Polls find abstinence favored approach for sex ed classes

Two recent polls regarding parents’ views on sex education have produced conflicting results, with one poll saying the vast majority of American parents want their children’s sex education classes to emphasize abstinence until marriage and the other saying most parents believe the best approach is something called “abstinence-plus.”
   
The first poll, conducted by Zogby International and Focus on the Family, found that parents strongly oppose the values and messages of comprehensive sex education, which assumes teens will become sexually active and therefore must be given easy access to condoms and contraception.
   
The second poll, conducted by National Public Radio, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, found that while only 7 percent of Americans say sex education should not be taught in public schools, a plurality believes the best approach is to teach abstinence. But with those parents registering doubt whether all teens will abstain, they said students also should be taught about condoms and contraception.
   
The NPR poll also found that 30 percent of the principals of public middle and high schools where sex education is taught reported that their schools teach abstinence only. NPR said 47 percent of the schools taught abstinence-plus — an approach that teaches abstinence first but also includes condoms and contraception — and 20 percent taught that making responsible decisions about sex was more important than abstinence.
   
Zogby/Focus reported that 68 percent of parents want schools to teach teens that remaining abstinent until marriage offers the best chances of marital stability and happiness.
   
The same poll said 91 percent of parents want their children to be taught that sex should be linked to the type of love and commitment found in marriage and 56 percent said information about contraception should either not be taught as a subject or taught in a class separate from abstinence.
   
Forty percent of parents in the Zogby/Focus poll said abstinence and contraception should be combined in a single class, though only 2 percent said sex education should focus on teaching teens how to use condoms. (BP)