What percent of public schools teach abstinence education vs. comprehensive sex education?
While there are increasing numbers of schools that teach abstinence education, the majority of schools still focus on reducing the risk of sex through birth control instruction,13 rather than the risk avoidance skill-building message of abstinence. In 1995, only 8% of schools taught abstinence education but 84% taught birth control instruction.14 In 2002, 22% taught abstinence education, and 68% taught birth control instruction. Information only up to the year 2002 is available, but this data indicates that fewer than 1 in 4 students across America are receiving abstinence education. At least partly due to the unequal federal funding between both initiatives, more than 2/3 of all teens receive so called comprehensive sex education, a message that assumes that teens will have sex. This is why the recent accusation that rises in teen birth and STD rates are due to abstinence education is absurdly false.
