Most U.S. Adults Support Comprehensive Sex Education, About Half Oppose Abstinence-Only Education, Study Says
Kaiser Family Foundation
Daily Women's Health Policy Report
Nov 09, 2006 Eighty-two percent of U.S. adults support sex education programs that discuss abstinence as well as methods to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and about half of adults oppose abstinence-only education, according to a study published in the November 2006 issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Reuters Health reports (Norton, Reuters Health, 11/6). Amy Bleakley of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues from July 2005 through January 2006 surveyed a random sampling of 1,110 U.S. residents ages 18 to 83 (Bleakley et al., Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, November 2006). The study found that among self-described conservatives, 70% support comprehensive sex education programs and 40% oppose abstinence-only programs. Bleakley said the study's findings "highlight a gap between policy and science and public opinion." According to Reuters, the federal government provides $170 million annually in funding to abstinence-only programs -- which must meet eight criteria, including teaching that abstinence until marriage is the "expected standard of human sexual activity." In a related Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine editorial, Douglas Kirby of ETR Associates -- a not-for-profit group that develops STI and pregnancy prevention programs -- writes that some studies have found that comprehensive sex education programs increase condom and contraceptive use and might delay sex. "Until we have strong evidence that particular abstinence-only programs are effective, we certainly should relax the funding restrictions and fund programs (including comprehensive programs) that delay sex among young people," Kirby writes (Reuters Health, 11/6).
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