In the United States, sex education is taught in two main forms: comprehensive sex education and abstinence-only as part of the Adolescent Family Life Act, or AFLA. Comprehensive sex education is also called abstinence-based, abstinence-plus, abstinence-plus-risk-reduction, and sexual risk reduction sex education. This approach covers abstinence as a choice option, but also informs adolescents about age of consent and the availability of contraception and techniques to avoid contraction of sexually transmitted infections. Every state within the U.S. has a mandated AIDS Education Program.
Abstinence-only sex education is also called abstinence-centered, abstinence-only-until-marriage, sexual risk avoidance, chastity program, and most recently, youth empowerment sex education. This approach emphasizes abstinence from sexual activity prior to marriage and rejects methods such as contraception. These two approaches are very different in philosophy and strategies for educating young people about their sexuality. The difference between the two approaches, and their impact on the behavior of adolescents, remains a controversial subject in the United States.
History Sex education in the United States was not widespread until the 1950s. Before 1900, any sex education in public schools was minimal, and the push for including sex education gained momentum only after World War I, inspired by the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in soldiers. In 1918, the Chamberlain-Kahn Act was passed, which mandated STI prevention education in soldiers. In 1919, the US Department of Labor's Children's Bureau published a report suggesting that sex education in schools could better prepare the US military's soldiers in the future. From the 1920s to the 1950s there was a series of incremental steps to include sex education in public schools, framed largely as a hygiene issue, with the US Office of Education publishing the first sex education material to train teachers in the 1930s.
During the 1960s, sex education in public school became a point of political tension, with various conservative groups and individuals such as the John Birch Society, Reverend Billy James Hargis of the Christian Crusade, and Liberty Lobby protesting against the practice. Arguments included the beliefs that children would be taught "raw sex", learn about homosexuality, and increase risk-taking behavior in teens. Pamphlets such as Is the School House the Proper Place to Teach Raw Sex? were widely distributed and linked sex education with communism, Marxism, humanism, and globalist plots. In 1964, the Sexual Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS) was founded, advocating for sex education in schools as an important part of general civil education.
In 1981, the Adolescent Family Life Act was passed, which made way for abstinence-only education.
Current position
Sex education programs in the United States teach students about sexual health as well as ways to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted teenage pregnancy. The three main types of programs are abstinence-only, abstinence-plus, and comprehensive sex education. Although sex education programs that only promote abstinence are very prominent in American public schools, comprehensive sex education is known to be the most effective and is proven to have helped young people make better decisions. Sex education has many benefits as it educates students about the human anatomy and teaches the importance of having healthy relationships. Adequate sex education programs in public schools greatly benefit students and have the potential to reduce the high percentages of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies in America.
Most adolescents in the United States receive some form of sex education at school at least once between grades 6 and 12; many schools begin addressing some topics as early as grades 4 or 5. Academic and other proponents of the National Sexuality Education Standards advocate that by the end of the fifth grade, students should be able to "Define sexual orientation as the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender."Future of Sex Education report: "National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K–12" However, what students learn varies widely, because curriculum decisions are so decentralized. Many states have laws governing what is taught in sex education classes or allowing parents to opt out. Some state laws leave curriculum decisions to individual school districts.
National public health goals for adolescents recommend providing a comprehensive sex education, which covers a wide array of topics and call for "increasing the share of adolescents receiving formal instruction about abstinence, birth control methods, and prevention of HIV/AIDS and STIs."U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy People 2020. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014 Despite the aims national public health goals, research has indicated a growing gap between them and adolescents receipt of sex education.SIECUS. 2015 Congressional Sex Ed Wrap Up (Online). Available at http://www.siecus.org. Accessed February 1, 2016 Data from the National Survey of Family Growth, a nationally representative household survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, asked respondents if prior to age 18 they had ever received "any formal instruction at a school, church, a community center or some other place" about a range of sex education topics. During the period 2011–2013, data from the NSFG showed that among adolescents aged 15–19, similar proportions of females and males reported receiving formal instruction, with the share receiving instruction about birth control methods (60% females, 55% males) lower than the share receiving instruction about saying no to sex, sexually transmitted diseases, or HIV/AIDS. Many sexually experienced teens (43% females and 57% of males) do not receive formal instruction about contraception before they first have sex; the share of adolescents receiving formal instruction has been declining. Between 2006-2010 and 2011–2013, there were declines in the proportion of females ages 15–19 who reported receiving instruction on birth control, saying no to sex, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as a decline in the proportion of males who reported receiving formal instruction about birth control. Both males and females reported an increase in receiving instruction on saying no to sex, without being provided information about birth control.
