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Teen Sex Ed Covers the Birds and the Bees, Minus the Birth Control
Filed under: News, In The News, Weird But True, Sex, Education: Teens, Research Reveals: Teens, New In Pop Culture
About one third of teens aren't learning about contraception in schools. Credit: Getty Images
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report from the National Survey of Family Growth, 97 percent of American teens say they received some formal sex education before the age of 18. But only two-thirds say they have been schooled in birth control methods, with boys left in the dark more than girls -- 62 percent of males compared with 70 percent of females received instruction on methods of birth control.
The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was based on face-to-face interviews with nearly 2,800 teenagers conducted in their homes from 2006 through 2008. Female interviewers from the University of Michigan asked the questions for the CDC.
"We wanted to update the facts on how many teens are getting formal instruction on sex education and how frequently," says report author Joyce Abma, Ph.D, a demographer with the National Center for Health Statistics, in a podcast released in conjunction with the report.
But Laura Lindberg, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institude warns on CNN.com that even though the report shows a significant increase in sex ed from 2002, when 85 percent of teen girls and 83 percent of teen boys had received sex education, the survey changed its methodology, adding questions about HIV/AIDS that had not been asked before.
"We need to be very cautious when interpreting that because (the education) could be one hour of a discussion of a news article about AIDS in Africa," Lindberg tells CNN.com. "When you look at the key topics of STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and birth control, they are much too low. What skills have (these teens) learned? Do they know how to prevent AIDS? If you don't include those two pieces of information, it's not adequate education."
According to a separate CDC study released earlier this year from the National Survey of Family Growth (NFSG), the number of teenagers having sex hasn't changed much over the last eight years. It looked at trends in sexual activity, contraceptive use and attitudes towards pregnancy in unmarried teenagers, and found that there have not been significant changes since the last NFSG report in 2002.
At the same time, the report found the number of teen pregnancies has decreased 20 percent. So, though students are not being taught about birth control in school, they are using it. In particular, the number of teens who regularly use condoms has increased significantly over the past 10 years.
Based on data from a two-year period between 2006 and 2008, the NFSG study found more than 42 percent of teenage girls ages 15 to 19 -- or 4.3 million -- have had sex at least once. That number was 43 percent -- or 4.5 million -- for teenage boys. Nearly 30 percent of boys and girls surveyed have had two or more partners.
Teenage girls who were younger when they had their first sexual encounter were more likely to have more partners. And teens whose mothers had their first child as a teenager and, at 14, did not have both parents in the home, were more likely to be sexually active.
Related: Teen Pregnancies at Record Low In California
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ReaderComments (Page 4 of 8)
9-28-2010 @ 3:21PM
Alicia said...Actually, abortion doesn't ruin your reproductive chances unless it's botched. Very rarely are abortions botched. If that were the case, there would be a third less children in America that there are, since one in every three American women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Don't continue to spread untruths, please.
9-29-2010 @ 11:15AM
PsychedelicSpell said...Well I am for choice and have dealt with many woman that cannot conceive. If you read my post woman that use it abortions for "birth control" have this problem. And it is an elective surgery their is always scar tissue and risks even if done correctly. It is not like you get surgery and the body thinks it never happened. No the head pushes it out of the mind the body remembers. And woman that have had many abortions and no live births before the age of 28 are the ones having a hard time. Get your facts straight before you jump to conclusions. Part of choice is knowing ALL the risks.
9-28-2010 @ 9:39AM
leon said...Sex is good if you get it. It don't do you a damn bit of good if someone else gets it.
Reply
9-28-2010 @ 9:44AM
Nick said...Reading ur stories makes me so sad. the most important u people left out. STD......the guys or gals that knowingly spread should be neuted and sent to an outcast isolated island to wither and die a slow death. of the innocent people that were infected................and who died..................GOD will take them under HIS wing the others will have to do time in purgatory..........AMEN...
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9-28-2010 @ 9:48AM
jojo said...What they should also be taught is that if you choose to have sex, become pregnant and bring another human into this world, you are Responsable for that child. They should be taught it is not other people who are responsible for the new life, you choose to create. Children having children, is part of what has destroyed our education system and way of life in this country.
Reply
9-28-2010 @ 3:21PM
Alicia said...Fairly positive choosing military funding over education funding is what ruined American schools. And funding abstinence-only education, which does nothing to teach children how not to have children and doesn't prevent children from doing the things that make more children. All the kids I know who had abstinence only education had sex years before me. I handed in my virginity when I was a legal adult, at least.
9-28-2010 @ 9:49AM
Stewart7 said...Even though the best form of contraception is abstinence, you hardly see any funding going into abstinence education. I'd rather my kids learn about that than be handed out birth control at school. The sex talk is a talk for parents, anyway. The school needs to stay out of it.
