Sexual Education

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defined as sexual intercourse during the preceding three months. In 1991, 38% reported current sexual activity. Eight years later, 36% reported such activity. Older students are more likely to currently be having sex.2 Of students in grade 12 in 1999, 51% said they were currently sexually active.1 Some students choose abstinence after initiation of sexual activity, with about one in four students who report having had sex also reporting current abstinence.1 In the 1999 YRBS, among those students who reported any sexual intercourse, 27% said they had been abstinent during the last three months.1 A significant percentage of sexual encounters among young people are not wanted. In the 1999 CDC survey, eight percent of 13- and 14-year-old girls reported their first sexual encounter was not voluntary.1

Definitions of Sexuality Education

The content of sexuality education curricula in America varies widely by region, by school district, and, sometimes, by classroom. The highly ...

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also intended to serve a very practical public health purpose – to reduce STIs, HIV/AIDS, and unintended pregnancy among the country’s young people. These are goals of sex education that virtually everyone agrees on. The debate centers on a question of methods (i.e., how to prevent negative health outcomes) and the ancillary goals of advocates on all sides (e.g., teaching particular moral values, or encouraging autonomous decision making).

Personal and Social Costs of Unprotected

Teenage Sexual Behaviors

Although teen pregnancy and birth rates have declined in recent years,4 the U.S. still has the highest rates of STIs and teen pregnancy of any industrialized country in the ...

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