Background: School health education, including sexual health education, plays a crucial role in shaping adolescents' protective health behaviors, experiences, and outcomes. Adolescents need functional knowledge and skills to practice, adopt, and maintain healthy behaviors for preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including human…

Many sexuality educators in the United States have noted that current sex education models do not meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student body, and they have begun advocating for anti-racist sex education. Many sexuality instructors, however, work in public schools that require the use of prevention-focused, evidence-based sexuality…

No other facet of curriculum has stoked as much debate in schools across the United States as sexuality education (Corngold, 2013). However, it is now the widely held consensus that some form of sexuality education should be implemented in public schools. The "Professional Standards of the National Association of School Psychologists"…

To describe development and pilot testing of the Test of Adolescent Sexual Knowledge (TASK) developed by the researcher using content recommendations of the National Sexuality Education Standards. TASK development was guided by a systematic process described by Kirby and Mathtec. Pilot testing involved the use of talk-aloud interviews with 10…

Sexual and reproductive health and well-being plays a central role in the lives of young adults. Having the ability to plan whether and when to become pregnant, to protect against sexually transmitted infections, and to receive essential medical care during pregnancy, for example, have important effects on young people's lives--including their…

Historical studies have shown that, since its beginnings, sex education in England has mostly focused on "damage limitation", emphasising only the dangerous inevitability of pregnancy and childbirth after unprotected sex and the hazards of sexually transmitted diseases. This approach is largely based on restrictive notions of teenage…

The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (S. 1782/H.R. 3324), introduced in November 2011 by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), would ensure that federal funding is allocated to comprehensive sexual health education programs that provide young people with the skills and information they need to make informed,…

Evaluation studies are often considered exemplary because of the quality of their designs, but it is well known that a common--and often necessary--aspect of outstanding studies is stakeholder involvement. Furthermore, the implementation of designs and the nature of stakeholder involvement depend in large part on political and ideological…

The medical examination of the sexually abused child may have evidentiary, medical, and therapeutic purposes, and the timing of the examination requires consideration of each of these objectives. In cases of acute sexual assault, emergent examinations may be needed to identify injury, collect forensic evidence, and provide infection and pregnancy…

Several recent studies have shown that healthy teens generally do better in school than their less healthy peers. Teens may have little control over some factors--such as chronic illness--that may contribute to their poor health and difficulties in school. However, when armed with accurate information and skills, teens can eliminate or minimize…

Young people ages 10-24 account for 25 percent of the world's population: a total of 1.8 billion, most of whom are living in low- and middle-income countries. They face significant challenges, including HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), adolescent pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and gender-based violence. Youth have the right to lead…

Intimacy can be a complex subject. However, holistic and healthy intimacy exists in many forms and can be achieved not only with a romantic other but also with one's friends, family, professional colleagues, and self. As part of lifespan development, it is ideal to build a knowledge base and skill set to comprehend the multiple facets of intimacy.…

The goal of this paper, "National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12," is to provide clear, consistent and straightforward guidance on the "essential minimum, core content" for sexuality education that is developmentally and age-appropriate for students in grades K-12. The development of these standards is a result of an…

Objective: To describe the development of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) evidence-based guidance on one-to-one interventions for prevention of STIs and under 18 conceptions, as a focus for an integrated approach to sexual health services. Method: Documentation of the process for developing NICE guidance that is…

Nearly one third of Nigeria's total population of 148.1 million is between the ages of 10 and 24. Nigerian adolescents' sizeable share of the population makes them integral to the country's social, political and economic development. Nigeria's development is compromised by the sexual and reproductive health issues afflicting its youth. Lack of…