What Schools Teach Our Patients About Sex: Content, Quality, and Influences on Sex Education
Thirty percent of sex education teachers in Illinois never received formal sex education training, compared with the national average of 18 percent, says a University of Chicago report led by a medical doctor.
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases were the most frequently discussed topics in sex education classes, the study found, and were addressed by about 96 percent of sex educators in the state, followed closely by sexual abstinence, which was discussed by about 90 percent of the teachers. Birth control methods and health-related services were discussed by about 40 percent of the teachers surveyed, and emergency contraception was discussed by 30 percent.
A representative sample of more than 200 of the state’s sex education teachers who had taught sex education in public elementary or secondary schools during the 2003-04 school year responded to a mailed survey from the National Research Opinion Center at the University of Chicago.
