Pennsylvania Print

Pennsylvania schools are not required to teach sex education, even though there are almost 87,000 sexually active teenagers in the state. They are required teach HIV prevention lessons, but must stress abstinence. Learn more about failed abstinence-only programs in Pennsylvania.

Sex Education Policy

Pennsylvania has no law requiring sex education – it has not taken the necessary action to guarantee complete, comprehensive sex ed for its students. However, Pennsylvania does require that students be taught about HIV prevention.

Health Outcomes

Pennsylvania has  lower teen pregnancy, AIDS, and STI rates than most states.

Sexual Health Stats at a Glance

 
Teen Pregnancy Rate* Teen Birth Rate* Annual rate of AIDS Diagnoses (per 100,000 people) STI Rate+ % of high school students who did not use a condom at last sex
Pennsylvania 53 29.3 7.3 102.2 35
National 70 39.1 11.2 100.8 39

 

*Per 1000 young women ages 15-19
+Because of concern over recent changes in Chlamydia reporting and relative low incidence of syphilis, we used the state's gonorrhea rate as a stand-in for sexually transmitted infection rates.

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