How should a Christian view sex education?

Sex education has become a hot topic in recent years. Until the
mid-1950s, sex education in schools was limited to the study of
biological reproduction in mammals. Since a comprehensive sex
education encompasses far more than a scientific discussion of
sperm-meets-egg, it was left to parents and churches to fill in the
rest. Today, sex ed curricula are a little more explicit than what
could be found in the classrooms of the ʼ50s.

Due to the intrinsic complexities of human sexuality, the physical
aspects cannot be separated from moral responsibility. Unfortunately,
many parents fail to instruct their children about God's view of
sexuality. The churches have been strangely silent as well. So the
schools have undertaken that responsibility. And when Christian
parents leave the moral training of their children to the government,
conflict in worldviews is inevitable.

Sexuality is a gift to us from God and should be viewed as such. God
created sex for two purposes: procreation and unity between husband
and wife (Genesis 1:28; Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:7–8; 1 Corinthians
7:1–5). Any other use of sex is sin (1 Corinthians 6:9, 18; 1
Thessalonians 4:3). Teaching children about sexual relationships apart
from morality is like teaching a child to drive a car without
explaining the traffic laws. Unfortunately, the moral climate of our
day is far from God's standard. Often, the only "rules" accompanying
public school sex education are that sex should not be forced on an
unwilling participant and that sexually active people should use birth
control. Any teaching of boundaries is limited to the avoidance of
consequences.

Most modern sex education instruction presents perversion,
fornication, homosexuality, and living together before marriage as
"normal" expressions of sexuality. All of this is contrary to
Scripture (1 Corinthians 6:9; Leviticus 20:15–16; Matthew 5:28).
Christian parents should be actively involved in all aspects of their
children's education, especially in areas that compromise Scripture.
God holds parents responsible for the upbringing of their children
(Ephesians 6:4), and that includes instruction on sexuality. Many
parents find this topic awkward and embarrassing, so they disregard
their responsibility and allow those without similar values to train
their children.

Children will learn about sexuality from someone. The options are
their peers, pornography, school settings, experimentation, or their
parents. The best place for sex education is in the home, as a natural
part of training children "in the way they should go" (Proverbs 22:6).
It is the parents' God-given responsibility to teach children God's
perspective on every area of life, including sexuality (Deuteronomy
6:5–6). Parents should begin when the children are very young,
speaking matter-of-factly with preschoolers about their bodies and how
men and women are made differently. Those conversations transition
naturally into more complex areas as the child matures. It is
important that a child knows he can talk to mom or dad about anything
that confuses him.

Sexual information bombards us from every direction, so these
parent-child conversations must begin very early. Before parents allow
a school system to instruct in sexuality or morality, they must be
sure their children have already learned the truth. It is then crucial
to stay abreast of what the children are learning and how they are
applying their knowledge. Keeping a constant, open dialogue with one's
children is a key to staying in charge of what they are learning. When
parents are proactive in their children's instruction, those children
have a basis upon which to recognize and reject errors that the world
promotes as truth.