Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education: Sources

This post is just the full list of sources including some sources that I didn't use. It is not fully comprehensive of all potential sources, but it is mostly complete. So for those readers who want to do some research of their own, here is a good start. Also here is a link to a show that gave me the idea to do the research to begin with: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver- Sexual Education.


Works Cited

1. Blount, J. M. (2016). Controlling Sex: Modern Histories of Sex Education. Reviews in American History, 44(4), 611-62.

2. Denny, G., & Young, M. (2006). An Evaluation of an Abstinence‐Only Sex Education Curriculum: An 18‐Month Follow‐up. Journal of School Health, 76(8), 414-422.

3. Denny, G., Young, M., Rausch, S., & Spear, C. (2002). An Evaluation of an Abstinence Education Curriculum Series: Sex Can Wait. American Journal Of Health Behavior. 26(5), 366-377.

4. Frieden, T., Jaffe, H., Cono, J. et al. (2015) Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health- Related Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12- United States and Selected Sites, 2015. MMWR Surveill Summ 2016; 65, p.19-22, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/pdfs/ss6509.pdf

5. Gates, G. (2017) Vermont Leads States LGBT Identification, Gallop, retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/203513/vermont-leads-states-lgbt-identification.aspx

6. Hess, A. (2010). Hold the Sex, Please: the Discursive Politics between National and Local Abstinence Education Providers. Sex Education, 10(3), 251-266. doi:10.1080/14681811.2010.491632

7. Jackson, J. (2007) Unmasking Identities: An Exploration of the Lives of Gay and Lesbian Teachers. Lanham, Maryland. Lexington Books

8. Jeffries, W. L., Dodge, B., Bandiera, F. C., & Reece, M. (2010). Beyond abstinence-only: relationships between abstinence education and comprehensive topic instruction. Sex Education, 10(2), 171-185. doi:10.1080/14681811003666317

9. Jennings, K. (2005) One Teacher In 10. Los Angeles, California. Alyson Books
10. Kirby, D., Short, L., Collins, J., Rugg, D., Kolbe, L., Howard, M., … Zabin, L. S. (1994). School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness. Public Health Reports, 109(3), 339–360.

11. Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2008). Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4), 344-351.

12. Luker, K. (2006). When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex- and Sex Education- Since the Sixties. New York, W.W. Norton and Company.

13. Macapagal, K., Coventry, R., Arbeit, M., Fisher, C., and Mustanski, B. (2017) “I won’t out myself just to do a survey”: Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents’ Perspectives on the Risks and Benefits of Sex Research, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Volume 46, Issue 5, pp 1393–1409.

14. no author. (2017) LGBT Youth. CDC, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm

15. no author. (2017). Sex and HIV Education. Guttmacher Institute, retrieved https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education

16. no author. (2013) Statistical Data- Clark County School District, retrieved on http://www.ccsd.net/resources/budget-finance-department/pdf/publications/cabr/2013/statistical-data.pdf

17. no author. (2017). Sexual Behaviors : HIV, STD, & Teen Pregnancy Prevention. CDC : information gleaned from Division of Adolescent and School Health, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/sexualbehaviors/

18. no author. (2017). Teen Pregnancy in the United States. CDC : information gleaned from Division of Reproductive Health and National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, retrieved https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm

19. Rubenstein, R. (2017). Sex Education: Funding Facts, Not Fear. Health Matrix: Journal Of Law-Medicine, 27525-554.

20. Segal, C. (2017). Eight States Censor LGBTQ Topics in School. Now, a Lawsuit is Challenging That. PBS, retrieved http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/lgbtq-issues-class-lawsuit-utah/

21. Silva, M. (2002). The effectiveness of school-based sex education programs in the promotion of abstinent behavior: a meta-analysis. Health Education Research, 17(4), 471-48.

22. Shtarkshall, R., Santilli, J., and Hirsch, J., (2007). Sex Education and Sexual Socialization: Roles for Educators and Parents. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 166-119.

23. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: why we need comprehensive sex education in the US. PLoS One, 6(10), e24658.

24. Valenti, J. (2009) The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women. Berkeley, California, Seal Press.

25. Weed, S. E., Ericksen, I. H., Lewis, A., Grant, G. E., & Wibberly, K. H. (2008). An abstinence program's impact on cognitive mediators and sexual initiation. American Journal of Health Behavior, 32(1), 60-73.
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26. Zimmerman, J. (2015). Too Hot to Handle: A Global History of Sex Education. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press.

