Department of Sex,

Department, of, Sex,
One approach to sex education is to view it as necessary to reduce risk behaviours such as unprotected sex, and equip individuals to make informed decisions about their personal sexual activity.
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Another viewpoint on sex education, historically inspired by sexologists like Wilhelm Reich and psychologists like Sigmund Freud and James W. Prescott, holds that what is at stake in sex education is control over the body and liberation from social control. Proponents of this view tend to see the political question as whether society or the individual should teach sexual mores. Sexual education may thus be seen as providing individuals with the knowledge necessary to liberate themselves from socially organized sexual oppression and to make up their own minds. In addition, sexual oppression may be viewed as socially harmful.

To another group in the sex education debate, the question is whether the state or the family should teach sexual mores. They believe that sexual mores should be left to the family, and sex-education represents state interference. They claim that some sex education curricula break down pre-existing notions of modesty and encourage acceptance of practices that those advocating this viewpoint deem immoral, such as homosexuality and premarital sex. They cite web sites such as that of the Coalition for Positive Sexuality as examples. Naturally, those that believe that homosexuality and premarital sex are a normal part of the range of human sexuality disagree with them.


Many religions teach that sexual behavior outside of marriage is immoral, so their adherents feel that this morality should be taught as part of sex education. Other religious conservatives believe that sexual knowledge is unavoidable, hence their preference for curricula based on abstinence.

Scientific study of sex education,

The debate over teenage pregnancy and STDs has spurred some research into the effectiveness of different approaches to sex education. In a meta-analysis, DiCenso et al. have compared comprehensive sex education programs with abstinence-only programs. Their review of several studies shows that abstinence-only programs did not reduce the likelihood of pregnancy of women who participated in the programs, but rather increased it. Four abstinence programs and one school program were associated with a pooled increase of 54% in the partners of men and 46% in women (confidence interval 95% 0.95 to 2.25 and 0.98 to 2.26 respectively). The researchers conclude:

"There is some evidence that prevention programs may need to begin much earlier than they do. In a recent systematic review of eight trials of day care for disadvantaged children under 5 years of age, long term follow up showed lower pregnancy rates among adolescents. We need to investigate the social determinants of unintended pregnancy in adolescents through large longitudinal studies beginning early in life and use the results of the multivariate analyses to guide the design of prevention interventions. We should carefully examine countries with low pregnancy rates among adolescents. For example, the Netherlands has one of the lowest rates in the world (8.1 per 1000 young women aged 15 to 19 years), and Ketting & Visser have published an analysis of associated factors.[46] In contrast, the rates are:
93.0 per 1000 in the United States (85.8/1000 in 1996)
62.6 per 1000 in England and Wales
42.7 per 1000 in Canada
15.1 per 1000 in Belgium (1996)
We should examine effective programs designed to prevent other high risk behaviors in adolescents. For example, Botvin et al. found that school based programs to prevent drug abuse during junior high school (ages 12–14 years) resulted in important and durable reductions in use of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis if they taught a combination of social resistance skills and general life skills, were properly implemented, and included at least two years of booster sessions.
Few sexual health interventions are designed with input from adolescents. Adolescents have suggested that sex education should be more positive with less emphasis on anatomy and scare tactics; it should focus on negotiation skills in sexual relationships and communication; and details of sexual health clinics should be advertised in areas that adolescents frequent (for example, school toilets, shopping centres)."

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth,

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, (LGBT) youth, and those with other sexual practices, are often ignored in sex education classes, including a frequent lack of discussion about safer sex practices for manual, oral, and anal sex, despite these activities' different risk levels for sexually transmitted diseases.

Some people do not agree with comprehensive sexual education that references or discusses such practices, believing that including this additional information might be seen as encouraging homosexual behavior. Proponents of such comprehensive curricula hold that by excluding discussion of these issues or the issues of homosexuality, bisexuality, or transgenderedness, feelings of isolation, loneliness, guilt and shame as well as depression are made much worse for students who belong or believe they may belong to one of these categories, or are unsure of their sexual identity. Supporters of including LGBT issues as an integral part of comprehensive sexuality education argue that this information is still useful and relevant and reduces the likelihood of suicide, sexually transmitted disease, 'acting out' and maladaptive behavior in these students. In the absence of such discussion, these youths are said to be de facto forced to remain in the closet, while youths are left without guidance on dealing with their own possible same-gender attractions and with their LGBT classmates.


