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Comprehensive Sex Education

  • In 2006, nearly 27,000 Ohio girls between the ages of 10 and 19 became pregnant.
  • Teens who have children are much less likely to finish high school and are more likely to be victims of abuse.  They are also more likely to receive public assistance.  81% of unmarried women who have children before the age of 20 are on welfare within 10 years.  (Source:  Paul Offner. “Welfare reform and teenage girls,” Social Sciences Quarterly, 2005, 26(2): 306-322.)

Research Shows Abstinence-Only Programs Not Only Do Not Work,
They are Harmful and Misleading

Multiple peer-reviewed studies have found that comprehensive sexuality education programs that teach teens about abstinence, contraception and disease control are effective at delaying onset of intercourse, reducing the frequency of intercourse, reducing the number of sexual partners, and increasing condom and contraceptive use.

A 2005 report by Dr. Scott Frank, Director of Public Health at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, concluded that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Ohio have implemented curricula in schools throughout the state that “contain misleading and false information, scientific errors, and substantial inaccuracies regarding gender stereotypes, STDs, and contraception.”

Two-thirds of the curricula most commonly used in federally funded abstinence-only programs contained serious medical inaccuracies, including misinformation about HIV and other STIs and condom effectiveness.  (Source:  U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform Minority Staff Special Investigations Division, The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs, December 2004)

Health Professionals Agree:
Comprehensive Sex Education is Needed

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Institute of Medicine, and Society for Adolescent Medicine, among others, support comprehensive sex education, including education about both abstinence and also contraception and condoms.

Support for Comprehensive Sex Education

In 2007 and 2009, Governor Strickland rejected federal abstinence-only program money.

  • A 2007 Quinnipiac University poll found that 71% of Ohio voters (81% for voters who have kids in school) felt that the best approach to sex education in Ohio's schools is to focus equally on abstinence as well as the value of condoms and contraception use.
  • A 2005 national survey found that 82% of U.S. adults thought comprehensive sex education, which covers both abstinence and other methods of preventing pregnancy and STD, should be implemented in schools.

The Act for Our Children’s Future (HB 316)

Healthy, responsible actions grow out of a healthy environment and education.

This legislation will stress the value of abstinence, but will also include medically-accurate sex education so that our young people will have the information necessary to make wise decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health and to defend themselves against unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

If a school district offers any sexual health education programming, then it must be comprehensive, age-appropriate, medically-accurate, and abstinence-inclusive.

  • “Venereal disease” education is changed to “sexually transmitted infection prevention” education (Lines 40-42; 45)
  • Instruction shall be abstinence-inclusive, but not abstinence-only. (46-50)
  • Defines the terms “age-appropriate," “comprehensive sexual health education,” "HIV/AIDS prevention education," "instructors trained in the appropriate courses," and “medically and scientifically accurate." (148-172)
  • Clarifies that any school district or educational service center may offer comprehensive sexual health education that is comprehensive, medically-accurate, age appropriate, and abstinence-inclusive, providing ways to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, but may no longer be abstinence-only.  (173-217)
  • If age-appropriate, the instruction and materials will also provide pupils with skills for negotiating intimate relationships, include a discussion of the possible consequences of preadolescent and adolescent sexual and unintended pregnancy, and to recognize, not make, and reject unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances.  (218-234)
  • Comprehensive sexual health education shall not include any instruction or materials that teach or promote religious doctrine.  (235-237)
  • Outside speakers or prepared curricula may be used to teach comprehensive sex education  (238-242)
  • Each pupil shall receive medically-accurate HIV/AIDS prevention education at least once in grades seven through nine, and at least once in grades ten through twelve.  (243-289)
  • School districts and educational service centers shall consult with ODE regarding in-service training for all school district personnel who provide comprehensive sexual health education or HIV/AIDS prevention education.  The in-service training can be provided by outside consultants with expertise in comprehensive sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education.  (209-309)
  • Parents/guardians will be notified about the instruction in comprehensive sex education and HIV/AIDS prevention education and will have the right to opt their child out of such instruction.  The pupil will be provided with an alternative educational activity.  (310-345)
  • No school district or educational service center may offer abstinence-only instruction  (349-359)
  • The purposes of the Act for Our Children's Future are to (1) provide pupils with knowledge and skills necessary to protect their sexual and reproductive health from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and (2) encourage pupils to develop responsible decision-making skills as well as healthy attitudes and values about adolescent growth and development, body image, gender roles, sexual orientation, and healthy relationships.   (649-656)