Earlier this month, I posted about sexual education for children and my opinion on comprehensive versus abstinence programs. One reader, Beth, commented on the post with some follow-up questions. I decided to post my response as a separate post, since I think it will be of interest to all of my readers.

—Meg

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Dear Beth,

Thank you for being involved and concerned about sex education for our kids! We need more parents out there digging into what their kids are learning.

First, let me clarify a few things. All abstinence-only programs are not the same. Some are good; some aren’t. But the same is true for comprehensive sex ed programs. What really makes the difference in the message that kids get and the effectiveness of the message is the teacher. A teacher who is teaching comprehensive sex ed but believes that kids can hold off to have sex will teach the kids to abstain.

The same is true with abstinence education. If a teacher is teaching it but doesn’t believe that the students can abstain, then, guess what? The kids will have sex. So, my goal over the years has been to convince teachers that regardless of what the curriculum…