Ask Cooper students what they’ve learned at school recently, and you’ll hear all about chemical reactions and British plays. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for success in university and beyond, but also includes mandatory arts and physical education requirements to ensure that students are well-rounded. And yet, like any school, there are topics not included in the curriculum; one such subject at Cooper, which students often note the lack of, is sex-ed.

The teaching of sex-ed, which could potentially cover a wide variety of topics such as information on contraception or sexuality, is a controversial issue across the nation. And Cooper is by no means an anomaly for steering clear of the contentious affair; sexual education is missing from the curriculum of many high schools, especially in Texas. 

Texas public schools are not required to teach sex-ed; when they choose to incorporate the topic into their curriculum, they face certain restrictions. Texas Education Code § 28.004 states that “any course materials and instruction relating to human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus or acquired immune deficiency syndrome…must present abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred choice of behavior” and “devote more attention to abstinence from sexual activity than to any other behavior”. In addition, schools “may not distribute condoms in connection with instruction relating to human sexuality”.

Though some schools teach “abstinence-plus” sex-ed, emphasizing abstinence but also providing students with information on contraception and STDs, the majority of Texas schools teach abstinence-only sex-ed or nothing at all. Many people believe that improved sexual education would help prevent unwanted teen pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Not everyone agrees. Some argue against sex-ed in schools on religious grounds; however, there are also compelling secular arguments to consider. For instance, the idea that because sexual education is non-academic, schools have no business in the subject.

Is it the school’s job to prepare students for all aspects of life, or just academic ones? Many students go to college ill-prepared for adult life- they may scramble figuring out how to manage personal finances or even do laundry. It’s a transitory phase, an intermediate step between living at home and being fully independent; parents will often lend assistance to the student during the learning process, helping the young adult as they begin to fill out their own forms and rent their own apartments. But maybe schools should better equip students for adult life in the first place rather than leave the responsibility of preparing teenagers for adulthood completely up to families. For instance, schools everywhere could start teaching home-economics again. This used to be a staple course, as was driver’s ed; now the task of teaching teens to drive is placed upon families, who often have to enroll their teenagers in outside courses such as Safeway. 

Schools have dropped courses like home-economics in favor of more academically rigorous courses, as college applications become increasingly competitive and more attention is given to test performance. Though most high schools still boast sports teams and arts clubs, more focus has shifted to standardized test scores. After the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, even elementary school teachers may be more concerned about test performance than students’ overall development in other areas of life. But those other areas of life are just as important; don’t we want all high school graduates to know how to cook, write a check, or vote? Being taught how to find derivatives and write analytical essays certainly helps students prepare for college and beyond, but the teaching of other skills might be equally necessary to best prepare them for life.