Available Research Regarding Existing Sex Education Curricula

Sex education programs have been around for many years. However, most programs fail to have the hoped-for effects. In order to create change and protect youth against the risk of pregnancy, STDs, and HIV, educators, parents, and policy makers need to avoid emotional misconceptions about sex education and focus instead on the importance of implementing more innovative programs, programs with proven effectiveness. It is important to remember that no single strategy works for all youth. The more components a sex education program incorporates, the more individuals the program can successfully affect.

Existing sex education curricula are usually labeled as "abstinence-only," "abstinence-based," "STD/HIV education," or "comprehensive sex education." However, in practice, curricula don't divide neatly into these groups. Instead, sex education curricula exist along a continuum. For examples of existing sexual education curricula, please see the attached table. The table shows seven examples of curricula, which vary not only by label, but also by content. The "Existing Research Findings" column details some of the research available regarding certain aspects of the sex education curricula.

For more information about the effectiveness of sex education curricula, see the list of Sources of Effectiveness Research.