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Although teenagers in the U.S. and other developed Western countries have similar rates of sexual activity, U.S. rates of teen pregnancy and abortion rank among the highest. More than 20 states mandate sex education programs in public schools, but just how comprehensively is sex education provided? To address this question, investigators surveyed more than 200 geographically representative sex education teachers from middle schools and high schools in Illinois.
Abstinence-only curricula were used by 74% of teachers; one third of them supplemented their material with “other” curricula. The most commonly covered topics were HIV/AIDS (97%), sexually transmitted diseases (96%), and abstinence (89%). The least-taught topics were emergency contrac…