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[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]
Sex Education is classroom instruction on human reproduction and sexuality. It is one of the hottest issues in American politics, with the secular-progressive (liberal) side favoring "science-based" teaching from kindergarten on up. Conservatives take the "moral" side and want as little mention of sex in classrooms as possible, leaving to the parents their right to instruct children as to sexual morality, as opposed to the government deciding for them.
Studies have not shown that abstinence-only education produces successful outcomes.[1] According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "Abstinence-only programs have not demonstrated successful outcomes with regard to delayed initiation of sexual activity or use of safer sex practices.... Programs that encourage abstinence as the best option for adolescents, but offer a discussion of HIV prevention and contraception as the best approach for adolescents who are sexually active, have been shown to delay the initiation of sexual activity and increase the proportion of sexually active adolescents who reported using birth control."[2]
Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that abstinence-only sex education leads to the opposite of the intended results by spreading ignorance regarding sexually-transmitted diseases and the proper use of contraceptives to prevent both infections and pregnancy.[3]
In England the National Curriculum www.dfes.gov.uk requires all schools to offer comprehensive sex education as part of Personal, Social and Health Education, from middle school on, but parents may choose to not have their children attend sex education classes.