What should public schools teach our children about sex? It can be a complex question, especially when dealing with morals, social norms, pop culture, hormones and health. When students sit down for their sex education, should teachers embrace an abstinence-only policy?
The clear national consensus—among adults and teens alike—is that teens should be given a clear message that delaying sexual activity is the right thing to do because of the numerous important consequences of sexual activity, and because sexual activity should be associated with meaning and serious commitment. Nine in ten adults and teens agree that it is important for teens to be given a strong message that they should abstain from sex until they are at least out of high school.
It is also the case that six in ten young people will have sex before they graduate high school. That helps explain why a clear national consensus also believes that teens should be provided information about contraception. Simply put, the American public takes the common sense view that abstinence and contraception are complimentary strategies, not contradictory strategies. When it comes to abstinence-only, the American public does not take issue with abstinence; their problem is with the only.
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