Most North Carolina Schools Focus on Abstinence in Sex Education Courses

All but about a dozen North Carolina school districts limit sex education to a focus on preventing STDs through abstinence, state education officials recently said. In districts where parents request expanded instruction, a 1995 state law allows condom demonstrations and more in-depth discussion of STDs and birth control. "There are only about 12 school systems that have held public hearings and expanded their programs in the state," said Sherry Lehman of the state Department of Public Instruction.

More than 100 districts statewide offer health education courses that discuss puberty and STDs and present abstinence until marriage as the best way to avoid disease. Condoms and birth control methods are discussed only in describing their rates of effectiveness, Gaston County Health Instruction Coordinator Alice Ray said.

In New Hanover County, the community supports an expanded program. Beginning in fifth grade, boys and girls are separated and taught about puberty, reproductive systems and personal safety. In middle school, parents are given a choice between abstinence-only and expanded sex education programs. The abstinence curriculum focuses on friendships, strong families, puberty and safety. The expanded program also offers information on birth control and condoms. Local health officials have urged Gaston County schools to offer more information about birth control and disease prevention.

"They show you pictures of stuff and they show you a video of a woman having a baby," said Marcus Filchuk, a student at Belmont Middle School. "They don't really say a whole lot about it, except 'This is a woman having a baby.'" Marcus' dad, Bob Filchuk, said it should be a parent's job to teach children about sex. "Abstinence is what they ought to preach," he said.

A 1997 statewide study found 61 percent of high school students were sexually active. North Carolina had a pregnancy rate of 69.3 per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 in 2001, compared to the national rate of 55 pregnancies per 1,000 girls, according to CDC.

Back to other news for August 11, 2003