There has been a lot of talk in the news about access to birth control. This presents a timely opportunity to address access to birth control for minors.

According to the Illinois Birth Control Services to Minors Act, birth control services and information can be provided to any minor if the minor:
1. is married
2. is a parent
3. is pregnant
4. is referred by a trusted adult such as a pastor, parent, legal guardian or other such entity
5. has consent from their parent/legal guardian
6. would be at risk for a serious health hazard if the birth control service was not provided

Let's take into consideration that the average age in which a person has first intercourse is 17 for both boys and girls. Remember, that's the average age--some young people have first intercourse before or after age 17. While it is always desirable for a young person to talk with their parent about health issues, particularly sexual health issues, many young people would still have sex and not seek reproductive health services if they were required to tell their parents.

The following resources provide more details as well as requirements in other states.

http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_MACS.pdf

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1461&ChapterID=32

Parents are the primary sexuality educators of their children, teaching them their values and beliefs related to sexuality. Yet, research shows that the majority of parents of junior high and high school students believe that it is very important or somewhat important to include sexuality education as part of the school curriculum.⁽¹⁾  That's where the National Sexuality Education Standards play a role.

National Sexuality Education Standards were released in their final form in January of 2012. The goal of the standards is to provide a clear and consistent guide for school districts and teachers to address the basic, core content for sexuality education that is developmentally and age appropriate for grades K-12.

Content areas include:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Puberty and Adolescent Development
• Identity
• Pregnancy and Reproduction
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV
• Healthy Relationships
• Personal Safety

Looking at this list, someone might ask, "Are you are going to teach my child about sexually transmitted diseases in 1^st grade?" The answer to that is a loud "No". Teaching a 1^st grader about sexually transmitted diseases is not age or developmentally appropriate. However, healthy relationships are addressed at this age and include identifying the different types of family structures, and describing characteristics of a friend. Pregnancy and reproduction also are addressed at this age to the extent that children would be able to explain that all living things reproduce. Most people would agree that the mechanics of intercourse would not be age or developmentally appropriate for a 1^st grader.

One national survey reported that youth receive an average of 17.2 hours of sexuality education throughout their K-12 educational career–that's 3.1 hours in elementary school, 6 hours in middle school and 8.1 hours in high school. This is the only formal sexuality education students will receive unless they go onto college and enroll in a course. The National Sexuality Education Standards provide guidance on the essential minimum for school aged youth.

For more information and to review the National Sexuality Education Standards, go to: http://www.futureofsexed.org/documents/josh-fose-standards-web.pdf

1. National Sexuality Education Standards, Special Publication of the Journal of School Health, January 2012.

Last week, the FBI, under the direction of the Obama administration, revised the federal definition of sexual assault to include men as victims. Illinois law does not use the words male or female to describe the victim or the perpetrator.

Here are some statistics that could be eye opening:

1 in 3 females will have an experience that meets the definition of sexual assault by the time she is 18

1 in 6 males will have an experience that meets the definition of sexual assault by the time he is 18

A general definition of sexual assault is any contact between the sex organ of one person or use of an object, and the sex organ, mouth or anus of another person through force, threat of force, when the person is unable to understand the nature of the act or unable to give informed consent.

For more details, see the Illinois Compiled Statutes, 720 ILCS 5/12-13.

Welcome to the initial post of Sexual Health from the Inside Out. The intention is to use this blog to address questions and commentary about a variety of health and health education issues, particularly those issues related to sexual and reproductive health. Sexual and reproductive health includes topics such as birth control, sexually transmitted infections, HPV vaccines, breast and cervical cancer, abstinence, communication, relationships, relationship abuse, sexuality education, HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy, sexual orientation, how to talk to your kids about sex, sexual assault, prostate cancer, and the list goes on.

Improving reproductive and sexual health requires empowering people with information needed to make healthy, respectful and responsible choices. Information posted here will be medically accurate, practical, and easy to understand.

Posts will be made at least monthly, perhaps more often. Depending on current events in the news about sexual and reproductive health, posts could be made as often as weekly.