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9-28-2010 @ 3:21PM
Alicia said...Are you kidding me? As of the Obama administration (which had promised us that abstinence only funding would end and sadly has not delivered) abstinence-only programs are getting over $100 million in federal funding, not to mention private donations and support. They got more during the Bush years. No extra funding goes towards comprehensive education. You know, the kind that actually prevents kids from getting pregnant and getting STDs and making them comfortable with their own bodies and their ability to care for themselves and makes well-informed decisions as to their personal health.
9-28-2010 @ 3:25PM
Katie said...Oh really? I learned about sex when I was at a slumber party in the 5th grade, and don't blame my parents- I'm the first kid in the family, and neither of them had particularly great models so far as sex ed is concerned. The schools make sure kids know what's going on, because not everyone is lucky enough to have someone who understands how to communicate sex to children. And my decisions whether or not to have sex were influenced by my relationships, not what I learned in school.
9-28-2010 @ 9:59AM
kevin said...the teenage years are the learning process years for adult hood---you give the kids more & more info to work with --protect them when you can----and let them learn---sex is part of the process----dont withhold info pertinent to the process cause of your religous or personal hang-ups---
Reply
9-28-2010 @ 10:01AM
kevin said...just the oppisite --SADLY--religous orginizations----govt---private---all fund this ridiculous notion-----and its proven it doesnt work---
Reply
9-28-2010 @ 10:07AM
Peter said...Sex Ed OR Health Education should also teach Teens that Sex is not a form of enterainment! But, then again look a the videos and TV they get to watch!
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9-28-2010 @ 11:13AM
haydee said...Teens need to be taught responsibility, The girl that she will be missing a lot if she gets pregnant and boys that they will be responsible for child support for the next 18 years. Also remind the boys that if they don't use a condom they could open a can of worms by getting infected and spreading venereal disease, Aids or some other sexual transmitted disease. Its mainly a boys responsibility to use a condom but its also the girls responsibility to make sure its done as she will be part of the spreading it too. So is not only about birth control that is made to be a part of girls responsibility but to both girls and boys because both will have to face and live the consequences.
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10-04-2010 @ 9:47AM
CMX said...Stewart7 you have been give some wrong information. The Federal Government has sent millions of dollars to the States for "Abstinence only Programs". It has been proved by many studies in this country and abroad that "abstinence only Programs" do not work. In fact more than 20 States have sent the money back because of failure of these Programs. Sex talk should be left to the parents, but that is not done. So the child gets its "sex" information fron there peers and you know how much good that information that is.
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9-28-2010 @ 10:16AM
Philip said...Thats why these girls today have 5 or more baby daddy's.... If boys are stupid to what can sex really lead to then the girls should wisen up.... one of the two or both should be educated to prevent unwanted (whatever)... Two ignorant kids will have kids.
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9-28-2010 @ 10:25AM
M.A. Korman said...In my opinion sex education does not belong in schools,talking to children about sex should be the parents job.
Instead of telling them about birth control they should be told about abstinence!!
Reply
9-28-2010 @ 10:49AM
Lori said...And when they have sex anyway, despite your "abstinance only" education? Then what? If they don't know how to use contraceptives, you are setting them up for a future pregnancy or disease.
And if parents actually TAUGHT their kids about sex, instead of just telling them not do it, then maybe the schools wouldn't need to! There are millions of kids in this country (your kids are probably among them) who would never learn the facts about sex and how to protect themselves, if it wasn't for the sex education taught in schools!
9-28-2010 @ 3:21PM
Alicia said...Abstinence only education does not prevent kids from having sex. Purity rings and promises to remain chaste do not prevent kids from having sex. It has been proven, around the world, that kids who make these promises or sit through these programs still have sex and only wait about eighteen months longer to do so than their peers who had comprehensive educations and are more likely that their peers to get pregnant or be infected. Meanwhile, in European countries, like Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands that have widespread, honest sex education and access to free birth control for teenagers have a 1/12 of the teenage pregnancy America does.
9-28-2010 @ 10:27AM
meredith said...I agree that sex ed classes should include what happens when you are pregnant and a graphic birthing video should be a part of it. When I saw my older sister give birth when I was 15, that was enough birth control for me. I don't think teens fully understand the extent of teen pregnancy and all the negative aspects of having a child so young. I think sex ed should be a lot different than it is. I remember it being quick and not very informative in school. It reminds me of the DARE program, making children MORE curious as opposed to just more educated. Also, I believe contraceptives should be made more available to teenagers, don't just hand out one condom after the class and encourage teens to BUY condoms if they are going to have sex. I'd rather have them safe than continue to see teens have babies that the state has to help support.
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9-28-2010 @ 10:31AM
John said...Maybe they should be taught that they have to pay for everything not WIC, Welfare, Parents!!!
Reply