Other Sources not quoted.....


https://mic.com/articles/123634/john-oliver-laverne-cox-and-nick-offerman-just-gave-us-the-sex-ed-psa-america-needs#.llodWwE3h

Guttmacher Institute, Sex and STD/HIV education, State Policies in Brief, October 2011,, accessed Oct. 19, 2011.

https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/facts-american-teens-sources-information-about-sex

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-domitrz/the-conversation-we-need-_b_7968198.html

http://www.thejournal.ie/john-oliver-sex-ed-2263891-Aug2015/

https://www.thecut.com/2015/08/john-oliver-made-a-very-helpful-sex-ed-video.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-oliver-eviscerates-american-sex-ed-but-the-reality-is-even-worse-20150813

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/watch-john-oliver-blast-subpar-sex-education-in-u-s-schools-20150810

http://www.agreenroadjournal.com/2015/08/sex-education-last-week-tonight-with.html

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/john-oliver-sex-ed-psa-laverne-cox-jonathan-banks-nick-offerman-1201566669/

https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/facts-american-teens-sources-information-about-sex

https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2012/sex-education-linked-delay-first-sex

https://thinkprogress.org/teen-pregnancies-highest-in-states-with-abstinence-only-policies-8aa0deeebb41

http://www.ibtimes.com/states-reconsider-abstinence-only-sex-ed-programs-obama-congress-battle-over-teen-1804460

https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education

Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education: Post #1

* First part of the term paper titled "Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education." This post covers the Abstract and the Background portion of the paper.

Abstract

Sexual Education in the United States has a long and controversial history. Discussions of whether the education is needed, who should distribute the information, where the education should occur, and what information should be included into curricula are all up for debate and disagreement. However, the majority of these discussions, legally mandated public school curricula, and for-profit sexual education speakers all focus on one particular subject: heterosexual sexual desire and behavior. As definitions of sexual behavior tend to normalize heterosexual behavior while ignoring sexually diverse behavior, the majority of studies performed are used to justify or develop public education lesson curricula that are focused on these particular aspects of sexuality. This leaves students who are gender or sexually diverse without any solid education with which to make healthy, informed decisions about their sexuality and behavior, leaving these individuals at high risk for negative consequences of sexual behavior. Therefore, it is vital that studies determine how educational curricula can be used to appropriately educate this minority segment of the population and how best to integrate the needed curricula into public education classrooms, as this is the most common place where sexual education takes place. Researchers and public health officials must also be aware of the risks specific to sexual diverse students that make these individuals less likely to participate fully and honestly in research where there is a perceived risk of confidentiality or privacy failures, allowing their personal information to be released to family, friends, or community members. Recognizing the perceived risks and determining research methods that can minimize these risks can create an environment for safe and complete participation by sexually diverse students which is vital for a full understanding of adolescent student needs.

For the purposes of this paper, individuals and populations that identify as sexually diverse include: gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual, questioning, as well as those who identify as gender non-conforming (transgender and intersex.)

Background

Very little research has been conducted with a view to understanding how to recognize and teach individuals who claim a sexuality other than heterosexuality. On the contrary, many researchers admit that students who report any form of sexuality other than heterosexuality are removed from their studies to keep the results consistent for the majority population studied. As such, the need for valid research that recognizes sexual diversity and works to understand the unique needs of these individuals is evident. Equally obvious are the challenges that an accurate study will have to overcome. As individuals who have sexual diversity in this country are in the minority and are also seen by many majority groups as being deviant (and a host of other negative labels), it will be challenging to create a research project that creates enough confidence in vulnerable individuals to take part while keeping their participation and divulged information confidential.

There is no shortage of data available on heterosexual behavior in adolescents. One question is whether researchers should attempt to separate heterosexual and sexually diverse subjects into separate research projects at all. It should be easier to get accurate information from these adolescents if they are participating in research that includes large quantities of participants so that their personal responses are blended into a larger group of participants and data collection. The majority of studies remove information from participants that admit to any sexuality other than heterosexuality, leaving not only a lack of studies on sexual diversity, but also only a narrow focus on specific forms of heterosexuality. Due to the limitations of the majority of studies performed, this author recommends that research should study the prevalence of sexual and gender diversity in adolescent populations as well as what information should be included in sexual education curricula in public education. This research should also collect statistics on age of sexual initiation, behaviors used, and self-reported negative consequences.

Sexual and Gender Diverse Adolescents and the Failures of Traditional Education in Public Education: An Introduction

This post is an introduction to the next few post sharing a term paper that I completed for a class that I took that focused on sociology and education. The paper is long so I intend to break it into a few posts and I will have a post listing all sources for those who are interested. This topic is near and dear to my heart as I didn't feel like I got a very healthy view of sexuality from my public and religious education and I wondered how widespread disinformation or a lack of information was being taught. Turns out, its really more common than I expected. If fact, it appears that a lack of comprehensive sexual education is the norm and not an outlier at all.

