy promotes sexual behavior among children by using exlicit and graphic material. This curricula is taught in a coed class, shows explicit photos of male and female genitalia, and gives a detailed condom demonstration. Unlike HealthSmart, Worth It takes a strong stance against using graphic imagery in the classroom and goes into detail about having strong self-worth.
Links: https://www.etr.org/healthsmart/assets/File/scope-sequence/HealthSmart_MS_Scope-Sequence_3dEd.pdf
Power Through Choices
Power Through Choices is a Comprehensive Sex Education Curriculum offered by the Healthy Teen Network. The goal of this curriculum is to encourage minors to make choices in their lives concerning sex by claiming that young children “have the right to live their authentic sexuality”. While they emphasize making "smart choices", Power Through Choices encourages safe sex over other choices (like abstinence) to children between the ages of 13 and 18. Power Through Choices is the epitome of a Comprehensive Sexual Education program and is supported by Planned Parenthood and SIECUS.
Final Thoughts
While researching Comprehensive Education Curricula, a common theme presented itself. This kind of curricula works to encourage its students to have safe sex, while Worth It works to encourage its learners make smart choices and develop self-worth. Worth It takes a whole new approach to sex education. It not only touches on issues like sex and relationships, but address problems affecting our youth that other curricula do not, like social media, pornography, and inherent human value.
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