Supporters of comprehensive sex education programs argue that abstinence-only curricula (that advocate that youth should abstain from sex until marriage) ignore and marginalize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, who are often unable to marry a partner due to legal restrictions. Proponents of abstinence-only education often have a more conservative view of homosexuality and bisexuality and are against them being taught as normal, acceptable orientations or placed in equal footing to heterosexual acts/relations, and so they generally do not see this as a problem. Supporters of comprehensive programs feel that this is a major problem as it could lead LGBT youth to feel even more alienated and ashamed of their sexual orientation.

Adolescent sexuality in the United States

Almost all U.S. students receive some form of sex education at least once between grades 7 and 12; many schools begin addressing some topics as early as grades 5 or 6. 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.

For example, a 1999 study by the Guttmacher Institute found that most U.S. sex education courses in grades 7 through 12 cover puberty, HIV, STIs, abstinence, implications of teenage pregnancy, and how to resist peer pressure. Other studied topics, such as methods of birth control and infection prevention, sexual orientation, sexual abuse, and factual and ethical information about abortion, varied more widely.


Two main forms of sex education are taught in American schools: comprehensive and abstinence-only. Comprehensive sex education covers abstinence as a positive choice, but also teaches about contraception and avoidance of STIs when sexually active. A 2002 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 58% of secondary school principals describe their sex education curriculum as comprehensive.[22]

Abstinence-only sex education tells teenagers that they should be sexually abstinent until marriage and does not provide information about contraception. In the Kaiser study, 34% of high-school principals said their school's main message was abstinence-only.

The federal government plays a large role in which form of sex education is taught in public schools. In 1996, Congress passed a law to fund abstinence-only sex education. The federal government only funds abstinence-only sex education.

The difference between these two approaches, and their impact on teen behavior, remains a controversial subject. In the U.S., teenage birth rates had been dropping since 1991, but a 2007 report showed 3% increase from 2005 to 2006.[24] From 1991 to 2005, the percentage of teens reporting that they had ever had sex or were currently sexually active showed small declines.[25] However, the U.S. still has the highest teen birth rate and one of the highest rates of STIs among teens in the industrialized world. Public opinion polls conducted over the years have found that the vast 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.

Proponents of comprehensive sex education, which include the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the Society for Adolescent Medicine and the American College Health Association, argue that sexual behavior after puberty is a given, and it is therefore crucial to provide information about the risks and how they can be minimized; they also claim that denying teens such factual information leads to unwanted pregnancies and STIs.

On the other hand, proponents of abstinence-only sex education object to curricula that fail to teach their standard of moral behavior; they maintain that a morality based on sex only within the bounds of marriage is "healthy and constructive" and that value-free knowledge of the body may lead to immoral, unhealthy, and harmful practices. Within the last decade, the federal government has encouraged abstinence-only education by steering over a billion dollars to such programs.Some 15 states now decline the funding so that they can continue to teach comprehensive sex education. Funding for one of the federal government's two main abstinency-only funding programs, Title V, was extended only until December 31, 2007; Congress is debating whether to continue it past that date.

The impact of the rise in abstinence-only education remains a question. To date, no published studies of abstinence-only programs have found consistent and significant program effects on delaying the onset of intercourse. In 2007, a study ordered by the U.S. Congress found that middle school students who took part in abstinence-only sex education programs were just as likely to have sex (and use contraception) in their teenage years as those who did not. Abstinence-only advocates claimed that the study was flawed because it was too narrow and began when abstinence-only curricula were in their infancy, and that other studies have demonstrated positive effects.

In England and Wales, sex education is not compulsory in schools as parents can refuse to let their children take part in the lessons.

