Sex Education Policy: Need for a Standard Definition of Medically Accurate Information

Abstract

In comparison with other Western industrialized nations, the rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among youth aged 15 to 19 in the United States is higher. Since the 1980s, the U.S. Federal Government has intervened to aid in lowering the rates of pregnancy and STIs among youth aged 15 to 19 by funding a variety of abstinence-only sex education programs. Despite almost $1.5 billion federal dollars spent on efforts to reduce pregnancy and STIs among this subpopulation, there have been overall unsustainable declines in pregnancy and STIs among youth aged 15 to 19. Significant concerns have been raised by health policy advocates, such as former Rep. Waxman (D-Calif.), and sexual health advocates about the lack of a definition for medically accurate curricula. Mixed interpretations of policies for sex education content have resulted in abstinence-only sex education programs targeting youth to reflect conservative ideology with information that is not medically accurate. To better understand the topic, a review of the historical time line and legislative actions of U.S. federal and state policies is presented. As an example, Mississippi’s state policy for sex education programs is analyzed and reviewed. Furthermore, the authors put forward the need for a standard definition of medically accurate information, offer a proposed definition, and discuss the limitations of a standard definition for sex education programs. Public health professionals and public health education specialists play a key role in ensuring that sex education programs be taught using medically accurate information to reduce the rate of STIs and prevent teen pregnancy consistently among youth aged 15 to 19.