Sex education and AIDS education in the schools: what states and large school districts are doing.

Four-fifths of the states either require or encourage the teaching of sex education in the public schools, and nearly nine in 10 large school districts across the United States support such instruction. All but four states and virtually every large school district support the provision of AIDS education, and backing for instruction about sexually transmitted diseases and about abstinence is nearly as widespread. Fewer states and districts (two-thirds and four-fifths, respectively) require or encourage the schools to teach about pregnancy prevention. Examination of state and district curricula indicates that large school districts tend to be bolder than the states in the range of sex-related topics covered, especially in the area of pregnancy prevention. Districts also offer local educators more support (through curricula, training and other activities) than do the states. Finally, AIDS education appears to be receiving more attention and funding from both the states and the local school districts than is sex education.