The Fight for Sex Ed: The Century-Long Battle Between Truth and Doctrine

Journalist Myers debuts with a comprehensive and propulsive overview of the history of sex education. Noting that America is unique among developed nations for having no nationalized, mandatory sex ed policy thanks to 100 years of pushback by the country’s Christian right, Myers posits that studying this history is relevant today for understanding “how difficult it is to solve real problems... in a highly politicized atmosphere.” She begins with turn-of-the-20th-century doctor Prince Morrow, who, after spearheading a study that revealed nearly 200,000 New Yorkers were suffering from sexually transmitted illnesses, was the first to champion sex education. His work led to the first attempt to teach sex ed in schools—in Chicago—which was quickly shut down by Christian moral opposition. Myers goes on to track the yo-yoing sex ed “debate” across the rest of the century, up until the liberal Clinton administration, which nonetheless funded abstinence-only education, endangering teens who weren’t taught that STIs can be spread by sexual activity besides intercourse. Indeed, as the author writes, it has repeatedly been shown that abstinence-only education leads to upticks in venereal disease and sex ed leads to downticks; yet America is trapped in a “maddening situation” in which “experts are forced to relitigate foundational ideas over and over.” The result is not just an admiring look at generations of dedicated advocacy but a strong call for changes to how the truth is reported in America. (Aug.)