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<div class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" role="note">For the book by Jenny Davis, see&nbsp;<a title="Sex Education (book)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Education_(book)">Sex Education (book)</a>.</div>
<div class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" role="note">"Sex Ed" redirects here. For other uses, see&nbsp;<a class="mw-disambig" title="Sex Ed (disambiguation)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Ed_(disambiguation)">Sex Ed (disambiguation)</a>.</div>
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<th colspan="2">Sex education</th>
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<td colspan="2"><a class="image" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Barbara-Hastings-Asatourian.jpg"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Barbara-Hastings-Asatourian.jpg/280px-Barbara-Hastings-Asatourian.jpg" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Barbara-Hastings-Asatourian.jpg 1.5x" alt="Barbara-Hastings-Asatourian.jpg" width="280" height="420" data-file-width="320" data-file-height="480" /></a>
<div>Barbara Hastings-Asatourian of the&nbsp;<a title="University of Salford" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Salford">University of Salford</a>&nbsp;demonstrates "Contraception", a sex education board game played in UK schools</div>
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<div>[<a class="extiw" title="d:Q192280" href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q192280">edit on Wikidata</a>]</div>
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<p><strong>Sex education</strong>&nbsp;is instruction on issues relating to&nbsp;<a title="Human sexuality" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sexuality">human sexuality</a>, including emotional relations and responsibilities,&nbsp;<a class="mw-redirect" title="Human sexual anatomy" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sexual_anatomy">human sexual anatomy</a>,&nbsp;<a title="Human sexual activity" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sexual_activity">sexual activity</a>,&nbsp;<a title="Sexual reproduction" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_reproduction">sexual reproduction</a>,&nbsp;<a title="Age of consent" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent">age of consent</a>,&nbsp;<a title="Reproductive health" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_health">reproductive health</a>,&nbsp;<a title="Reproductive rights" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_rights">reproductive rights</a>,&nbsp;<a title="Safe sex" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_sex">safe sex</a>,&nbsp;<a title="Birth control" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_control">birth control</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a title="Sexual abstinence" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_abstinence">sexual abstinence</a>. Sex education that covers all of these aspects is known as&nbsp;<a title="Comprehensive sex education" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_sex_education">comprehensive sex education</a>. Common avenues for sex education are parents or caregivers, formal school programs, and public health campaigns.</p>
<p>Traditionally,&nbsp;<a class="mw-redirect" title="Adolescent" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescent">adolescents</a>&nbsp;in many cultures were not given any information on sexual matters, with the discussion of these issues being considered&nbsp;<a title="Taboo" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo">taboo</a>. Such instruction, as was given, was traditionally left to a child's parents, and often this was put off until just before a child's marriage. The&nbsp;<a title="Progressive education" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_education">progressive education</a>&nbsp;movement of the late 19th century, however, led to the introduction of "<a class="mw-redirect" title="Social hygiene" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_hygiene">social hygiene</a>" in North American school curricula and the advent of school-based sex education.<sup id="cite_ref-Tupper_1-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-Tupper-1">[1]</a></sup>&nbsp;Despite early inroads of school-based sex education, most of the information on sexual matters in the mid-20th century was obtained informally from friends and the media, and much of this information was deficient or of dubious value, especially during the period following&nbsp;<a title="Puberty" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puberty">puberty</a>, when curiosity about sexual matters was the most acute. This deficiency was heightened by the increasing incidence of&nbsp;<a class="mw-redirect" title="Teenage pregnancies" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancies">teenage pregnancies</a>, particularly in Western countries after the 1960s. As part of each country's efforts to reduce such pregnancies, programs of sex education were introduced, initially over strong opposition from parent and religious groups.</p>
<p>The outbreak of&nbsp;<a class="mw-redirect" title="AIDS" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS">AIDS</a>&nbsp;has given a new sense of urgency to sex education. In many&nbsp;<a title="Africa" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa">African</a>&nbsp;countries, where AIDS is at epidemic levels (see&nbsp;<a title="HIV/AIDS in Africa" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Africa">HIV/AIDS in Africa</a>), sex education is seen by most scientists as a vital&nbsp;<a title="Public health" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_health">public health</a>&nbsp;strategy.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup>&nbsp;Some international organizations such as&nbsp;<a title="Planned Parenthood" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood">Planned Parenthood</a>&nbsp;consider that broad sex education programs have global benefits, such as controlling the risk of&nbsp;<a title="Human overpopulation" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_overpopulation">overpopulation</a>&nbsp;and the advancement of&nbsp;<a title="Women's rights" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights">women's rights</a>&nbsp;(see also reproductive rights). The use of mass media campaigns has sometimes resulted in high levels of "awareness" coupled with essentially superficial knowledge of HIV transmission.<sup id="cite_ref-newapproach_3-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-newapproach-3">[3]</a></sup></p>
<p>According to&nbsp;<a class="mw-redirect" title="SIECUS" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIECUS">SIECUS</a>, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 93% of adults they surveyed support sexuality education in high school and 84% support it in junior high school.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>&nbsp;In fact, 88% of parents of junior high school students and 80% of parents of secondary school students believe that sex education in school makes it easier for them to talk to their adolescents about sex.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup>&nbsp;Also, 92% of adolescents report that they want both to talk to their parents about sex and to have comprehensive in-school sex education.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup>Furthermore, a "study, conducted by&nbsp;<a title="Mathematica Policy Research" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematica_Policy_Research">Mathematica Policy Research</a>&nbsp;on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are ineffective."<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup></p>
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<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Definitions"><span class="tocnumber">1</span><span class="toctext">Definitions</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Evidence"><span class="tocnumber">2</span><span class="toctext">Evidence</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Sources"><span class="tocnumber">3</span><span class="toctext">Sources</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Public_opinion"><span class="tocnumber">4</span><span class="toctext">Public opinion</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#By_area"><span class="tocnumber">5</span><span class="toctext">By area</span></a>
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<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Africa"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span><span class="toctext">Africa</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Asia"><span class="tocnumber">5.2</span><span class="toctext">Asia</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Europe"><span class="tocnumber">5.3</span><span class="toctext">Europe</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-24"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#North_America"><span class="tocnumber">5.4</span><span class="toctext">North America</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-29"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Oceania"><span class="tocnumber">5.5</span><span class="toctext">Oceania</span></a></li>
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<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-32"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Morality"><span class="tocnumber">6</span><span class="toctext">Morality</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-33"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#LGBT_sex_education"><span class="tocnumber">7</span><span class="toctext">LGBT sex education</span></a>
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<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-34"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Pro-LGBT"><span class="tocnumber">7.1</span><span class="toctext">Pro-LGBT</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-35"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Anti-LGBT"><span class="tocnumber">7.2</span><span class="toctext">Anti-LGBT</span></a></li>
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<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-36"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">8</span><span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-37"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#References"><span class="tocnumber">9</span><span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-38"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#Further_reading"><span class="tocnumber">10</span><span class="toctext">Further reading</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-39"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">11</span><span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li>
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<h2><span id="Definitions" class="mw-headline">Definitions</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a title="Edit section: Definitions" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sex_education&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>
<p>Burt defined sex education as the study of the characteristics of beings: a male and female. Such characteristics make up the person's sexuality. Sexuality is an important aspect of the life of a human being and almost all people, including children, want to know about it. Sex education includes all the educational measures which - regardless of the particular method used - may center on sex. He further said that sex education stands for protection, presentation extension, improvement and development of the family based on accepted ethical ideas.<sup id="cite_ref-DeLaMare_8-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_education#cite_note-DeLaMare-8">[8]</a></sup></p>
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