Sexuality Education in Public Schools

Healthy People 2010 seeks to increase the number of young adults receiving school-based education on contraception and abstinence. (1) The U.S. Surgeon General issued a report in 2001 emphasizing the important role of comprehensive school-based programs in promoting responsible sexual behavior and lessening some of the serious problems of sexual health experienced by the nation. (2) States can promote sexuality education by requiring school-based sexuality education and enacting content requirements for these programs that include information about contraception. (3)

Sexuality Education in Public Schools

	Strength Of Policy 2007	Change From 2004
ALABAMA (1)
ALASKA
ARIZONA
ARKANSAS
CALIFORNIA (2)
COLORADO
CONNECTICUT
DELAWARE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
FLORIDA
GEORGIA
HAWAII
IDAHO
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
IOWA
KANSAS
KENTUCKY
LOUISIANA
MAINE
MARYLAND
MASSACHUSETTS
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI
MISSOURI (3)
MONTANA
NEBRASKA
NEVADA
NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW JERSEY
NEW MEXICO
NEW YORK
NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH DAKOTA
OHIO
OKLAHOMA
OREGON (4)
PENNSYLVANIA
RHODE ISLAND
SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS
UTAH
VERMONT
VIRGINIA (5)
WASHINGTON
WEST VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN
WYOMING

Meets Policy	8
Limited Policy	0
Weak Policy	0
No/Harmful Policy	43
Better	0
Worse	1
Same	50

1. Alabama was graded incorrectly in the 2004 Report Card. It should have received a "no/harmful policy" instead of a "meets policy." Since there is no change in the individual state law for this state, the comparison with 2004 is based on the underlying data, that is, there is no change from 2004.
2. California was graded incorrectly in the 2004 Report Card. It should have received a "no/harmful policy" instead of a "meets policy." Since there is no change in the individual state law for this state, the comparison with 2004 is based on the underlying data, that is, there is no change from 2004.
3. Missouri was graded incorrectly in the 2004 Report Card. It should have received a "no/harmful policy" instead of a "meets policy." Since there is no change in the individual state law for this state, the comparison with 2004 is based on the underlying data, that is, there is no change from 2004.
4. Oregon was graded incorrectly in the 2004 Report Card. It should have received a "no/harmful policy" instead of a "meets policy." Since there is no change in the individual state law for this state, the comparison with 2004 is based on the underlying data, that is, there is no change from 2004.
5. Virginia was graded incorrectly in the 2004 Report Card. It should have received a "no/harmful policy" instead of a "meets policy." Since there is no change in the individual state law for this state, the comparison with 2004 is based on the underlying data, that is, there is no change from 2004.

Does the state require that sexuality education be taught and that it include information about contraception?

States receive a "meets policy" if they require sexuality education to be taught and if their content requirements include coverage of contraception. States receive a "no policy" if they either do not require sexuality education or if their content requirements do not include contraception.

Data Source: Sexuality Education in Public Schools, 2007.

Guttmacher Institute, State Policies in Brief, "Sex and STD/HIV Education," May 2007, available at http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_SE.pdf, accessed May 4, 2007.

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2010, 2^nd ed. (Washington: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000), Objective 9-11, available at http://www.health.gov/healthypeople.

2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior (Washington: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, June 2001).

3. Abstinence-until-marriage curricula are not included, as such curricula have been demonstrated to be ineffective with adolescents. Debra W. Haffner, "What's Wrong with Abstinence-Only Sexuality Education Programs?" Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) Report 25 (April/May 1997), 9-13, available at http://www.siecus.org/siecusreport/volume25/25-4.pdf.