HIS (Healthy Image of Sex) Summary

SUMMARY: SIECUS REVIEW of HIS (Healthy Image of Sex)

Healthy Image of Sex (HIS) is an abstinence-only-until-marriage curriculum for high school students, which is used in federally funded programs throughout the state of South Carolina. The authors created two versions: Version I for African American audiences and Version II for “ethnically diverse” audiences.  SIECUS reviewed both versions and found surprisingly few differences: pictures vary and some minimal changes have been made to the text but for the most part the two versions are the same.[1]   

In order to convince adolescents to remain abstinent until marriage, HIS relies on messages of fear and shame, religious ideals, inaccurate and misleading information, and biased views of marriage, gender, sexual orientation, and abortion. In addition, HIS fails to provide important information on sexual health. Finally, the format and underlying biases of the curriculum do not allow for cultural, community, and individual values, and discourage critical thinking and discussions of alternative points of view in the classroom.

Passing Beliefs and Opinions as Facts

• “Q: Marriage is:
  a. one of the many choices for living arrangements
  b. the choice of a man and a woman to commit to one another as husband and wife for life
  c. a relationship that usually does not last and can cause a lot of pain
  
  Q: Pregnancy is:
  a. the opportunity to give life through conception
  b. having a baby so that there will be someone to love you
  c. a really bad thing that can happen to you if you are a teenager" (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 4)

• On a page titled “Boundaries,” a police badge, a railroad crossing, a speed limit sign, and the Ten Commandments written out on what looks like an open page of a book, are all pictured alongside a photograph of a bride and groom.  The curriculum tells students that boundaries such as the Ten Commandments and marriage “…are established to protect us” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 57).

Throughout the curriculum, the authors present “definitions” that are clearly designed to present one world view—one that believes, among other things, that any sexual activity outside of marriage is immoral and that life begins at conception—as unwavering truth.  Moreover, like the curriculum’s acronym itself, messages throughout the program, suggest subtle religious undertones.  It is not appropriate for a program used in public schools or funded with public dollars to present religious messages.  Education programs should respect the diversity of values and opinions found in communities and help young people think critically about their own values and the values of their families.

Relying on Negative Messages

Messages of Fear—Portraying Premarital Sex as Inevitably Harmful

• “It can be easy not to think about these things and just hope they don’t happen to you. But think about this, if I walk in front of a truck hoping I won’t get hit, not thinking about getting hit, can I still get hit?  This is the same as sex outside of marriage…” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 40).

• “If I told you to ________would you?” The teacher fills in the blanks aloud with: “eat worms, put fire in your lap, inject poison in your veins, drink something that will make you do things you don’t really want to do.” As students respond to this, teachers are told to “listen for reasons of danger or being stupid or nasty or not wanting to die” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 50).

• The curriculum compares premarital sex to “powerful stuff.” “What happens when these powerful things [referring to a picture with a sports car, a syringe, a gun, fire, and an airplane nearing the twin towers in New York City] are used in healthy and unhealthy ways: Plane—consider the Twin Towers; Cars—consider when used by children under age or people on drugs; Guns—when used by people who are not trained or do not have authority, or for play by children; Fire—when played with or when not in a safe place.” This exercise concludes by saying that “Like many things with potential great benefits, sex can be damaging as well.  Marriage is the safe place, outside of marriage is dangerous” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 9).

• Teachers are told to “Remind students of the power of water as evidenced by Hurricane Katrina in and around New Orleans in 2005 and the tsunami in and around Indonesia and Thailand in 2004”  (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 23).

These messages are clearly designed to scare students rather than educate them.  Moreover, comparing premarital sex to injecting oneself with poison, playing with guns, and acts of terrorism is dangerous and offensive.  While these are activities we never want our young people to engage in, most adults agree that they want their teenager to grow up to have a happy and healthy sex life.  And, while all moral authorities can agree that playing with a loaded weapon or killing 3,000 people by flying a plane into a building is wrong, many throughout the world think it is wholly appropriate for two adults to have consensual sex outside of marriage.

Messages of Shame—Instilling Embarrassment and Guilt

• “If [a girl] has been involved in sexual activity…sexually, she is no longer a virgin, she is no longer pure, unspoiled, fresh” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 9).
   

• “My Sex Life as a Teenager”: I will probably feel guilty because I know I shouldn’t be doing it” and “I may feel worse about myself and wish I had waited” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 26).

• “Self-control becomes much more of an issue when you have already been sexually active and have later chosen to become chaste….But how do you stop? The feelings that have been stirred up do not just go away. Some make suggestions to release the physical tension, like masturbation, but thoughts are still focused on pleasing self, not the person you plan to commit to later” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 56).

The curriculum routinely assumes that the decision to become sexually active is one born out of low self-esteem and inherent character flaws, and that all young people who have been sexually active are damaged. While it is possible that some teens may have had negative experiences with sexual behavior, instilling guilt does nothing to help them cope with such experiences. It is also possible that sexually active teens have had consensual, safe, and protected sexual experiences for which they feel neither guilt nor shame. Suggesting that they should feel bad can only serve to produce emotional distress where there was none.

