Sex Education

The influence of conservative religious leaders is being felt in the classrooms of public schools across America. Despite rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people and the continued presence of HIV/AIDS as a serious health threat, the federal government is funding abstinence-only sexuality education at an all-time high.  So far these programs have received over half a billion dollars from the federal government. These programs do not allow discussion of contraceptive use to prevent the transmission of disease or prevent pregnancy. Teachers are prevented from even answering questions that are outside the scope of the abstinence-only curricula. Such programs fail to provide critical health information to young people who are already sexually active or may become sexually active.

These programs must adhere to the strict eight point definition of what constitutes acceptable abstinence-only education according to the federal government.  Abstinence-only programs often are fear-based and provide medically-inaccurate information.  Because these programs promote heterosexual marriage, and do not discuss sexual activity outside of marriage, they can isolate youth who are gay, sexually active or have been sexually abused. When these young people are left out of the conversation, they may perceive that there are no adults to whom they could reach out for help and vital information. 1

These programs not only provide a disservice to young people by not giving them the health information they need but also promote religion in the schools. The American Civil Liberties Union contends that these programs violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of the separation of church and state, since many of these federally funded abstinence-only programs contain religious teachings about proper sexual behavior and values. 2 For instance, the Louisiana Governor's Program on Abstinence was cited for using federal tax dollars to support religious activities, including Christ-centered theater skits, religious youth revivals, and gospel radio shows. 3

Abstinence-only programs first began to receive funding in the 1980s through the Adolescent Family Life Act. Then in 1996, further funding was appropriated through an abstinence-only education entitlement program as part of “welfare reform.”  This program set aside $50 million per year for five years to the states.  Each state that chose to accept the funding then had to match every four federal dollars with three state dollars. 4

Although these programs have received large amounts of federal dollars and continue to be funded at high rates there is no evidence that they are effective at prevent unintended pregnancies or even help delay young people from having sex.5 Meanwhile, SIECUS and ACLU report that comprehensive sex education programs, which promote abstinence and information about contraception and how to prevent STIs can delay sexual activity.

For more information visit:

• Sexuality Information Education Council of the US
• ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project
• Kaiser Family Foundation