The overwhelming majority
of adults want comprehensive sexuality education programs in our nation's
schools. The voting public realizes that, while we may hope that our
teens do not become sexually active before they are emotionally and
physically prepared, the reality is that over 60% of teens have had
sex by the time they reach 12th grade. [1]
Current federal policy provides over $100 million per year for abstinence-only-until-marriage
sexuality programs that deny young people valuable and potentially
life-saving information. Young people deserve all the information, and the public
soundly agrees.
Numerous surveys
of adults from around the country demonstrate strong public support
for comprehensive sexuality education in American schools: [2]
• 93% of
Americans support teaching sexuality education to high school age
students; 84% support sexuality education for middle and junior high
school age students.
• 90% of
the engaged, voting public believe all students should receive sexuality
education that is age-appropriate, medically accurate, and that begins
early and continues through high school.
• 66% of
registered voters are in favor of a proposal to increase efforts to
provide age-appropriate sexuality education in public elementary schools.
• 54% of
adults believe that eliminating sexuality education in schools would
lead to more teenage pregnancies.
• Support
for sexuality education is not limited to a particular region, but
rather exists across the country. Polls from CA, IN, NC, NM, NY all
show strong support for medically accurate, age-appropriate sexuality
education in schools. [3]
These surveys
also show strong public support for a breadth of topics being included
in sexuality education curricula:
• 96% of
Americans support providing information about AIDS in high schools.
• 90% of
Americans believe that the biology of reproduction should be among
the topics included in sexuality education curricula in schools.
• 87% of
Americans believe that birth control should be among the topics included
in sexuality education curricula in schools.
• 92% of
Americans believe that STDs and AIDS should be among the topics included
in sexuality education curricula in schools.
• 91% of
adults believe that 9th –10th grade is the appropriate age to
teach students about HIV/AIDS/STDs.
There is also broad support across religious lines:
• More than 10 religious organizations are members of the National Coalition to Support Sexuality Education, including the American Jewish Congress, the Office of Family Ministries and Human Sexuality of the National Council of Churches of Christ, and the Unitarian Universalist Association.
• Almost eight in ten conservative Christians support sexuality education in high school and seven in ten support it in middle school. [4]
[1]
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, CDC, 2001
[2] For more detailed
information and citations see SIECUS Fact Sheet: Public
Support for Sexuality Education http://www.siecus.org/pubs/fact/fact0017.html
[3] For more detailed
information see SIECUS Fact Sheet: Public
Support for Sexuality Education http://www.siecus.org/pubs/fact/fact0017.html
[4] Data from public opinion survey conducted by Hickman-Brown Public Opinion Research for Advocates for Youth and SIECUS (March 1999). For more information, see http://www.siecus.org/parent/pare0003.html
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