What Parents Need to Know About Sex Ed

By Jane St. Clair

Bristol Palin, the teenage daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, recently became a teen ambassador for the Candie Foundation, supporting its efforts to prevent teen pregnancy and speaking out in favor of sexual abstinence on programs like Good Morning America and the Today Show.

Bristol seems like a strange choice to many people, because at eighteen years old, she is herself an unmarried mother. She broadcasts a mixed message about teen pregnancy; for example, according to Chris Good's May 6, 2009, article in The Atlantic, she has said that although her baby is the “love of her life, I wish I had waited to have him.”

Bristol's mother has also expressed a somewhat ambiguous position regarding teens and pregnancy. Gov. Palin has been a supporter of abstinence-only programs in schools, yet in an article that was posted on the GetReligion website, she said, “I am pro-contraception and I think kids who may not hear about it at home should hear about it in other avenues.”

A Familiar Dilemma

While some have mocked the Palins for their less-than-consistent statements about teens, sex, and pregnancy, many parents find their dilemma familiar. These parents prefer that their teens do not have sex until early adulthood, yet they want them to use contraception if they do have sex. It puts them in a bind of giving out contradictory advice: “Don’t do this, but if you do, use protection.”

Public schools in the United States are in a difficult spot too. They need to teach sex education, but there are myriad opinions about how best to do so.

The need for effective sex education in the United States is clear: The nation has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world. According to a May 12 article in the New Mexico Independent about 35 percent of girls become pregnant before age 20, and half of them end it with abortion. One in four teens has a sexually transmitted disease. The average age for first intercourse is 14.9 years old.

It is also clear that parents want the schools to teach sex education. A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government recently found that only seven percent of parents are against sex education classes. The problem is finding some way to teach it in a country with a wide variety of cultural traditions and religions.

The Sex Ed Controversy

In the past decade, a tremendous controversy has raged between abstinence-only education advocates and those who want comprehensive classes that include information on contraception.

One congressional report indicated that abstinence-only programs, which have cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars, do not delay the onset of first sexual experiences or reduce the pregnancy rate.

One study from the University of Washington (which was published in the June 2008 issue of the journal  Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health) famously found that students who attended abstinence-only programs had the same pregnancy rates as those who had no sex ed classes whatsoever. On the other hand, the study found that teens who took classes that included information on contraception had half the rate of teen pregnancy.

Abstinence-only advocates have countered with studies of their own. Teens who made pledges to stay virgins until marriage and who took part in “True Love Waits” programs tended to delay having sex, they said. However, many in these programs came from religious and conservative homes and probably would make more conservative choices even without such programs. A May 15 Toronto Star article reported that university studies show a late initiation into sex is linked to factors such as having family meals together, admiring your parents, and engaging in open and honest parent-child communication.

Shifting Responsibilities

About half the parents in a Kaiser poll were in favor of “abstinence plus” education classes, the middle-of-the-road programs that emphasize the advantages of abstinence but also inform students about contraception. This seems to be the wave of the future.

President Barack Obama has decided to fund only “comprehensive” sex education, and to scrap “abstinence only” classes. However, his decisions may take some time to implement.

Recently, the United States government has shifted its emphasis on drug education from the classroom to parents. This came after studies found that drug education classes have been largely ineffectual and the biggest influence on the children’s attitudes about drugs came from their parents. Something similar may also be true in the area of sex education. Ultimately, the schools can teach it only in the most general terms, and it is up to the parents to provide role models and templates for their children.

What parents need to know right now is that their children’s schools are not answering all of their children's questions about sex. One study found that many teachers are uncomfortable about talking with students about sex. It’s up to you to make sure your children have the information they need about the physical and emotional aspects of sex.