I hope my readers enjoy the paper and, per usual, I am interested in your critique and comments. Enjoy.

Praxis Project Reflection

This semester, I have found myself pulled in many different directions. Between emergencies with friends, medical tests and physicians mumbling around me, I feel like this semester has flown by so quickly I haven’t gotten more than a few glimpses of what I was trying to gain… like a hummingbird I see the beauty and remember it but I have to keep going over my notes and writings to really pull up the clear full image that I had in front of me. I changed my ideas on a project a few times over the weeks from blog post biographies on my favorite feminists to a newsletter with basic articles for on different aspects of feminism…. to my final and completed project of resources for Maine individuals who identify as LGBTQI.

This project came about when an individual finally discovered that her fear of her husband was also her children’s fear… she discovered that he was hurting the children as well and they were terrified their father would kill her. She pretended to be ‘normal’ for two days while quietly making plans with friends and the moment her husband left for work on Monday with the only car, she walked out to meet a friend with her children and hasn’t gone back. She was lucky and even though the struggle with the courts is all encompassing still, they are safe. Those two days were awful, with several people trying to find what resources there were out there for her. Domestic violence resources are supposed to be prolific – and they are- but out of almost 50 searches, over half had disconnected numbers, were closed, had lost funding, were full and unable to help others, or even had very strict limitations. That same week, some of the readings combined with this particular experience, caused me to push aside what I had done and begin again. I wanted to see what resources that there might be pulled up on google and spent two hours writing up every source I found for LGBTQI resources in Maine. My goal was to create a comprehensive list and hoped that I was able to fill a few pages of solid and available resources to pass along to the university.

I learned a few things from this project. The first was that as I had predicted, most of the resources that I had carefully listed were either no longer operational or if they were, I had no information to find any new information for them through follow up searches. However, as I just started cold calling different people and organizations, I not only found more resources but also found people who were collecting some of the same information I was looking for. I found individuals who not only were enthusiastic that I was willing to spend the time creating this resource and were willing to help me, but were hopeful they could have a copy of it when completed to help community members near them. I had conversations with one group who was saddened that I had found them by accident and gave them ideas on my search so that they could try and make their organization come up in search engines instead of my lucky referral from a lawyer’s office. I also worked on it at work and as my project became locally known, I had a co-worker and a few patients quietly pull me aside and hand me a paper with an email or a phone number on it. I ended up having to leave resources off the list due to time constraints (I could probably spent another 25+ hours and have twice as many pages), but I feel really good about what I have. I was pleasantly surprised at how many resources there are around… even though so many parts of Maine are rural and far flung. I was also a bit surprised to find some organizations carefully not answering some of my questions and I realized that they didn’t want to be a resource, but could not come right out and say it – due to their funding models, personal opinions, etc.… (I did leave those groups off the list.)

I discovered that in some ways, those who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, bi-sexual or intersex may have extra difficulties in finding resources and support even in areas that are known for being ‘liberal’. While there are so many resources, finding out about them was a significant amount of work and took quite a few resources to find. It appeared to me that just like my anonymous 'individual', when you are in a tough place, you really do need people with some social privilege and resources to help you find and access what you needed. I think this project was as successful as it could be with my limited time frame and the blinders of my own privilege- after all, I did choose what resources I left off the list due to time constraints… I have to wonder sometimes how things did or did not make the cut. I am hopeful that this assignment will have the forward removed by UMA and be copied and distributed wherever is appropriate. I am hopeful it will be useful to someone. Thank you.

picture from: http://all-free-download.com/free-vector/download/abstract_rainbow_background_vector_148022.html

Introduction to my Intersections Praxis Project

The next few days, I will be putting up two pretty large posts so I thought I would introduce them here. Last semester I took an Intersections class and we were able to make a choice as to a large and convoluted semester project. I am afraid I sent quite a bit of the semester trying to figure out a project and then came across my project idea from a comment at work and some contemplation. The project I chose was to try and develop as comprehensive a list as I could of LGBTQI resources in the state of Maine from emergency services to longer term mental health and medical services. The first post will discuss how I came up with the idea and how it became a reality and the next post will be the full list that I came up with and turned in for a grade. This list is accurate as of May 2016 and while it is missing a lot- due to lack of time or imagination, I wanted to share it here to make sure it is accessible (hopefully) if someone needs it. If you are reading this and want to add or change a resource, please feel free to let me know. :)