The Wide Spectrum of Sex-Ed Courses

About one-third of US school systems with sex education policies require abstinence-only instruction, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York sexual-health think tank. About half of systems teach abstinence as the "preferred option" for teens but also discuss contraception.

Condom efficacy rates against STDs and pregnancy are often covered in comprehensive sex education, but discussing homosexuality may or may not be. Abstinence-only curricula usually avoid these topic except with respect to STD risk.

Washington-area systems diverge on whether or not to teach about homosexuality. In Maryland, Montgomery County has an abstinence-based, comprehensive sex education curriculum that covers the topic for 90 minutes in eighth and tenth grades. In Charles County, the school board voted in 2005 to limit teachers to defining sexual orientation, but teachers can respond to students' questions.

In more conservative Northern Virginia systems, sexual orientation is not covered at all. Prince William County approaches homosexuality once while discussing STDs -- limiting teachers to a "technical definition" -- but it does not address whether homosexuality is acceptable. Students with further questions are instructed to ask their parents or guardians.

District of Columbia public schools must provide comprehensive sex education, including instruction about sexual orientation, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), which favors comprehensive sex education.

Salt Lake City schools do not address sexual orientation in any classes. But systems in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, and Massachusetts consistently teach about it.

Just 25 percent of Americans polled considered sexual-orientation/homosexuality inappropriate topics for sex education, according to a 2004 survey by Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, the Kaiser Family Foundation and National Public Radio. The majority, 52 percent, thought it should indeed be taught, but without regard to its acceptability.

Back to other news for March 22, 2007