[Sidenote: Arguments for sex-education.]
In these lectures I shall discuss the great sex problems towards the
solution of which knowledge conveyed by special education may help.
These problems offer reasons or arguments in favor of sex-education,
and I shall attempt to present them from this point of view. I shall at
the same time point out in preliminary outline how organized
instruction may apply more or less directly to the sex problems that
seem to show the need of educational attack, but in later lectures the
organization of instruction will be considered more specifically.
[Sidenote: Propagandism needed.]
In reviewing the literature that during the past decade has advocated
sex-education, it has seemed to me that there is left little
possibility of any decidedly new and important contribution to the
arguments favoring such instruction, for the whole case has been
splendidly presented by eminent writers in the fields of medicine,
biology, sociology, and ethics. It now appears that the great majority
of educators, scientists, and intelligent citizens in general have
accepted the arguments for sex-instruction, so far as they have been
informed concerning the meaning and need of the movement; and this
leads me to the belief that in the future we need not new arguments but
frequent restatements of the established facts which indicate the
importance of widespread knowledge regarding the function that is
inseparably connected with the perpetuation of life. In short, we now
need a propagandism for extending the sex-education movement among the
masses of people.
For those who have already accepted sex-education, a survey of the
facts that created a demand for sex-instruction will give a clearer
outlook on the movement. The rapid increase of interest in
sex-education has been the result of widespread dissemination of
convincing facts concerning some common disharmonies that grow out of
the sexual problems of the human race. These facts which have led to
sex-education should be kept in mind by all who wish to understand or
to play a part in the instruction of young people.
It is quite unnecessary, and still more undesirable, to recite at
length in these lectures the social, medical, and psycho-pathological
facts concerning abnormal or perverted sexual processes. Fortunately,
the educational ends may be gained by a general review that points out
the bearings of the main lines of the sexual problems, the
misunderstandings and mistakes that education may help prevent and
correct.
[Sidenote: Parents should know reasons for sex-instruction.]
It is important that the general public, especially the parents, should
understand the reasons which have induced numerous physicians,
ministers, and educators to become active advocates of systematic
sex-instruction for young people. Although the movement has made
extensive progress in the ten years of propagandic work, is probably
true that the majority of even intelligent parents are not yet
convinced that their children need sex-instruction. This is due largely
to the fact that the parents have not yet been shown the reasons why it
is now, and always has been, unsafe to allow children to gain more or
less sexual information from unreliable and vulgar sources. In fact, it
is surprising to find many parents, especially mothers, who seem unable
to grasp the idea that their "protected" children can possibly get
impure information.
There are other parents who know that their children are almost sure to
get vulgar information regarding sexual matters, and that some young
people are likely to make sexual mistakes; but they calmly look upon
such things as part of the established order of the world.
Still another type of parents who should know the reasons for
sex-instruction are those who accept the traditional idea that their
daughters must be kept "protected" and "innocent" while their sons are
free to sow a large field of "wild oats," concerning which society in
general, and such parents in particular, will care little as long as
social diseases, bastardy suits, or chronic alcoholism do not result
from the dissipations. These are the fathers and mothers who need the
most enlightenment concerning the importance of such sex-instruction as
will make clear the far-reaching consequences of "wild oat sowing."
Perhaps most such parents are ignorant, but some are simply
thoughtless. As an illustration of the latter, the editor of a
well-known magazine was recently talking with a prominent author and
made some reference to the immoral habits of young men. Their
conversation was essentially as follows: The author remarked, "I assume
that my boys will be boys and will have their fling before they settle
down and marry." The editor quickly replied, "Yes, and I presume that
you expect your boys to sow their wild oats with my daughters, and that
in return you will expect my sons to dissipate with your daughters. At
any rate, you have damnable designs on somebody's daughters." This put
on the wild-oat proposition a light which was apparently new to the
literary man, for he replied, "That is a phase of the young man's
problem which never occurred to me. It does sound startling when stated
in that personal way."
All these classes of parents who have not yet learned the facts which
point to ignorance as the cause of the abundant sexual errors of young
people and those who do not understand that sexual promiscuity or
immorality is an error of gravest significance both to the individual
and to society, should have set before them time and again some of the
startling facts which in the first five years of the American
sex-education movement were promulgated among physicians, ministers,
and educators. All such ignorant or indifferent parents will not take
an interest in the proposed sex-instruction unless they are convinced
by frank and forcible statements regarding the great need of special
safeguarding of young people.
