Comprehensive Sex Education Essay

One argument for teaching comprehensive sex education over abstinence only sex education in schools is that it promotes social and educational equality with respect to people with disabilities. In the context of equality of educational opportunity, students with disabilities can easily participate in school with some form of help (Spring, 2017). However, people that have disabilities are more likely to be sexually exploited and abused than someone with no disabilities. For example, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder often have a hard time understanding body language and social cues. Studies show that this leads to people with Autism Spectrum Disorder being two to three times more likely to be sexually exploited than their peers (Hannah …show more content…
Comprehensive sex education will be able educate these students more on their own sexuality, perception of sexual situations, feelings, motives, and desires (Hannah & Stagg, 2016). Regarding students with disabilities, it is important for schools to take into account where, when, and what time disabled students will be taught. Sinclair et al., (2017) noted that there are also various barriers such as a lack of teacher preparation that decrease the chances of disabled students receiving a quality sex education (Sinclair et al., 2017). To reduce the number of potential barriers, Sinclair et al., (2017) came up with a five-step collaborative process for planning to implement a sex education program to support the needs of students with disabilities (Sinclair et al., 2017). The steps include connecting with school boards and district personnel, connecting with administrators, planning for instruction with general education teachers, engaging families and caregivers in planning, and engaging students in planning and instruction (Sinclair et al.,