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 Sex education: Parents want kids better informed
(CNN) -- The gap between what educators teach students about sex and what parents and children think they need to know is huge, two new studies have found. Most parents want the nation's junior and senior high schools to teach their children more about sex, a report released today by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found. That includes better, more detailed guidance on how to use contraceptives and where to get treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
The Kaiser study, based on a series of national surveys with parents, teachers and students aged 13 to 18, found that sex education does a good job of covering basic information about reproduction and pregnancy. Skill-based instruction lackingBut it found that skill-based instruction -- such as how to deal with the pressures and emotional consequences of sexual activity, how to talk to partners or parents about sexual health issues and where to get medical help -- is not taught as frequently or consistently. "Parents want their kids to be prepared for real life and they want them to have the facts and the information that they need to be prepared to face the situations they might face," Tina Hoff of the Kaiser Foundation said. The Kaiser findings are based on interviews with more than 4,000 respondents across the nation. According to the report, 89 percent of schools teach sex education. Classes typically are co-ed, and taught along with another subject. AIDS high on list of topics coveredAbstinence -- teaching students to wait to have sex -- figures prominently on the curriculum, with 84 percent of schools including instruction on that topic. AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases have become areas of study in the overwhelming majority of sex education courses. They are taught in more than 90 percent of schools. Parents say they want a wider range of topics taught than are offered in most schools. Nearly all parents, for example, want safe-sex and negotiation skills taught. Far fewer students said these were subjects covered by the latest course they had taken. Education often misses targetThe majority of parents also wanted their children to receive instruction on abortion and homosexuality. A newly released study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute also found that sex education in public schools often misses the target. "Too often the message ends at abstinence and students are denied the information they need when they do become sexually active," said the Institute's David Landry. CNN Parenting Correspondent Pat Etheridge contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: More girls experience early puberty RELATEDS AT  :
From diapers to dating with Debra Haffner RELATED SITES: Open Directory - Education: Sex Education | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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