In England and Wales, sex education is not compulsory in schools as parents can refuse to let their children take part in the lessons. The curriculum focuses on the reproductive system, fetal development, and the physical and emotional changes of adolescence, while information about contraception and safe sex is discretionary and discussion about relationships is often neglected. Britain has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe and sex education is a heated issue in government and media reports. In a 2000 study by the University of Brighton, many 14 to 15 year olds reported disappointment with the content of sex education lessons and felt that lack of confidentiality prevents teenagers from asking teachers about contraception. In a 2008 study conducted by YouGov for Channel 4 it was revealed that almost three in ten teenagers say they need more sex and relationships education.

In Scotland, the main sex education program is Healthy Respect, which focuses not only on the biological aspects of reproduction but also on relationships and emotions. Education about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases are included in the program as a way of encouraging good sexual health. In response to a refusal by Catholic schools to commit to the program, however, a separate sex education program has been developed for use in those schools. Funded by the Scottish Government, the program Called to Love focuses on encouraging children to delay sex until marriage, and does not cover contraception, and as such is a form of abstinence-only sex education.

By the time they are high school seniors, 66% of girls and nearly 63% of boys report they have had intercourse.

By the time they are high school seniors, 66% of girls and nearly 63% of boys report they have had intercourse. Among younger teens, the majority claim to be virgins, and this percentage has risen over time.

Among sexually active teens, "a majority of boys and nearly three-quarters of girls regard their own initial sexual experience unfavorably—as an event they wish they had avoided", and studies indicate that the majority of teens who have had sex wish they had waited. Among sexually active girls, two-thirds say they didn't want to lose their virginity when they did or that they had mixed feelings about it.


The younger an adolescent is when they first have sex, the more partners they are likely to have over their teenage years. Over a quarter of girls aged 15 to 19 who first had sex when they were younger than 15 have had seven or more partners. Only 6.5% of girls who first had sex between 17 and 19 have had seven or more partners. For boys, there is an even larger gap. More than 31% of boys aged 17 to 19 who had sex for the first time at age 14 or younger have had seven or more partners, but only 3.8% of boys who waited until they were at least 17 had the same number.

Percent Of Teens Who Claim To Have Had Sex, by Age[23] Age Boys Girls
14 7.9% 5.7%
15 14.6% 13.0%
16 25.3% 26.8%
17 39.4% 43.1%
18 54.3% 58.0%
19 65.2% 70.1%
Sixteen percent of adults first had sex before age 15, while 15 percent abstained from sex until at least age 21. The proportion of adults who first had sex before age 15 was highest for non-Hispanic blacks (28 percent) compared to 14 percent for both Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites. Six percent of blacks abstained from sex until age 21 or older, fewer than Mexican-Americans (17 percent) or non-Hispanic whites (15 percent).

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Early timing of sexual initiation is important for two reasons. First, the younger the age of first sexual intercourse, the more likely that the experience was coercive, and forced sexual intercourse is related to long lasting negative effects."[25] Before age 15, "a majority of first intercourse experiences among females are reported to be non-voluntary."

Girls will most likely lose their virginity to a boy who is 1 to 3 years older than they are. According to one study, almost 14 percent of teens lose their virginity in June, the most common month. The teen's home, their partner's home or a friend's house is the most common place for virginity to be lost, with 68% of teens losing their virginity in one of those three places.The same study found that "the likelihood of a first sexual experience happening will increase with the number of hours a day teens spend unsupervised." Other research has found that teens from non-intact homes are more than 50% more likely to have had sexual intercourse.

Factors that increase the likelihood that a teen will become sexual active include:

"Individual--having a history of sexual abuse, depression, heavy alcohol or drug use.
Family--living in a single parent or stepparent household, living in a poor household, having parents with permissive values about sexual activity, having little supervision from parents, having siblings who are sexually active, feeling unloved, unwanted, or not respected by parents.
Community--having friends who are sexually active, having few positive experiences at school, living in a neighborhood with poor neighborhood monitoring."

Current sexual activity

The percentage of teenagers who report they are currently sexually active has also been dropping since 1991. In 1997, only 37% of females and 33% of males who reported ever having had sexual intercourse said that they had sex in the past 3 months. By 2005, the overall percentage of teenagers reporting that they were currently sexually active was down to 33.9%. A lower number of sexually active teens is "quite positive in terms of their health and their well-being," said Edward Sondik, director of the National Center for Health Statistics.

