In June 2023, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts shared with the public a draft of a new framework that will guide .

The that specify expectations for what Massachusetts students learn about sex in schools was 24 years ago, when most U.S. homes were not yet internet-connected.

The new guidelines are part of a larger framework that addresses many aspects of health, including physical education, nutrition and hygiene. They include important improvements over the 1999 version, including standards that pertain to the well-being of gender and sexual minority populations. That鈥檚 noteworthy, given that other U.S. states have recently .

The draft Massachusetts framework has been in development since 2018 but is not yet final. After a public comment period, which is open until Aug. 28, the framework is subject to approval by the commonwealth鈥檚 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and could be adopted as early as the fall of 2023.

I鈥檓 a public health researcher who . I have co-developed and tested a new sex education module for high school students in Massachusetts with funding from the National Institutes of Health, so I read the part of the framework that deals with sex education with great interest.

I鈥檒l provide some more detail on the Massachusetts framework below, but first it is important to understand the state of sex education in the U.S.

Sex education and pornography

Many young people in the U.S are not getting the sex education that they need. Currently, only 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia mandate any kind of sex education. As a result, it isn鈥檛 surprising that of U.S. adolescents say that they have received information about where to get birth control before having heterosexual intercourse for the first time. And the racial disparities are concerning: Black and Hispanic teens are less likely than white teens to receive education about prevention of sexually transmitted infections or HIV, or .

So where do teenagers and young adults go to get information about sex, in the absence of comprehensive sex education at school?

According to a nationally representative , young adults in the U.S. are more likely to turn to pornography than to their friends, parents, doctors or any other source. That鈥檚 a problem, because pornography isn鈥檛 designed to relay medically accurate or helpful information about sex 鈥� it鈥檚 designed to get clicks or likes, make money and entertain the viewer.

Massachusetts is not one of the states that mandates sex education. However, all public schools to teach health education. As a local control state, Massachusetts issues frameworks and guidance and allows local school districts boards to decide how to implement them. This approach will continue with the new framework once adopted.

Importantly, the new Massachusetts framework recognizes the prevalence of pornography, and it addresses other critical sex education topics for the modern world.

For example, the framework specifies that in grades 6 to 8, adolescents should learn about laws related to sexual digital imagery. This is important because otherwise they may not realize that possessing or sending nude digital photos of people younger than 18 years old is a crime even if the sender is also a minor.

The framework also suggests that adolescents should be able to analyze similarities and differences between friendships, romantic relationships and sexual relationships, and discuss various ways to show affection within each. It expects them to be able to define sexual consent and describe factors, such as drug and alcohol use, that can influence capacity to give consent. It recommends teaching strategies to help students recognize when someone is grooming or recruiting a young person for possible commercial sexual exploitation like human trafficking.

While these points are strong, I would like to see a recommendation that schools tell youth that mainstream online pornography is not a good source of information about sexual behavior.

A series of online games

Our research team, which includes , and BU , has been working on new sex education teaching materials for Massachusetts high schools for . As researchers, we endeavored to create an online sex education module that reflected the best available evidence and feedback that we got from young people.

Our teaching materials are in the form of short, online games that students engage with on their own time, and then come back to the classroom to discuss. One of the games has students order the effectiveness of 11 different contraceptive methods. Another provides them with information about ways pornography can provide unhelpful expectations about sex and sexuality. A third game invites students to act as an advice columnist to solve relationship problems for peers.

When we tested the materials with 54 teens ages 14-18 years old in Massachusetts in 2022, we found a statistically significant positive impact on a range of outcomes, from increased condom use to fewer experiences of abuse by a dating partner. We will partner with a number of Massachusetts high schools in the next several years to continue testing the impact of our module.

Reading the framework

In reading the new Massachusetts guidelines, our team noted several strengths of its approach.

First, the framework is evidence-based. In other words, the recommendations reflect the latest and best available research about how adolescents develop, learn and behave with regard to sex and sexuality.

