American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada Sponsors Sex Education Essay Competition for Clark County High School Students
$10,000 In Scholarships to Be Awarded
Click to tweet: (http://ctt.ec/m5nL9) @ACLUNV hosts sex education essay contest for @ClarkCountySch students grades 9-12. Accepting essays now through 9/18.
LAS VEGAS – American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada (ACLUNV) is hosting a sex education essay competition for Clark County students attending public schools. Specific limits within the district’s current sex education program, student exclusion, and delays in updating the curriculum, prompted the ACLUNV to create an opportunity for students to express themselves freely about their perspectives on sex education. Students will have their #SexEdSay!
Many students requested a student sex education survey be circulated within Clark County schools; this request has repeatedly been denied. ACLUNV designed the contest to demonstrate how free speech works by giving students a platform for expressing their views.
“Students in Clark County schools plead with trustees to allow them to participate in sex education curriculum surveys, only to be told ‘no.’ CCSD’s refusal to provide students with factual, unbiased, and critically important, lifelong information defies the very purpose of education. Students know exactly what they have or have not been taught, what they know, and what they need to know,” said Tod Story, executive director. “With our #SexEdSay scholarship competition, student voices will not only be heard but also rewarded for their thoughtful, meaningful, and essential insights on this critical topic.”
ACLUNV encourages students in grades 9 through 12 to write a 600-750 word essay explaining their needs and perspectives about what sex education should be. Students should provide perspective in their essays on who should receive sex education, what sex education should include, what would make it more inclusive and effective, why sex education is important, what they did and did not learn in their previous sex education class, what they wish they had learned, and how sex education can be taught more effectively in schools. ACLUNV believes students know best what information they need to be educated about keeping themselves safe and healthy, and that students deserve to have the information they need to make educated decisions on matters that impact their futures.
Essays will be accepted until September 18, 2015. Winners will be announced publicly on October 5, 2015. Scholarships totaling $10,000 will be awarded with $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place, and $2,000 for third place.
For details or more information visit: http://www.aclunv.org/sexedsay
About American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada
The ACLU of Nevada is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to the defense and advancement of civil liberties and civil rights for all people in Nevada. For additional information, please visit http://www.aclunv.org.