Sexually Active Girls Aged 15-19, And Percent Of How Recently They Have Been Sexually Active[23] Age at 1st Intercourse Last 12 months Last 3 months Once Ever
14 & under 89.0% 77.3% 5.1%
15-16 89.3% 76.1% 10.6%
17-19 96.3% 73.2% 11.6%
Sexually Active Boys Aged 15-19, And Percent Of How Recently They Have Been Sexually Active[23] Age at 1st Intercourse Last 12 months Last 3 months Once Ever
14 & under 80.9% 66.8% 6.5%
15-16 84.9% 68.9% 10.4%
17-19 94.8% 69.4% 10.0%

The National Center for Health Statistics has reported that half of all 15- to 19-year-olds have had oral sex, with the percentage rising to 70%

The National Center for Health Statistics has reported that half of all 15- to 19-year-olds have had oral sex, with the percentage rising to 70% by the time they turn 19, and equal numbers of boys and girls participating. A 2007 Guttmacher Institute study found that slightly more than half (55%) of 15– to 19-year-olds have engaged in heterosexual oral sex, 50% have engaged in vaginal sex and 11% have had anal sex, and that the prevalence of both vaginal and oral sex among adolescents has remained steady over the past decade.

This data indicates that many teens, particularly those from middle- and upper-income white families, don't consider oral sex to be as significant or meaningful as older generations do. Almost half of boys (47%) and fewer girls (38%) believe that oral sex is "not as big of a deal as intercourse", and 55% of teens believe that it is "very important" to be in love before engaging in oral sex. Despite this, "there is discrepancy when it comes to willingness to perform oral sex [with] 22% of sexually active girls say[ing] their partner never performs oral sex on them, while only 5% of boys say their partner never does."

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco believe that some teens, and particularly girls, engage in oral sex as a way to avoid vaginal intercourse.[31] A study released in 2008 by the Guttmacher Institute disputed this substitution theory. "There is a widespread belief that teens engage in nonvaginal forms of sex, especially oral sex, as a way to be sexually active while still claiming that technically, they are virgins," says study author Laura Lindberg. Their "research shows that this supposed substitution of oral sex for vaginal sex is largely a myth."

New York Times columnist David Brooks has written, "Reports of an epidemic of teenage oral sex are .. greatly exaggerated" Researchers believe that oral sex may have become more popular than intercourse for adolescents because teens believe it carries fewer physical and emotional risks, a claim one study supports.

Among sexually active 15- to 19-year-olds, 83% of females and 91% of males reported using at least one method of birth control during last intercourse

Among sexually active 15- to 19-year-olds, 83% of females and 91% of males reported using at least one method of birth control during last intercourse. Thus, sexually active adolescent women wishing to avoid pregnancy are less likely than those of other ages to use contraceptives (18% of 15- to 19-year-olds used no contraceptives, versus 10.7% average for women ages 15 to 44), according to an analysis of periodic survey data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Among adolescents, the most common methods of contraception are birth control pills (used by 43.5% of 15- to 19-year-old women at risk for unintended pregnancy) and condoms (used by 22% of adolescent women). In 2007, 61.5% of high school students reported using a condom the last time they had sexual intercourse, up from 46% in 1991. Adolescent women are more likely to use Depo Provera (11% of teens versus 4.8% for women ages 15 to 44) but less likely to use IUDs (0.2% versus 1.9% overall), which require little user action and are thus among the most effective in typical use.

While 90% of teens surveyed in a poll commissioned by NBC News and People magazine knew they could get an STD from having sexual intercourse, only 67% said that they use protection every time they have sex.Boys who have received sex education are three times more likely to use contraception than their peers who have not, but for girls there is no difference. Before the 1980s, 57% of 15- and 16-year-old girls did not use contraception the first time they had intercourse. By 2007, that number fell to 25%.

Girls who stop using contraception after the first time they have intercourse have been found more likely than those who continue to use it to be less able and willing to plan for sexual intercourse, less apt to believe that pregnancy was likely to occur and less apt to want to remain non-pregnant. They were also more likely to be older and to have been sexually active for at least 6 months. Girls who stopped using contraception were also less likely to have career goals and had more positive expectations themselves about the effects of childbearing on their lives.

