The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #60988

Alexandra M. Lord, Office of the Public Health Service Historian, U.S. Public Health Service, Room 1823 Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-443-5363, alord@psc.gov

Since 1919, the United States Public Health Service has aggressively mounted sex education programs aimed at adolescents. In viewing these programs through the lens of history, it becomes evident that social and cultural factors have been the dominant factor shaping sex education campaigns in this country. At the most basic level, the ethical issues raised by these programs have led the federal government to consistently prioritize moral issues over medical standards. But unexamined and unquestioned, these programs have also perpetuated gender and racial stereotypes while doing little to reverse or even arrest rates of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Through an historical analysis of the government’s eighty-four year old campaign, this paper will provide an insight into the ways in which the government’s emphasis on moral issues as well as its tendency to reinforce gender and racial stereotypes have often worked to the detriment of public health.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize that approaches to sex education by the federal government and many private agencies have been remarkably consistent over a seventy-five year period.
• Articulate the key issues which have proven to be most problematic in implementing sex education programs.
• Analyze and assess the implications inherent in the perpetuation of gender and racial stereotypes in sex education programs.

Keywords: Ethics, Behavior Modification

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: N/A
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.