t Bush called for an increase in
the funding. And in spite of the fact that only 15% of Americans say they want abstinence-only
sex education in the schools, 30% of the the principals of public middle schools and high schools
where sex education is taught report that their schools teach abstinence-only. Forty-seven percent
of their schools taught abstinence-plus, while 20% taught that making responsible decisions
about sex was more important than abstinence. (Middle schools were more likely to teach
abstinence-only than high schools. High schools were more likely than middle schools to teach
abstinence-plus. High schools and middle schools were equally likely to teach that abstinence is
In many ways, abstinence-only education contrasts with the broad sex ed curriculum that most
Americans want ù from the basics of how babies are made to how to put on a condom to how to
get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. Some people thought that some topics were better
suited for high school students than middle school students, or vice versa, but few thought any of
the topics suggested were inappropriate at all. The most controversial topic ù ôthat teens can
obtain birth control pills from family planning clinics and doctors without permission from a
parentö ù was found to be inappropriate by 28% of the public, but even there, seven out of ten
(71%) thought it was appropriate. The other most controversial topics were oral sex (27% found
it inappropriate) and homosexuality (25%). (See Table 1.)
Interestingly, in a separate question about
homosexuality, only 19% said schools
should not teach about it at all. For the most
part, Americans want teachers to talk about
homosexuality, but they want them to do so
in a neutral way. Fifty-two percent said
homosexuality is, without discussing
whether it is wrong or acceptable,ö
should teach that homosexuality is wrong
and ...