The Facts:
Sexuality education is part of comprehensive efforts to protect young people from contracting sexually transmitted diseases, facing unintended pregnancies, and confronting HIV/AIDS.
Globally:
- In a survey conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, half the teen girls interviewed did not realize a “healthy-looking person” could have AIDS. In the Ukraine, 39% of teens have never heard of the disease and they believe it “…can be transferred through supernatural means.”
- One in 4 young South Africans believe that sex with a virgin cures HIV/AIDS.
- Less than 20% of married women in Bangladesh have heard of HIV/AIDS. About one-third of girls (10-to19) living in Somalia have heard the disease. Only 1% know how to protect themselves.
In the U.S., proponents of abstinence-only-until-marriage education argue that abstinence be taught as the ONLY effective means of disease and pregnancy prevention. Further, they ONLY want the “harmful effects” of sex before marriage and contraceptive failure discussed. Conversely, proponents of a broad-based approach want abstinence taught, along with ALL the other ways to prevent unintended pregnancy, disease, and abortion. And they also want responsible decision-making, sexual orientation, and sexuality development included. Abstinence as a behavior goal is not the same as abstinence-only education programs.
In the United States:
- By their late teens, at least three-quarters of all American men and women have had sex.
- Teenagers, as an age group, are at a higher risk for both STI infections and unintended pregnancy than any other segment of the population.
- Parents in the U.S. want sex education taught in the classroom that stresses abstinence as the preferred and safest choice for youth, and also provides essential birth control information.
- “More than 9 in 10 teachers in America believe that students should be taught about contraception, but 1 in 4 are prohibited from doing so.” (Guttmacher Institute)
- The federal government provides $0 for proven abstinence-first (comprehensive) sexuality education. Yet, over the past 10 years, Congress has provided over $1 billion to medically-inaccurate and unproven abstinence-only programs.
- Evidence is mounting about the ineffectiveness of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. They have been successful at decreasing the use of contraception at first intercourse—including condoms—thereby increasing the risk of unintended pregnancies and disease.
- The overwhelming evidence demonstrates that sex education that teaches both the benefits and limitation of birth control does not increase teen sexual activity. In fact, several curricula have shown this approach to delay early sexual involvement and increase use of birth control among already sexually active teens.
What Can Be Done:
- Parents play a critical role in not only educating, but influencing their child’s decisions about early sexual involvement. Support of their important role is vital.
- Provide funding for comprehensive sex education.
- Comprehensive sexuality education
- Implement provisions of existing international declarations and national goals.
Internationally:
At the International Conference on Population and Development 179 countries ratified a teen’s right to access reproductive health information among other issues and the benefits of having that information.
The rights and importance regarding sexuality education were highlighted and reaffirmed at the Beijing Conference.
In the United States:
The Responsible Education about Life (REAL) Act would provide federal money to support responsible sex education in schools. This education would include science-based, medically-accurate, and age-appropriate public health information about both abstinence and also contraception.
Expert Resources:
American School Health Association
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Society for Adolescent Medicine
