Sex education in the United
States is currently regulated on a state level. Each state has funding and
resources from the federal government but has the autonomy to make its own
policies and curriculum. Some state curriculum teaches abstinence only while
others combine abstinence with comprehensive sexual education that includes
medically accurate information on contraception and STDs. A study in 2005 showed
that states with abstinence only education average 73.24 per 1,000 teen
pregnancies per year for girls aged 14-19 and states that promoted comprehensive
sex education in conjunction with promoting abstinence averaged 56.36 per 1,000
teen pregnancies per year. Additionally, this data accounts for confounding
factors such as socio-economic status, education level, and ethnic differences.
Currently, a bill titled The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (REHYA)
proposed by Senator Cory Booker and Congresswoman Barbara Lee has been
introduced in House. The goal of the bill is to create a holistic approach to
sexual health and provide adolescents with accurate information to make healthy
decisions. The bill includes topics such as: basic anatomy and physiology,
growth and development, pregnancy prevention, STI prevention, dating violence
and sexual assault, and bullying and harassment. Research has shown that
students exposed to a safe dating curriculum were 60% less likely to perpetrate
forms of dating violence against a partner. Overall, preventing teen pregnancies
can help expand communities by empowering teens and allowing these youths to
become stronger contributors. It is most important to introduce accurate
information and allow young minds to make their own informed decisions.
Evidence-based data should be the driving point of all medically related
education taught in schools, and the teachers should be up to date, bias-free,
and have appropriate training and education themselves. In order to implement
changes in each state, there must be change on the federal level.
Kristy Hou
Drexel University College of Medicine
Class of 2021
Sources:
Philip, J., & Marr, A. (2016) The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act.
Advocates for Youth. Retrieved from:
https://advocatesforyouth.org/resources/policy-advocacy/the-real-education-for-healthy-youth-act/
The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (REHYA) (2017, Sept)
Sex Ed for Social
Change (SIECUS). Retrieved from:
https://siecus.org/resources/the-real-education-for-healthy-youth-act-rehya/
Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (2011).
Abstinence-only education and teen
pregnancy rates: why we need comprehensive sex education in the U.S. PloS one,
6(10), e24658. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024658
