Sexual Behaviors

Posted December 31, 2004.

States—

2002 Legislative Session

Enacted legislation included bills to appropriate funds for family life education class and add to the content of sex education and family life education classes. The following is a sample of enacted legislation:

Maine House Bill 1180 (Public Law 654) appropriated $750,000 for family life education for students in kindergarten to high school. It also defined comprehensive family life education as education of students about human development and sexuality, including information on family planning and sexually transmitted diseases that is medically accurate and age appropriate; respects community values and encourages parental communication; develops skills in communication, decision-making and conflict resolution; contributes to healthy relationships; promotes responsible sexual behavior and addresses abstinence and the use of contraception; that promotes individual responsibility and involvement regarding sexuality; and teaches skills for responsible decision-making regarding sexuality.
Virginia House Bill 1206 (Chapter 554) added the benefits of adoption as a positive choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy to the family life education curriculum in grades K through 12.

2003 Legislative Session

Enacted legislation included bills to establish teen pregnancy prevention programs and sexual health and HIV/AIDS Prevention. The following is a sample of legislation that passed:

California Assembly Bill 561 (Chapter 643) established the Male Involvement Program, the Community Challenge Grants Program, the TeenSMART Program and the Information and Education Program on a continuous basis within the State Department of Health Services to the extent that funding is made available through the federal government. All programs seek to reduce teen pregnancy.
California Senate Bill 71 (Chapter 650) consolidated existing provisions related to instruction on AIDS prevention, sexually transmitted diseases, sex, abstinence, the surrender of physical custody of a minor child 72 hours or younger, and the manner in which parents may excuse their child from this instruction. It established the California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education Act to, among other things, authorize school districts to provide comprehensive sexual health education in K to 12 and to ensure that all pupils in grades 7-12 receive HIV/AIDS prevention education.
Illinois House Bill 630 (Public Act 93-0515) established a Hispanic/Latino Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Intervention Initiative program. The bill provided for a grant to conduct research, education, and prevention activities to reduce pregnancy among Hispanic teenagers.

2004 Legislative Session

Legislation included bills on sexuality curriculum. The following is a sample of legislation that passed:

Colorado House Bill 1375 (Chapter Number 338) required each school district that offers human sexuality curriculum to provide parents of students the ability to excuse a student from that part of the curriculum and an outline of the topics and materials to be presented in the curriculum prior to instruction.
In order to avoid forfeiture of state aid, Michigan House Bill 5478 (Act Number 166) allowed a parent to file a complaint against a school districts that they believe failed to comply with the School Code regarding HIV/AIDS and sex education instruction.
Michigan Senate Bill 943 (Act Number 165) revised the School Code to require that public school instruction on HIV, AIDS, and sex education emphasize abstinence, the consequences of sexual behavior, and refusal skills, among other content. It also prescribes the membership, terms and responsibilities of each district’s “health education advisory board” which reviews the material and instructional methods used for the course.

Abstinence-Only and Sex Education

Since 1996 the federal government has increased the amount of funds available for abstinence-only education to over $100 million annually. These funds are not available to programs that teach abstinence-only-plus or comprehensive sex education courses that include discussion of contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Abstinence-only education is designed to convince teenagers to abstain from sex until marriage.

Some critics claim that abstinence-only education is not scientifically proven to be effective and that the curriculum excludes pertinent information regarding safe sex practices for those adolescents who choose to have sex. Proponents of abstinence-only programs contend that the programs are effective and that as a result, youth delay sexual activity.

Based on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports for middle and high school health education students, 36 states require teaching courses on HIV Prevention, approximately 32 states require STD prevention courses, 23 states require pregnancy prevention instruction and 24 states require courses on human sexuality.

Most states choose to leave sex education up to local school districts. States with laws requiring some level of sex education leave approval of the curriculum to local officials. States without sex education laws may have statutes that require sex education, if taught, to include abstinence education.

Teen Pregnancy

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reported that teen pregnancy rates decreased throughout the 1990's, and the rates in 2000 were significantly lower than in 1991. A goal of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy is to reduce teen pregnancy by one-third between 1996 and 2005. The campaign has reported a decrease in teen birth rates, which are now at record level lows, for the tenth straight year in 2001. In addition, the abortion rates for teenage girls is also down.

According to the National Campaign, "[t]he credit for these impressive declines goes primarily to teens themselves who are increasingly making wise decisions about sex and their future. It is clear that more teens are adopting the formula for success — more are refraining from sex and those that are sexually active are using contraception more carefully." Even so, the rate of teen pregnancy is still high—four in ten girls are pregnant by age 20. According to the CDC, each year approximately three million cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) occur among teenagers, and approximately 860,000 teenagers become pregnant.

Click here for information on the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

STD’s—HIV/AIDS

There are over 25 different types of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, genital warts, crabs and hepatitis B. They are easy to diagnose, treat and cure, but if left untreated these diseases can cause infertility and severe health problems. Even though the overall incidence of people infected with AIDS has decreased during the 1990s, cases involving youth did not. From data collected by the CDC, at least half of all new HIV cases occur among people under age 25, with most of them being infected through sexual activity. In addition, African-American adolescents accounted for approximately 56 percent of AIDS cases reported in 1999 among 13- to 19-year-olds. For the same age group in 2000, a much greater proportion of HIV infections were reported among females (61 percent) than among males (39 percent). Open communication between parent and child may help prevent infection. Schools and communities can also play a role in prevention by teaching young people who are at risk and helping those who already have STD's and/or HIV/AIDS.

Click for NCSL's HIV/AIDS and STDs page

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—Division of Adolescent and School Health http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/sexualbehaviors/index.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/youth.htm

NCSL provides the links above for informational purposes only, and they do not necessarily reflect NCSL positions.

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