The Effects of Sex Education on Adolescent Sexual Risk Taking Behavior

Sex education curriculum has historically been a controversial topic in the United States because for many Americans, sex education is not just an issue of teaching about sexuality but also an issue of which morals and values our society should promote. Meanwhile, 9 in 10 adolescents are sexually active by the time they graduate high school and the United States has the highest teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection rates of any developed nation. This study examines the effects of specific sex education curricula on adolescent sexual risk taking behavior. The results indicate that curricula have virtually no impact on the decision to be sexually active but that self-efficacy and abstinence-only mandates have important relationships with the decision to use contraception. The results also indicate that demographic and cultural variables are influential in adolescent sexual decision-making. Therefore the conclusions recommend that sex education curricula do not include abstinence-only mandates and consider including self-efficacy components at an early age. Moreover, the recommendation calls for a sex education policy that is implemented at the state-level rather than the federal-level and curricula that are tailored to the community in which they are implemented. Key words: sexuality, teenagers, contraceptive use, pregnancy, sex education policy