Like all teens, gay teens may get sex education in school. But depending on where you live sex education will vary greatly!
Here are five facts about sex education gay teen should know.
- In the Netherlands, as in many other parts of Europe, sex education starts in elementary school and continues throughout high school.
- Some of the first sex education in the United States was actually started by a religious group, the Unitarians (now joined with the Universalists). Today, they produce a sex education program including an entire curriculum devoted to bisexuality, that is used by schools and religious groups around the United States and Canada.
- Studies have found that teens who get comprehensive sex education make better choices about sex. They have sex later and use condoms more often when they do.
- A study by GLSEN found that at schools where abstinence-only education is taught, GLBT students are more likely to have experienced verbal harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, and were more likely to have missed school in the past year because they felt unsafe.
- The CDC found that 48% of schools taught about sexual identity and sexual orientation. However, many of those programs do not teach about sexual orientation in a positive way.