Second, the guidance is developmentally and age-appropriate, with different recommendations for different grade levels, and with careful attention to diverse perspectives, cultural differences, and the importance of delivering material in a way that would not traumatize students.

Third, the framework encourages youths鈥� critical thinking, reasoning, decision-making and problem-solving.

It is my hope that Massachusetts will strengthen the guidance on pornography. If it does, the new framework will be well positioned to serve as a national model.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

A group of girls from Berkeley High School will go before a federal judge in California this Thursday to argue that former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos left victims of sexual assault or harassment with fewer protections and shielded those accused of misconduct.

The state of Texas, led by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, has tried to join the case as a defendant, arguing President Joe Biden鈥檚 justice department won鈥檛 provide a 鈥渞obust defense鈥� of the DeVos鈥檚 interpretation of the rule, known as Title IX, because it has 鈥渆xpressed open hostility to the provisions.鈥�

As it happens, the San Francisco court is hearing the case just as Biden鈥檚 education department launches a weeklong public comment period on the future of Title IX 鈥� a key step in the administration鈥檚 promise to rewrite the controversial rule.

But the process this time is more than just a chance for Democrats to wipe away what DeVos said would be her . The U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 2020 protecting gay and transgender employees against discrimination 鈥� and the justice department鈥檚 that the opinion extends to schools 鈥� shows that the policy landscape has grown more complicated than it was even in 2017.

鈥淭he stakes have always been high,鈥� said Liz King, the senior program director for education at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. 鈥淭his is a question of whether or not students will have access to an education free from discrimination.鈥�

The White House is signalling the importance it attaches to the measure by the extensive time it is granting for public input and by its intention to bring back an expert hand who was instrumental in writing guidance that held colleges responsible for addressing on-campus sexual violence.

An 鈥榚ffort in public engagement鈥�

While she鈥檚 not yet been confirmed, Catherine Lhamon is poised to return to her former position as the education department鈥檚 assistant secretary for civil rights. Lhamon has briefly served as deputy director for racial justice and equity on the White House Domestic Policy Council. Her nomination 鈥渟hows how serious the Biden administration is taking civil rights,鈥� said Shiwali Patel, senior counsel with the National Women鈥檚 Law Center.

The especially wants to hear this week about discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the notice.

Civil rights attorney Seth Galanter, with the National Center for Youth Law, called this week鈥檚 hearing 鈥渁n extraordinary effort in public engagement.鈥�

鈥淎s far as I know, there’s not been public hearings held around Title IX since the 1970s, when the department was first issuing regulations,鈥� said Galanter, who is representing the Berkeley students. 鈥淚t will be a great opportunity for people who don’t normally participate in the notice-and-comment process to have their voices heard directly by the leadership of the department.鈥�

DeVos held one day of to hear from victims of sexual harassment and assault and from men鈥檚 rights groups that argued some students had been being falsely accused of misconduct.

On Zoom 鈥榳ith a harasser鈥�

Before DeVos finalized the current rule, over 124,000 public comments were submitted, with many in opposition. Multiple lawsuits 鈥� including one involving and the District of Columbia 鈥� were filed in protest.

In the Berkeley students鈥� case, the complaint said victims are often assigned to the same classrooms as the students who sexually assaulted them off campus and that remote learning hasn鈥檛 alleviated the trauma that some victims experience.

鈥淓ven when learning takes place primarily online, as it does this school year due to COVID-19, victims are required to be in small video 鈥榖reakout rooms鈥� with their harasser,鈥� according to the complaint.

The justice department said Texas has no 鈥渃laim or defense鈥� in the Berkeley case. The state made the same argument in opposing the DeVos rule in Massachusetts, but a federal judge denied the motion. The state, however, successfully intervened in the multi-state case, now on hold as the administration works to rewrite the regulation.

Others don鈥檛 want to see the DeVos rule torn down because they say it recognizes the rights of those unfairly accused of sexual misconduct.

