Sex education has become a standard part of the curriculum in
most American schools, although the approach to teaching it
is not nearly as universal. Almost two-thirds of 13- to
17-year-olds (64%) say they are taking or have taken a sex
education course at their schools, according to a new Gallup Youth
Survey*. The figure is lower among 13- to 15-year-olds (58%) than
16- to 17-year-olds (69%) -- so many younger teens who haven't
taken sex education probably soon will.
A 1999 Gallup Poll found that most Americans were fine with
teaching sex education at school: 60% of adults said it should be a
required course in high schools, while another 32% said it should
be offered but not required. However, there has been controversy in
recent years about the approach those classes should take
-- specifically, whether they should provide teens with information
about birth control and safe sex, or whether they should promote
abstinence from sexual activity. Those who prefer an
abstinence-only curriculum argue that discussion of safe sex sends
a mixed message and may encourage teen sexual activity. Those in
favor of a comprehensive curriculum maintain the abstinence-only
approach deprives teens of information important to their
health.
A major study on sex education conducted in the fall of 2003 by
National Public Radio, Harvard University, and the Kaiser Family
Foundation found that (of three programs described to respondents)
the most popular was a middle-ground solution, stressing abstinence
but also discussing condoms and contraception. Forty-six percent of
respondents chose that option, while 15% chose an "abstinence-only"
approach that does not dispense information on contraception, and
36% selected an approach that put less emphasis on teaching
abstinence and more on teaching teens to make responsible decisions
about sex.
Which Approach Is More Common?
The Gallup Youth Survey asked teens who have taken a sex
education class which approach is closer to the one their school
takes -- an abstinence-only approach or a safe-sex approach.
Thirty-six percent of teens who have taken sex education said
"abstinence-only" is closer to their schools' approach, while 61%
said the safe-sex approach is closer. These figures are fairly
consistent with the NPR/Harvard/Kaiser study, which also included a
survey of middle school and high school principals, 30% of whom
said an approach that focuses only on abstinence (and does not
mention contraception) best describes their schools' sex education
classes.
Since 1996, federal funds have been available for
abstinence-only programs, which has further fueled the debate about
which approach is most effective. The federal funds may make
abstinence-only programs attractive to schools, but community mores
probably also influence the approach schools take. Teens in the
more conservative Midwestern and Southern regions of the country
are more likely than those on the coasts to say their schools stick
closer to an abstinence-only curriculum.
Which Approach Is Best?
Do students rate the two approaches differently in terms of
helping them understand matters related to sex?
Not really. Overall, 38% of teens who took sex ed classes say
these classes were "very helpful" to them, 47% say "fairly helpful"
and 14% say "not very helpful." Teens who've had a class with an
abstinence-only based approach are only slightly more likely than
those who've taken one with a comprehensive approach to say their
sex education class was "not very helpful."
Bottom Line
Opponents of the abstinence-only approach contend that it leaves
teens ill equipped to protect themselves from STDs and unwanted
pregnancies. But teens who've actually taken such classes are
almost as likely as those in comprehensive classes to say they were
helpful to their understanding of sex-related issues. Is this
because those teens remain blissfully unaware of the issues that
weren't discussed? That's not clear, although most teens are
exposed to sex-related information from other sources (60% of teens
told Kaiser they get "a lot" or "some" information about sex and
relationships from television, 52% from friends, and 47% from
magazines).
In any case, majorities of teens who've taken classes with
either approach feel they were at least fairly helpful, which
suggests the type of class is less important than the availability
of some type of sex education in general.
*These results are based on telephone interviews with a
randomly selected national sample of 1,028 teenagers in
the Gallup Poll Panel of households, aged 13 to 17,
conducted Jan. 17 to Feb. 6, 2005. For results based on this
sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3
percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording
and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce
error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
