Curricula in U.S. public schools are often the focus of heated debate, and few subjects spark more controversy
than sex education. While conservatives argue that sexual abstinence should be the only message, liberals counter
that an approach that provides comprehensive instruction and helps young people avoid sexually transmitted diseases
and pregnancy is necessary. Caught in the middle are the students and teachers whose everyday experiences of sex
education are seldom as clear-cut as either side of the debate suggests. Risky Lessons brings readers inside three
North Carolina middle schools to show how students and teachers support and subvert the official curriculum through
their questions, choices, viewpoints, and reactions. Most important, the book highlights how sex education's formal
and informal lessons reflect and reinforce gender, race, and class inequalities. Ultimately critical of both conservative
and liberal approaches, Fields argues for curricula that promote social and sexual justice. Sex education's aim
need not be limited to reducing the risk of adolescent pregnancies, disease, and sexual activity. Rather, its lessons
should help young people to recognize and contend with sexual desires, power, and inequalities.