Reversing the rule could 鈥渙nce again force schools to deprive accused students and faculty of constitutionally guaranteed safeguards like the right to confront the evidence used against them,鈥� said Caleb Kruckenberg, an attorney with the New Civil Liberties Alliance. He added that despite multiple federal courts upholding due process in campus disciplinary hearings, 鈥渢he department seems poised to ignore those bedrock constitutional principles.鈥�

As Kruckenberg noted, federal courts in recent years have shown greater deference toward the accused, agreeing that some colleges demonstrated against males when handling complaints. But Patel, whose organization is representing plaintiffs in the Massachusetts case, said institutions can protect due process rights while still providing fairness to victims.

鈥淪exual harassment is very pervasive in K-12 schools,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd rather than requiring schools to do more reporting, the DeVos changes swept sex harassment under the rug.鈥�

released last year showed incidents of sexual violence in K-12 schools increased by more than half between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 school years, and the number of rapes or attempted rapes increased from almost 400 to nearly 800.

The DeVos rule limited what counts as sexual misconduct under Title IX. School officials, for example, are no longer obligated to investigate incidents that occur , but with virtual school, that distinction is less clear. In a recently issued , the department indicated that schools must investigate complaints of discrimination or harassment that occur during remote learning.

Disagreement over Title IX is one reason why Congress didn鈥檛 reauthorize the Higher Education Act while former Sen. Lamar Alexander chaired the education committee, leaving both the Trump and Biden administrations to implement the policy through regulation. That means if a Republican administration returns to the White House in four years, the pendulum could swing back the other way.

The back-and-forth over the policy probably means that no matter what happens, the issue is destined to continue to play out in court.

“We’ll have to wait and see what the Biden administration does,” said Kenneth Marcus, who led the Office for Civil Rights under DeVos. “But if they repeal the Trump Title IX regulations and replace it with something that looks more like the Obama rules, then we will certainly see this either struck down by the courts or reversed as soon as Republicans regain control.”

鈥楢 different landscape鈥�

The comment period is also taking place as debate continues to escalate over whether transgender girls should be allowed to compete against biological girls in high school and college sports 鈥� a question Title IX didn鈥檛 previously address.

鈥淭his is a different landscape than it was in 2016,鈥� when President Donald Trump was elected, said Sasha Buckert, a senior attorney with Lambda Legal, a civil rights organization focusing on LGBTQ issues. 鈥淭he court has weighed in.鈥�

The day he took office, President Joe Biden issued an regarding the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 workplace discrimination ruling in , stating, 鈥淐hildren should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, locker room or school sports.鈥�

But at least 20 states are considering or have already passed legislation banning students born biologically male from competing against females. And the issue has sparked heated exchanges between Republicans and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona the two times he鈥檚 appeared before Congress.

鈥淲e can create transgender leagues, I don鈥檛 mind,鈥� Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland told Cardona during an appropriations on the federal budget in early May. He added that his daughter is an NCAA all-American athlete, who in no way 鈥渃ould compete against biological males,鈥� and that he was disappointed in Cardona鈥檚 stance on the issue.

The NCAA isn鈥檛 considering separate leagues, but does testosterone suppression treatment for transgender women to compete in women鈥檚 sports at the college level. High school athletic associations began allowing trans girls to compete in events for girls over , and some experts argue there鈥檚 of trans women dominating women鈥檚 sports.

Cardona hasn鈥檛 veered from the firm position he took during his confirmation hearing. 鈥淭ransgender students deserve every opportunity to participate in all school activities,鈥� he told Harris.

Republicans have introduced the , which would only define sex under Title IX as those born male or female, not gender identity. But the House has already passed , which would extend civil rights protections in housing, education and employment to LGBTQ people and mostly clarifies what the courts have already decided, Buckert said.

If passed, the bill 鈥渨ould hopefully prevent all of these lawsuits and would prevent [the Supreme Court] from creating some kind of horrific carve-out in Title IX,鈥� she said, adding she鈥檚 concerned Congress could say 鈥渄iscrimination against transgender people in general is against the law, but not in athletics.鈥