By Maria Trent, MD, MPH, and David L. Bell, MD, MPH 

As former presidents of SAHM, we are often asked to comment on best practices

 in adolescent and young adult standards of care or specific public health outcomes. But, as interdisciplinary adolescent health providers, we all also need to speak out about what is happening to public education in America. Because so often, the consequences find their way to our clinic doorsteps with direct impacts on child and adolescent development, educational outcomes, and well-being. 

Some political leaders have chosen to make public schools the frontlines of a partisan culture war. They are banning everything from math textbooks to sex education to classic literature because they mention sexual orientation, race, gender identity, and basic concepts like “respect” and “perseverance.” Amid multiple public health crises, they devote time and energy to legislating which intramural sports teams

transgender youth can play on and which locker rooms they must use despite the value of school sports for healthy development. Simultaneously, they allow gun violence to terrorize kids in classrooms and community spaces. Most importantly, they are preventing teachers and school counselors from creating inclusive spaces where children and adolescents can talk about their experiences safely. 

Children and adolescents deserve accurate, age-appropriate answers to the questions they have. Not just because that sets them up for success in the world as adults, but because it helps them make healthier decisions as adolescents and emerging adults.

Most parents know that sex education lowers the rates of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, but at the elementary school level, it serves a much broader purpose. When young children learn basic foundational concepts like accurate names for body parts, bodily autonomy, consent, privacy, and respect, they are less likely to be bullied at school and less likely to be vulnerable to an adult sexual predator. Comprehensive sex education reduces sexual violence and abuse. It is one of the most powerful tools to keep kids safe. Parents are frightened and confused when lawmakers call teachers “groomers” for saying that LGBTQ students exist and deserve respect or that learning American history and reading novels by award-winning authors like Toni Morrison will make white youth hate themselves. If parents are scared and confused, it is because they are not being told the truth.   

We know how critical it is to adolescents’ physical and mental health that they be allowed to learn in a safe and inclusive environment. Unfortunately, nearly 60 percent of LGBTQ students feel unsafe in school because of their sexual orientation. Among youth in grades 7–12, lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are more than twice as likely, and transgender youth are three times more likely, to have attempted suicide than their heterosexual peers. Transgender youth are also at substantially higher risk of being the victims of violence.  

Data suggests that Americans are living in a period of great mistrust. Those of us who work with adolescents are powerful truth-tellers and advocates for their health. We must use our voices to advocate for comprehensive sexuality education, safe and affirming socio-emotional learning environments for LGBTQ youth and youth of color, and re-designed gun laws that keep schools and their surrounding communities safe. We know that withholding knowledge doesn’t make children and adolescents safer. On the contrary, empowering them with the information and critical-thinking skills enhances their academic and social development.

For more information about how you can get involved to speak out in support of sex education and other health equity initiatives currently under attack in schools, click here.