Sexual Arousal—Describing Sex as an Uncontrollable Force

• “Safe sex is not: Just kissing, hugging, and holding hands (making out). Because physical relationships are progressive. These behaviors will likely lead to sex. It’s dangerous to start. You will want more even if you think you can handle it” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p.9).
   

• “Don’t let anyone mess with you.  Remember—Don’t touch; Hands off (from sexual activity definition)—you want to be healthy and safe by making the right decisions now” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 24).

This is perhaps the most dangerous message teens can be given about sexual activity; by suggesting that teens have no control over their actions, it actually discourages them from making wise sexual decisions and taking responsibility for their actions. Young people need to know that at any point in a relationship, and at any point during sexual activity, they have the right and the ability to set their own sexual boundaries and that it is their responsibility to do so.

Distorting and Exaggerating Information
 

• “Most common STD Killer: Human Papaloma [sic] Virus” and “Most Well Known STD Killer:  Human Immune Deficiency [sic] Virus or HIV/AIDS.”  The page is stamped twice with the phrase “NO CURE!!!!” (HIS, Student Workbook, p. 23).
   

• “Safe sex is not: sex with a condom—condoms and other barriers do not make sex physically safe—you can still get pregnant or get a disease.  You can also get hurt emotionally because research shows that the relationship is not likely to last and the sexual partner will leave you for someone else” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 9).  

• “Disapproval of adolescent contraception protects teens from early sexual involvement as well as from pregnancy” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, unnumbered pages).

Many of the facts and figures cited on these pages are accurate, yet the authors seem deliberately to present them in such a way as to instill maximum fear of STDs in young people and undermine their faith in condoms. Students would be better served by an open and honest discussion of the level of risks associated with a variety of sexual behaviors, the methods of preventing STDs (including an honest discussion about condoms), the signs and symptoms of STDs, and the importance of STD testing and treatment. 

Promoting Bias

The Marriage Mandate—Promoting One Lifestyle

• “Marriage is emphasized in every lesson and the advantages of reserving sex for marriage are reiterated” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, Curriculum Summary, unnumbered page).
   

• A chart entitled, “Which Would You Prefer?” lists benefits under the heading “marriage,” including:  “health, money, child doing well in school, child feels good, happiness, long life.”  In contrast, it includes these outcomes under cohabitation: risk of illness, lack of money, child doing poorly in school, child misbehaving, anger, shorter life. Similar bad outcomes are listed under the heading “single parent,” including: risk of illness, poverty, child failing in school, child abused, child in jail, depression (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 54).

• “Tell students not to be confused—a popular statement today is ‘I would like to be married or in a solid committed relationship’—marriage is a solid committed relationship, anything less is not a commitment or solid. Let’s stop the confusion!” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 58).

There are over 93 million adults in the United States who are classified as single because they have never married or are separated, widowed, or divorced.[2]  It is inappropriate for an education program to suggest that these individuals inevitably face a short, unhappy life characterized by abuse, loneliness, and miserable children.  And, it is simply inaccurate to suggest that married couples never experience anger, poverty, depression, or misbehaving children. We live in a pluralistic society that allows people to choose their own futures and determine their own adult relationships. 

 Gender—Promoting Stereotypes

• “Generally female dogs allow the male to mount them/get on top of them, do their business, and leave.  Some girls appear to act as if they want this” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 27).
   

• “Research is showing that men are marrying later in life because they have their choice of women.  It is no longer the standard that sex occurs after marriage; so there is no reason to marry. Woman are readily available—men do not have to wait” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 33). 

HIS perpetuates long-standing gender stereotypes, without any discussion of how these stereotypes can be harmful. Students are not challenged to question the nature, validity, or origin of these gender stereotypes, or to explore how stereotypes affect communication within friendships or sexual relationships. Such a presentation is detrimental to all young people by limiting their options, influencing their behavior, and coloring their expectations for future relationships.  

Pregnancy Options—Mandating Choices

• Abortion —“death of baby” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 42).
   

• “We are sorry we left you with all this “freedom” and the “right to choose”, having to make decisions by yourself in the most difficult situations” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 15).

• Possible side effects of abortion include “increased risk of breast cancer and infertility,”  and “guilt over the decision to take the life of another human being, anxiety, coldness, depression, flash backs, eating disorders, drug abuses, and concerns over being able to have another child when ready” (HIS, Teacher’s Manual, p. 42).

It is not the place of education programs to mandate choices for students. Instead, students need unbiased information about all of the options they have, should they experience an unintended pregnancy as a teenager or an adult. It is unconscionable that an educational program for use in public schools would suggest that terminating a pregnancy is tantamount to taking the life of another human being.  Moreover, the curriculum’s other suggestions including the risk of breast cancer, infertility, and post-abortion stress are claims frequently made by anti-choice activists but have all been proven false.