A Tale of Comprehensive Sex Education in Chicago Public Schools

Posted on: January 14, 2014Chicago

This post was written by CHC member Hana Zegeye.

Series: Chicago Healthcare

Hana serves at Heartland Health Centers as a Health Promoter.

 

 

With significantly higher rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) compared to the national average, it is evident that Chicago has a strong need for comprehensive sex education. Numerous research studies have shown that young people delay sexual activity and make safer sexual decisions when they have access to comprehensive sex education (1).


In August 2013, Governor Pat Quinn signed a new comprehensive sex education bill into law, encouraging Illinois school systems to adopt a'comprehensive, medically accurate and age-appropriate" sex education curriculum (2).


As a health promoter at Heartland Health Centers - Senn and Roosevelt High Schools, I teach health education classes and connect students to the school health center's resources.  My most recent sex education class, co-taught by the Senn High School nurse, covered everything from the reproductive system, abstinence, and contraceptives, to STIs and healthy relationships. We created the curriculum in accordance with the new Chicago Public Schools comprehensive sex education policy (3). As a proud CPS alumna, I was struck at how different the curriculum we were about to teach was from my own, shallow learning experiences in high school.
 
 
Teaching has been the most wonderful and rewarding part of my service thus far. Although students came in with a wide range of knowledge  and comfort levels with the topic, after a few classes, everyone was enthusiastically participating and having a lot of fun.  Overall, the class was a huge success. Scores on the post-class test shot up dramatically compared to the first day of class, and we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the students, who were grateful to receive this information. If more Illinois school districts institute comprehensive sex education, I am hopeful that teenagers will be empowered to make healthier and more informed sexual decisions and will be more connected to helpful resources in their community.