Regardless of their political leanings, the majority of American adults (80.4 percent) favors a balanced approach to sex education in schools, including teaching children about both abstinence and other ways of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, a University of Pennsylvania study finds.
The findings suggest that the U.S. government's support for abstinence-only programs doesn't reflect broad public support for comprehensive sex education, say researchers from the school's Annenberg Public Policy Center.
They noted that 25 percent of American youth have sex by age 15, 37.5 percent by age 16 and 46.9 percent by age 17.
Sex is like any other topic that kids have to learn about. Parents can provide education, detail, philosophy - but there's clear benefit to providing health, scientific and statistical information through the schools, as well. Most Americans understand that. If the Bush Administration can't understand that, then the Congress needs to take the lead to show support for comprehensive sex education.