"...a badly neglected area by both political scientists and sexologists" says North Penn High School teacher David Hall.

Contemporary debates over school-based sexuality education are about more than whether young people should learn about contraceptives and disease prevention or whether they should learn to abstain from sexual activity until marriage. School-based sexuality education is a highly contested arena in the contemporary struggle over heterosexuality and citizenship in the United States. As school boards, teachers, young people, parents, and legislators argue over whether, what, and when young people should learn about sexuality in school, they are also struggling over what it means to be a sexual person in the United States. They are helping to decide what kinds of sexual behaviors, identities, and decisions are acceptable in their schools, neighborhoods, and towns. They are helping to define “good” sexual citizens of the United States by delineating which sexual desires, behaviors, and identities confer the rights and responsibilities of belonging, and which preclude full, legitimate citizenship.

Exclusive federal funding for abstinence-only education makes clear the prevailing government definition of the good sexual citizen. Current funding streams require educators...

This article can be found in its entirety on the National Sexuality Resource Center website.