ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

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Comprehensive Sex Education

Substantial evidence of the effectiveness of comprehensive sex education has recently emerged. Comprehensive sex education addresses both abstinence and age-appropriate, medically accurate information about contraception. Comprehensive sex education is also developmentally appropriate, introducing information on relationships, decision-making, assertiveness, and skill building to resist social/peer pressure, depending on grade-level.

As part of welfare reform, Congress passed legislation in 1996 allocating $50 million in federal funds for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs—which censor information about contraception. Since then, despite no evidence of the effectiveness of these programs and Americans' opposition to federal funding for them, the government has dumped more and more taxpayer money into unrealistic and unproven abstinence-only programs.

What You Should Know

• Sex Education Programs: Definitions & Point-by-Point Comparison
• Characteristics of Effective Sex Education Programs
• Effective Sex Education
• The Truth About Abstinence-Only Programs
• Responsible Education about Life (REAL) Act
• “REAL” Sex Education for America’s Youth
• NEW! Science & Success—Programs That Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV & Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United States and Developing Countries
• Americans Support Comprehensive Sex Ed
• American Medical Association's Recommendation for Good Sex Ed
• Sex Education: Isn't It Time To Listen To The Pediatricians, Not The Politicians?
• Teens Need Information, Not Censorship—Remarks by James Wagoner

For Educators

• Lesson Plan: Contraceptive Commercials
• Lesson Plan: Facts about Emergency Contraception—True or False
• Lesson Plan: Negotiating Sexual Risk Reduction
• Lesson Plan: Reproduction 101
• Lesson Plan: Talking about Sexuality and Values
• Lesson Plan: Teaching Abstinence as a Part of Comprehensive Sex Education: What Is Abstinence?
• Selection Tool to Identify Programs that Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV & Sexually Transmitted Infections

For Parents

• There's No Place Like Home … for Sex Education
• Alcohol and Sexual Risk Taking: What Parents Need to Know
• Are You an Askable Parent?
• Characteristics of Parents of Sexually Healthy Children
• Human Sexuality Education for Students with Special Needs
• Parents and Their Children's Learning about Sexuality
• Talking With Kids Openly and Honestly About Sexuality
• Talking With Your Child's Teacher About a Sexual Issue
• Ten Tips for Talking about the Facts of Life
• Ten Tips for Talking about Sexuality with Your Child Who Has Developmental Disabilities
• Tips for Talking with Sexually Active Teens about Contraception
• VIDEO—Raising Healthy Kids: Families Talk about Sexual Health
• When Kids Ask Tough Questions about Sex
• Your Child’s Growth and Development

For Youth

• Contraceptives: What Are Your Choices?
• Emergency Contraception
• Safer Sex
• STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections)
• Healthy Relationships
• The Rights. Respect. Responsibility.® Keep it REAL Campaign—End Censorship in America's Schools
• The Rights. Respect. Responsibility.®Fix the GAP Campaign—Stop U.S. Exportation of Abstinence-Only Programs

Advocates Publications on Comprehensive Sex Education

• Condom Effectiveness (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
• European Approaches to Adolescent Sexual Behavior & Responsibility [full study report pdf]
  • Executive Summary & Call to Action [html] [pdf]
• The Librarian's Guide To Sex Education Resources: Audiovisual, Print, and Web-based Materials for Youth, Parents, and Youth-Serving Professionals [pdf]
• Resource Guide for Sex Educators: Basic Resources that Every Sex Educator Needs to Know About [pdf]
• Resources for Sex Educators and Trainers: Parent-Child Communication about Sexuality for Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, and Native American Families [pdf]
• Responsible Education about Life (REAL) Act (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
• Rights. Respect. Responsibility.^® (3Rs) Campaign Kit. (Transitions) To read this issue, visit the 3Rs Campaign Web site.
• Rights. Respect. Responsibility.®—The Keep it REAL Campaign (Campaign Toolkit) [html] [pdf]
• Science or Politics? George W. Bush and the Future of Sexuality Education in the United States (The Facts) [html] [pdf]
• Sex Education for Physically, Emotionally, and Mentally Challenged Youth (From Research to Practice) [html] [pdf]
• Speaking Out! Connecticut's Parents and Other Adults Want Comprehensive Sex Education in Schools [html] [pdf]
• Teens & Sex in Europe: A Story of Rights, Respect & Responsibility [video]
• There's No Place Like Home … for Sex Education [html] [pdf]
  • en español—No hay lugar como el hogar … para la educación sexual [html] [pdf]
  • NEW! Also available for Native Americans [html] (page to open in new window)

Related Topics

• Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs
• Adolescent Sexual Behavior
• Condoms
• Contraceptives
• Emergency Contraception
• HIV/STIs
• Teen Pregnancy Prevention