[Sidenote: Special associations needed.]
Since there are so many people who still need the most elementary
knowledge concerning the sexual problems that demand educational
attack, it is important that there should be local associations which
can manage lectures, publications, conferences, and other means of
informing the public as to the gravity of the sexual problems of our
times, and as to the part which sex-instruction may play in the attempt
at finding a solution. Such work is now being done splendidly by the
societies named in Sec. 51. The magnitude of the problem of reaching the
public is such that there is abundant work for numerous branches of
such societies or for local groups willing to take a part in the needed
work. As suggested elsewhere, the success of the movement for
sex-instruction of children of school ages will depend largely upon the
attitude and cooperation of parents; and hence it is important that
parents should be led to understand the reasons or arguments for
sex-instruction. In other words, they should know the problems that
indicate the importance of enlightening the rising generation
concerning the great facts of sex and life.
[Sidenote: Books for parents.]
Among the numerous publications that seem to me adapted for convincing
parents that their children need instruction, I commonly mention the
following: Lowry's "False Modesty" and "Teaching Sex Hygiene," Howard's
"Start your Child Right," Wile's "Sex Education," Galloway's "Biology
of Sex," March's "Towards Racial Health," Lyttleton's "Training of the
Young in Laws of Sex," and pamphlets by Dr. Prince Morrow. See also
pages 241-243.
[Sidenote: Knowledge needed concerning eight sex problems.]
There are eight important sex problems of our times that offer reasons
or arguments for sex-instruction, because ignorance plays a large part
in each problem. I shall state them briefly here and discuss each in
succeeding lectures: (1) Many people, especially in youth, need
hygienic knowledge concerning sexual processes as they affect personal
health. (2) There is an alarming amount of the dangerous social
diseases which are distributed chiefly by the sexual promiscuity or
immorality of many men. (3) The uncontrolled sexual passions of men
have led to enormous development of organized and commercialized
prostitution. (4) There are living to-day tens of thousands of
unmarried mothers and illegitimate children, the result of the common
sexual irresponsibility of men and the ignorance of women. (5) There is
need of more general following of a definite moral standard regarding
sexual relationships. (6) There is a prevailing unwholesome attitude of
mind concerning all sexual processes. (7) There is very general
misunderstanding of sexual life as related to healthy and happy
marriage. (8) There is need of eugenic responsibility for sexual
actions that concern future generations.
Here are the eight sexual problems of our times. Any one of them has
significance great enough to demand the attention of educators and
social reformers. One and all they point to the need of better
understanding regarding the sexual functions and their relation to
life. I shall now turn to outline the main facts concerning each of
these sexual problems so far as it seems likely that they will concern
educators and social workers. For convenience I shall use the following
brief headings: (1) Personal sex-hygiene, (2) social diseases, (3)
social evil, (4) illegitimacy, (5) sexual morality, (6) sexual
vulgarity, (7) sexual problems and marriage, (8) eugenics.
[Sidenote: Historical order.]
These sexual problems toward whose solution special instruction of
young people may help are stated here in the order in which they have
attracted attention as reasons for sex-education. Thus, for instance,
personal sex-hygiene was the chief reason recognized twenty years ago;
social diseases began to attract public attention ten years ago;
commercial prostitution has been especially prominent in the
discussions of the past five years; and only recently has there been
emphasis on sex-education with reference to eugenics.
The historical order which I follow in this lecture is not now the
order of greatest importance. For example, sexual morality (5) and
vulgarity (6) are probably of far greater significance than any of the
other sexual problems that offer arguments for sex-education.
[Sidenote: Not all sex problems concern youth.]
To avoid possible misunderstanding, let me repeat from the first
lecture the proposition that sex-education should extend in home and
school from childhood to maturity. It follows that these lectures
concerning the problems of sex that seriously affect the human race are
not all applicable as arguments for instruction in schools or for
children of school age. Some of the problems of sex point to the need
of special instruction in pre-adolescent or in adolescent years, but
some of them concern directly only those who are approaching maturity.