The topic of sex education in public schools has been a hot one for some time. Those in favor of it argue that education is the answer to the rising rate of teen pregnancies and STD's. They are afraid the youth of today are not receiving the proper i nformation at home to protect themselves. Supporters feel if kids are provided with accurate information in school they will be equipped with the tools to make wise, healthy decisions. There are many others, however, who are against sex-ed being taught in schools. They argue that, perhaps, ideas of sex are being placed in kids' heads too early and this is leading to early sexual experimentation. Others argue that schools are pulling too far away from the basics and kids are not receiving a proper education. They find that schools are becoming side-tracked with social issues and are passing students through without appropriate academic knowledge.

WWW

• Choosing the Best - Ultimate Sex...Abstinence Until Marriage

  This abstinence-focused sex education Web site contains a comprehensive curriculum package. [Recommended by Laura Matthies.]

• School-Based Health Clinics and Sex Education by Kerby Anderson

  This article is provided by Probe Ministries in Richardson, Texas, a non-profit corporation whose stated mission is to "reclaim the primacy of Christian thought and values in Western culture...." It states that comprehensive sex education has been a failure and provides arguments in support of abstinence." [Recommended by Contesa Mendoza.]

• HIV Abstinence Education Program of the Kern High School District

  This Web resource discusses the prgram that the Kern High School used in teaching their students that they should practice abstinence. This message is supported by discussions of STD's and the success rate of condoms in preventing AIDS. [Recommended by Ashley Levin.]

• Sex Education That Really Works by Edward F. Gehringer

  This article is one of the documents linked from The UltimatePro-Life Resource List, "the most comprehensive listing of right to life resources on the internet." In support of abstinence-only education, it cites studies that support this approach. [Recommended by Angel Ireys.]

JOURNAL ARTICLES

• Algozzine, B., Berne,L.A., & Huberman, B.K. (1995). Comparison of beliefs about the family life education curriculum. Journal of Educational Research, 88,(6), 331-337.

  This article cites a survey of 182 local PTA presidents on family life education. They rated which topics should be included in the curriculum of public schools. The results show that some aspects of sex-ed are supported, but there are many other aspects that are not supported at all.

• Males, M. (1993). School Age Pregnancy: why hasn't prevention worked? Journal of School Health, 63 (10), 429-432.

  This article presents recent data on how sex education and abstinence programs have not reduced teenage pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.