SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

“Poor sexual education provided through public institutions in the United States has resulted in drastic amounts of unintended teen pregnancy, abortions, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in youth and young adults (spanning ages 12 to 25). The origin of this predicament stains its status as a developed nation, especially considering the billions of government funds and multiple programs dedicated to this subject. This issue is deep-rooted in American history; through an analysis of U.S. sexual education history spanning from the late 1800s to current day, we’ll review how the situation has progressed to such a state. Following the historical examination of the U.S. sex ed, we define the current global sexual education resources and observe other cases of youth-focused interventions that utilize social media obtained by researching key terms such as social media intervention, youth intervention, and social media education. Based upon this literature review, we discuss the advantages and limitations of a social media-based youth intervention versus formal sexual education. This analysis will conclude with a proposed vertical behavioral intervention utilizing social media as a medium for an educational campaign, following the internationally supported UNESCO and WHO “comprehensive” sexual education curriculum and teaching guidelines. The U.S. is in dire need of action for the sake of the growing miseducated population of youth and young adults afflicting overall public health.