SEXEDUCATIONTHEPARENTSPERSPECTIVE.pdfVIP

SUMMARY REPORT SEX EDUCATION: THE PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE California Parents’ Preferences and Beliefs on School-Based Sex Education Policy By Norman A. Constantine, Petra Jerman, Alice X. Huang OVERVIEW Ongoing and often rancorous policy arguments at the federal, state, and local school-district levels address the relative merits of different types of sex education. The conflicts between proponents of programs that exclusively teach abstinence-only-until-marriage versus programs that include instruction regarding contraception and protection from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are often characterized by strong emotional arguments. In this heated environment, it is important to understand where parents, the individuals most directly involved in decision making for their children, stand on this issue. To this end, the Public Health Institute’s Center for Research on Adolescent Health and Development conducted the first in- depth statewide poll of California parents on this issue. Background Public support for comprehensive sex education has a strong professional grounding—most mainstream American education, health, and medical professional associations have formally endorsed school-based comprehensive sex education, including the American Association of School Administrators, the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Public Health Association, the American School Health Association, the National School Boards Association, and the Society for Adolescent Medicine [1-6]. What’s more, national polls have shown widespread support for including contraception and protection in sex education curricula among American voters, students, teachers, and health professionals [7-12]. Despite this widespread su