Authors: Julissa Contreras Castanon & Dr. Sandi
“If colleges are the hunting ground, as they’ve been called, for sexual predators, advocates say high schools are the breeding ground and any solution must start there” Tovia Smith, NPR News
While sex education for grades K-12 has become more comprehensive, there is no federal law mandating what information needs to be taught. Instead, each state is responsible for determining how to best address the issue of sexual reproduction and Title IX’s protections against sexual discrimination, otherwise known as sexual misconduct and sexual violence. Shockingly, as of 2016, only 25 states require public schools to include education on sexual assault. Therefore, schools may be teaching students about consent, healthy relationships, bystander intervention, and in some programs, self -defense, while others are not doing this at all. Because of the gap in sexual education as described under Title IX, most students do not learn about dating violence and sexual violence until they attend college! It’s important to know that all educational institutions receiving federal funding are required to take steps to prevent and address sexual assault, provide support to victims, and conduct fair and timely investigations into reports, this includes K-12. Title IX legislation defines sexual assault as any non-consensual sexual act that is forced upon someone, including but not limited to: rape, sexual battery, sexual coercion, and other various forms of sexual violence.
Sadly, it is a common assumption that Title IX is applicable only in colleges and universities. This is due, in part, to the harmful belief that sex –and therefore sexual violence– is an “adult issue”. This misinformation is not unlike the reasoning that supports the federal government funding abstinence-only sex education for the K-12 system, spending approximately $75 million per year across 44 states and five U.S. territories since 2017. Yet the sobering reality is that sexual assault can happen at any age, with close to a hundred K-12 (elementary and secondary) schools being investigated for Title IX violations.
What’s more, research from studies on sexual violence prevention suggest that one-time sex education classes are also not enough, stating that the same information on sexual assault prevention taught to 9th graders decreases to only about a third effectiveness for 12th graders. This is because all sex education needs to be age appropriate and what is taught in the 9th grade compared to what is taught in the 12th grade should be different and more conceptualized.
Overall, these facts are not meant to instill fear in parents or students, but to increase awareness. It is important to know there are Title IX protections that are mandated by the federal government for all K-12 and higher education. Learning what consent means and the fact that sexual misconduct can take place, can only enlighten an individual’s choices to think about preventative measures to increase their overall well-being and safety. Title IX Consulting Group recommends that all parents should age-appropriately discuss consent and healthy relationships with their children because it is important to prevent sexual abuse at any age.