Sex Education is under attack in New York State. Due to the current administration, and cultural attitudes towards sexuality, competent sex education and hygiene is an obstacle for young adults. With little knowledge, facts, and resources young adults are left to discover this education alone. As a result, many face preventable health risks, and are misled by false information. We are addressing the need for competent, comprehensive sex education to be taught in schools accurately. There needs to be better education on personal hygiene, responsibility, and implementing sexuality into sexual education, health and hygiene curriculum into grades starting at seventh grade. New York State's Education’s overall grade is a D- New York State Profile 2025 - SIECUS, even though New York is supposedly a blue state. This is reflected in its critically outdated and inconsistent education method. This leaves young people unprepared for the realities of adulthood. New York State does not mandate comprehensive sex education to be taught in schools. The curriculum that is taught is that is inadequate, inaccessible, and sometimes inaccurate, failing to address the complexities of consent, LGBTQ+ inclusivity, and the importance of safe hygienic practices. The curriculum that is taught is required to stress abstinence, and it is not required to include instruction on sexual orientation, gender identity or instruction on consent. The well-being of the young citizens in New York State needs to be prioritized. This can be accomplished by establishing and mandating a comprehensive, evidence-based, trauma-informed sex education curriculum across all public schools.  

The Solution

Addressing the sex education crisis requires a comprehensive, and inclusive approach. Sexual health education should be comprehensive, evidence-based, and medically accurate. To achieve this goal New York state needs to mandate a standardized sex education curriculum across all public schools. This curriculum should include discussions on gender identity, sexual orientation, consent, contraception, and healthy relationships, among other related topics. It should be inclusive of all students, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, or background. Studies consistently show that comprehensive sex education leads to healthier outcomes for teenagers.  Proper education teaches respect, personal responsibility, mutual consent, reducing rates of sexual violence, risky behaviors, and promoting healthy relationships. Comprehensive sexual health education is both an educational reform and a public health intervention. Inadequate instruction disproportionately impacts marginalized youth, including LGBTQ+ students and adolescents from low-income communities. By mandating inclusive, medically accurate education and ensuring access to hygiene resources, New York State can reduce adolescent health disparities, strengthen healthy relationship development, and improve long-term social and economic outcomes. 

Hygiene Infrastructure and Equity-Based Support 

Comprehensive sexual health education must also include instruction on hygiene and personal self-care. We believe schools should implement confidential hygiene resource accessible closets through school nurses, counselors, and or designated staff to reduce stigma, and promote student dignity. This type of closet should be accompanied with soap, deodorant, oral care, lotion, grooming tools, menstrual products, and condoms. This is preferred over isolating students who may be struggling with hygiene access. Partnering hygiene within the educational curriculum in a preventive, educational, and non-punitive manner reduces stigma, and encourages questions. 

Having partnerships within community organizations that can help support sustainable donation systems and resource distribution models.  Addressing hygiene is not merely cosmetic—it is directly linked to public health outcomes, student confidence, school attendance, and mental well-being. 

Another solution for the health and sex education crisis is to pass the Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act. This act eliminates funding for abstinence-only programs and establishes a 5-year grant system for a comprehensive sex education program. This program, supported by this grant, is set up to teach a variety of topics related to reproduction and sexuality. These topics would include puberty and adolescent development, anatomy and physiology, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, contraception, pregnancy and reproductive care, sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), healthy relationships, and interpersonal violence. Another policy recommendation that would be beneficial in fixing the crisis of sex ed in America is resisting efforts to defund the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. The Teen Pregnancy Prevention program is a national evidence-based program that works to give youth and their adult supporters knowledge, resources, and language to promote positive relationships, environments and health outcomes. During first Trump administration, funding was halted for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. Preserving this program is essential in preventing unintended pregnancies, prioritizing planning, maintaining healthy outcomes and environments, as well as addressing the gaps presented in our current model of sex education.  Sex Education should empower students and move towards community goals and betterment. It is not simply the responsibility of the school or state to simply sex education; it is a human right that students are entitled to. Students must be engaged in material that prepares them for the future of adulthood, and give them knowledge, and confidence to build healthy relationships, respect boundaries, and contribute to society responsibly.  

 Benefits of providing comprehensive sexual health education to students:  

1. Increase the use of sexual protection 
2. Reduces unintended teen pregnancies  
3. Decrease rates of STIs  
4. Promotes healthy relationships  
5. Supports Mental and Emotional well-being 
6. Promotes Inclusivity and safety 

Get to know more using local resources and online information:

1. Rochester Center for Sexual Wellness 
2. SUNY Brockport Hazen Center 
3. Child Mind Institute  
4. Rise Up Rochester 
5. Sexual Health Clinic Rochester NY
6. Current New York State Sex Ed 2025: https://sexeducationcollaborative.org/states/new-york#:~:text=State%20Sex%20Education%20Policies%20and,sexual%20orientation%20or%20gender%20identity 
7. Rochester Ceter for Sexual Wellness: https://rochestercenterforsexualwellness.com/service/sexual-education/  
8. Sex Ed For Social Change: https://siecus.org/  
9. NYS specific profile of Sex Ed: https://siecus.org/stateprofiles/new-york-state-profile-2025/ 
10. Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act of 2021: H.R.3312 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act of 2021 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress