American Sex Education

American Sex Education

Harvard EdCast: The State of Sex Ed in America

Catherine Brown, vice president of education policy at the Center for American Progress, provides insight into sex education standards around the country and the shift to do more.

By Jill Anderson November 8, 2018

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With the rise of #MeToo, consent — what it means, how to recognize when it is or isn't being given, how to effectively voice it — has been one of the most talked about topics of the year. And with it has come the question of how and when to educate children about consent. Similar to sex education, consent education is not yet universal in schools in the United States. In fact, according to a report released this year by the Center for American Progress (CAP), only 24 states and the District of Columbia mandate sex education in public schools, and even fewer states include consent.
“Sex ed is often scattershot and many of the students don’t have access to sex ed at all,” says Catherine Brown, the vice president of education policy at CAP, who coauthored the report released this spring, “and when they do, it is often fear-based and all the things that can go wrong.”
Sex education in America is still often taught as abstinence-only, despite decades of research showing that this approach results in higher teen pregnancy rates and STDs. Absent a more complete sex education — or any at all — children often learn from peers, siblings, or the internet, says Brown, opening the way for misinformation and a lack of understanding of what is and isn’t appropriate when it comes to respect in sexual relationships. Students need to be prepared for the world we live in and become part of a broader conversation about “communication, intimacy, desire, and healthy relationships,” she says.
Although the federal government has moved to reduce access to intervention tools such as sex education, the good news, Brown says, is that many states, fueled by the #MeToo movement, are taking initiative to make change. “#MeToo is the catalyst for better consent and sex ed in schools and states around the country,” Brown says, citing Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, and Maryland as states that have updated laws to include consent.
In this edition of the Harvard EdCast, Brown provides insight into sex education standards around the U.S. and the movement to change them.
The Harvard EdCast is a weekly podcast featuring brief conversations with education leaders and innovative thinkers from across the country and around the world. Hosted by Jill Anderson, the EdCast is a dynamic space for discourse about problems and transformative solutions in education, shining a light on the compelling people, policies, practices, and ideas shaping the field. Find the EdCast on iTunes , Soundcloud , and Stitcher .
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There’s broad public support for sex education, but many young people aren’t receiving the sex education they need and deserve.
Sex education is widely supported by the vast majority of people in the U nited States. In Planned Parenthood’s most recent poll on sex education, 93 percent of parents supported having sex education taught in middle school, and 96 percent of parents supported having sex education taught in high school. The vast majority of parents support sex education in middle school and high school that covers a wide range of topics, including STIs, puberty, healthy relationships, birth control, and sexual orientation. Other national, state and local polls on sex education have shown similarly high levels of support.
Sex education is supported by numerous health and medical organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. More than 150 organizations are members of the National Coalition to Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
Sex education programming varies widely across the United States. Currently, 39 states and the District of Columbia mandate some kind of sex education and/or HIV education.
Although almost every state has some guidance on how and when sex education should be taught, decisions are often left up to individual school districts, creating a patchwork of inconsistent policies and practices within states. The sex education someone receives can come down to what school district they live in or which school they attend.
Planned Parenthood advocates for federal funding that supports sex education, such as the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP) and the Division of Adolescent and School Health . Planned Parenthood also advocates for better sex education policies, practices, and funding at the state and local levels.
The gap between the sex education students need and what they actually get is wide. According to the 2018 CDC School Health Profiles , fewer than half of high schools and less than a fifth of middle schools teach all 20 topics recommended by the CDC as essential components of sex education. These topics range from basic information on how HIV and other STIs are transmitted — and how to prevent infections — to critical communication and decision-making skills.
A recent study published by the Guttmacher Institute found that adolescents were less likely to report receiving sex education on key topics in 2015–2019 than they were in 1995 Overall, in 2015–2019, only half of adolescents reported receiving sex education that met the minimum standard articulated in Healthy People 2030. Among teens reporting penis-in-vagina sex, fewer than half (43% of females and 47% of males) received this instruction before they had sex for the first time. Despite these declines in formal education, there was no increase in the proportion of teens who discussed these sex education topics with their parents.

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Offering accurate and consistent sex education in schools is essential. However, American students don't all get the same sex education experience, especially compared to other parts of the world.
Providing students with sex education resources can increase their overall health and help prevent unintended pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Let's take a deeper dive into the state of sex education in American schools.
The United States doesn't have one method of educating its students. State policies can vary widely, and many of these policies are up to the discretion of school districts. This can understandably result in a mismatch of practices.
For the last several decades, much of the sex education in public schools has been abstinence-focused. But, these programs don't give information on birth control use except for failure rates. According to a study in Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology , they don't provide scientifically accurate information. Sex-ed isn't even a requirement in some states at all.
According to Planned Parenthood, the federal government has spent over two billion dollars on abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs. These programs have rebranded as sexual risk avoidance (SRA) programs. And research shows they don't work.
Despite that, the Trump administration cut over $200 million in federal funds for programs for teen pregnancy prevention. And according to the CDC, almost 46% of sexually active high school students didn't use a condom the last time they had sex.
Half of all new cases of STIs reported annually are from those ages 15 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Less than 10% of high school students had been tested for HIV or STIs in the last year, according to a CDC survey in 2019.
According to a 2021 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health , students are less likely to receive sex education topics than they were 25 years ago. The number of students being given information on birth control in 1995 was higher than in 2015 to 2019.
Besides many school programs failing to provide medically accurate sex education, these programs also often center around heterosexual relationships and exclude other identities.
Sex education is supported by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
Data from the CDC School Health Profiles report students aged 15 through 19 experience significant decreases in being given sex education topics such as birth control methods and STI and HIV prevention. According to Planned Parenthood, sex education is the most successful when:
"There's a very strong-but-small movement against sex and sexuality. That movement is very well-funded and has done a successful job of getting people to have doubts about sexual education and [believe] that if you provide sexuality education, young people are more likely to be sexually active. But that is inaccurate info," said Tamara Kreanin, director of the Population and Reproductive Health Program from the Packard Foundation and former executive director of Women and Population at the United Nations Foundation, in an article for Harvard Political Review .
Comprehensive sex education is about providing factual information on topics of sex and sexuality that begins early in childhood and continues throughout adolescence. Research has shown that comprehensive sex education that is culturally sensitive and inclusive can help students develop healthy relationships and reduce intimate partner violence.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends comprehensive sex education to be "medically accurate, evidence-based, and age-appropriate." It should include information on delaying sexual intercourse and information on normal reproduction, contraception, and barrier protection such as condoms to prevent STIs.
According to ACOG, comprehensive sex education should also teach forms of sexual expression, what is considered to be a healthy sexual relationship, gender identity, and consent
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