The NSFG also documents large declines in formal instruction about birth control from 1995 to 2011–2013 falling from 87% to 60% of adolescent females and 81% to 55% of adolescent males. Although formal instruction on birth control has significantly declined, 9 out of 10 adolescents report receiving formal instruction about STIs.
Extensive modern scientific research has shown teaching young people about sex does not lead to early sexual experimentation. Additionally, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.'s federally funded investigation of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs found that "youth in the program group were no more likely than control group youth to have abstained from sex and, among those who reported having had sex, they had similar numbers of sexual partners and had initiated sex at the same mean age". Public health professionals most often argue for the teaching of comprehensive education, citing that it improves public health outcomes.
Curriculum
Sex education in the twentieth century focused on abstinence and methods to prevent pregnancy. During the Second World War, in the context of fears about rising divorce rates, immigration, and birthright citizenship, the curriculum in some areas portrayed a woman's choice of a "fit" mate as a civic duty.
In the twenty-first century, common curriculum in American schools' sex education classes include "instruction on sexual health topics including human sexuality. HIV or STI prevention and pregnancy prevention are more commonly required in high school than in middle or elementary school." Statistics provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reveal that between 2000 and 2014 the portion of schools providing information on sexual health education, including topics such as abstinence, puberty, and how to properly use a condom, declined. The CDC has identified 19 Critical Sexual Education Topics that should be taught in all middle and high schools. In 2014, fewer than half of high schools and only 20% of middle schools provided instruction on all 16 topics that the CDC considers essential to sexual health education.
High school
A statistics and policy report, based on CDC data and published by the Guttmacher Institute, shows that in 2014 72% of private and public high schools within the United States provided information on pregnancy prevention, and 76% taught that abstinence is "the most effective method to avoid pregnancy, HIV and other STIs." Although 61% of U.S. private and public high schools taught about contraceptive efficacy, only 35% required instruction on teaching students how to properly use a condom. Within the demographic of United States public and private high schools which taught pregnancy prevention, the average time spent in class teaching this topic was 4.2 hours.
Middle school
Statistics released by the CDC regarding public and private middle schools' within the United States policies and requirements on sex education in 2014 revealed that 30% of public and private U.S. middle schools included information about pregnancy prevention, 50% taught abstinence as the "most effective method to avoid pregnancy, HIV, and other STIs." 20% of U.S. public and private middle schools included instruction about contraceptive efficacy, and 10% required instruction to teach students how to properly use a condom. The CDC report also found that, on average, 2.7 hours of instruction about pregnancy prevention was required by U.S. public and private middle schools.
Elementary school Traditionally, schools have begun teaching sex education in fifth and sixth grade, focusing primarily on puberty and reproductive anatomy and physiology. Sex education in these grades is often referred to as puberty education in order to reflect the emphasis on preparing children for the changes that all humans experience as they develop into adults. Little data is available for how much sex education is taught in elementary, but increasing numbers of schools are beginning developmentally appropriate sex education beginning in kindergarten in alignment with the National Sexuality Education Standards (NSES).
Public opinion
There have been numerous studies on the effectiveness of both approaches, and conflicting data on American public opinion. Public opinion polls conducted over the years have found that the majority of Americans favor broader sex education programs over those that teach only abstinence, although abstinence educators recently published poll data with the opposite conclusion. The poll sponsored by the National Abstinence Education Association (now called Ascend) and conducted by Zogby International reported information that has not been replicated in methodologically sound surveys. However, reports by NPR in conjunction with the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government found that 93 percent of Americans support sex education in schools, in one form or another.National Public Radio (NPR), Kaiser Family Foundation, and Kennedy School of Government.Sex Education in America: General public/parents survey. 2004. http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2004/jan/kaiserpoll/publicfinal.pdf.