While some parents still reel in disbelief when they learn that their children have to apply latex to raw vegetables in sex education classroom exercises, the federal government doesn’t think that public schools are doing enough to promote condom use.
“Sexual health education is important to the prevention of HIV; it can help modify sexual behaviors and address the social and cultural conditions that put youth at risk for infection,” the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated in a report that the federal agency released last year. “When well-planned and implemented, sexual health education is associated with delayed sexual debut, fewer sexual partners, and more widespread and consistent use of condoms.”
“Exemplary sexual health education (ESHE) is a systematic, evidence-informed approach to sexual health education that includes the use of grade-specific, evidence-based interventions. ESHE provides adolescents the essential knowledge and critical skills needed to avoid HIV, other STDs, and unintended pregnancy. It is important for schools to provide sexual health educators with the materials needed to effectively teach students in these areas.”
Indeed, the CDC grades school districts on, among other things:
- The “Importance of using condoms consistently and correctly;”
- The “Efficacy of condoms, that is, how well condoms work and do not work;”
- “How to obtain condoms;”
- The “Provision of condoms;” and
The “Provision of contraceptives other than condoms.”
