Sex Ed and the State
A new documentary explores the paradox pittng scientific evidence and public support for comprehensive sexuality education against the unwillingness of political leaders to enforce standards that keep kids safe.
Jim Winkle says he didn't set out to make a documentary.
"It started small, with me just interviewing a few legislators. But I wanted to find out more, and that's how I ended up traveling out to Washington and talking to people from the Heritage Foundation," he said in an interview with Minnesota Monitor, in which he spoke about his documentary, "Sex Ed and the State."
Winkle, a graduate student in the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, produced the film as both a master's thesis and an attempt to figure out why states continue to shy away from enacting comprehensive sex education policies.
"I thought it was a paradox," he said. Winkle added that sex education standards continue to lag, "even though sex ed has good evidence behind it — it's been shown to increase condom use and delay the onset of sexual activity — and it also gets pretty high approval in polls."
He says bills are offered every year in the Minnesota legislature codifying sex ed, and that he hopes his film will help him and others "find out where it fails in the legislative process."
Winkle filmed during the 2006 session, when Republicans controlled the House. He said that sex education was "not anything most of them had on their mind," but said that didn't mean there were no strong opinions.
Winkle cited Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, as a chief opponent of the measure. "He thought if we were to teach sex ed, it should be what's good and what's bad, that abstinence is good, and having sex before marriage is bad."
He also noted that Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, who sponsored the bill, was a strong advocate for the measure. "She has kids, and she thinks they deserve to be told the truth."
Winkle said he thought the lack of sex ed could be behind recently rising abortion numbers in the state.
"I think it is a factor," he said. "France, England and the rest of Europe has an abortion rate about a quarter of America's, and they have comprehensive sex ed starting in fifth grade." He also said poverty plays a role in the rising rates.