One simulation projected that increasing contraceptive availability among teenagers reduces teen pregnancies in the short run, but may result in more teen pregnancies in the long run. The researchers found "that even well intended contraception policies can be self-defeating." This study also found that decreasing access to contraception leads to lower rates of sexual activity among teenagers and thus will lower the teen pregnancy rate in the long run. However, another study outlined the dangers of new laws being enacted that limit adolescents' access to contraceptives, including condoms.

The number of teenage boys and younger teenage girls who have ever had sex has "declined significantly" in recent years and teens

The number of teenage boys and younger teenage girls who have ever had sex has "declined significantly" in recent years and teens are waiting until they are older before they lose their virginity. According to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of teens who report they have ever had sexual intercourse has been declining since 1991. The percentage of high school students in the U.S. who reported that they have ever had sexual intercourse dropped from 54.1% in 1991 to 47.8% in 2007. Teens are waiting until they are older before initiating sexual intercourse. The number of boys who waited until they were at least into their 20s before they first had sex went up over 18% between 1995 and 2002.

Both adolescents who have never had sex and those who have chosen to become abstinent after engaging in sexual behaviors cite the negative consequences of sex as reasons why they choose not to have sex. Girls of all ages and experience levels were more likely than boys to cite the fear of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Virgin boys were more likely than girls to say they believed most students did not have sex.

Boys who practiced secondary abstinence, that is, those who had had sex in the past but had since become abstinent, were more than twice as likely to have caused a pregnancy than boys who were currently sexually active. However, for girls, past pregnancy had little correlation with secondary abstinence. Fear of pregnancy, wanting to wait until marriage, and not wanting to have sex were cited more often by virgins in the 12th grade than they were by 9th graders. Of the sexually experienced who are now practicing abstinence, girls were more likely than boys to say a lack of desire, fear of STDs, being afraid of getting caught, the belief that sex wasn't appropriate for someone their age, and that their parents had taught them the advantages of waiting as reasons why they made their decision.

Adolescents who have received sex education in school or church settings are less likely to be sexually active. For girls, they were 59% less likely and boys were 71% less likely. Epidemiologists at the Center for Disease Control emphasize that for sex education to be effective, it should take place before teens become sexually active.

The number of teenage boys and younger teenage girls who have ever had sex has "declined significantly" in recent years and teens

The number of teenage boys and younger teenage girls who have ever had sex has "declined significantly" in recent years and teens are waiting until they are older before they lose their virginity. According to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of teens who report they have ever had sexual intercourse has been declining since 1991. The percentage of high school students in the U.S. who reported that they have ever had sexual intercourse dropped from 54.1% in 1991 to 47.8% in 2007. Teens are waiting until they are older before initiating sexual intercourse. The number of boys who waited until they were at least into their 20s before they first had sex went up over 18% between 1995 and 2002.

Both adolescents who have never had sex and those who have chosen to become abstinent after engaging in sexual behaviors cite the negative consequences of sex as reasons why they choose not to have sex. Girls of all ages and experience levels were more likely than boys to cite the fear of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Virgin boys were more likely than girls to say they believed most students did not have sex.

Boys who practiced secondary abstinence, that is, those who had had sex in the past but had since become abstinent, were more than twice as likely to have caused a pregnancy than boys who were currently sexually active. However, for girls, past pregnancy had little correlation with secondary abstinence. Fear of pregnancy, wanting to wait until marriage, and not wanting to have sex were cited more often by virgins in the 12th grade than they were by 9th graders. Of the sexually experienced who are now practicing abstinence, girls were more likely than boys to say a lack of desire, fear of STDs, being afraid of getting caught, the belief that sex wasn't appropriate for someone their age, and that their parents had taught them the advantages of waiting as reasons why they made their decision.

Adolescents who have received sex education in school or church settings are less likely to be sexually active. For girls, they were 59% less likely and boys were 71% less likely. Epidemiologists at the Center for Disease Control emphasize that for sex education to be effective, it should take place before teens become sexually active.

Department of Sex

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