Pittsburgh School Board Votes To Replace Abstinence-Only With Comprehensive Sex Education

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 27 Feb 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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The Pittsburgh school board voted Tuesday to replace the school district's abstinence-only sex education program with a comprehensive sex education curriculum that includes discussions on contraception and "alternative lifestyles," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The board voted 8-1 to approve the new plan. Mark Brentley, the only board member who voted against the plan, said the district had not received sufficient input from clergy and the public. Board member Randall Taylor, who voted for the plan, said students are "desperate ... for correct information." The board also voted on the textbooks that will be used for sex education, which administrators will use to help develop a curriculum.

Although teachers will be instructed to continue to stress abstinence as the most effective way to avoid unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, the new curriculum also will discuss contraceptives. However, teachers will not demonstrate contraceptive use or distribute contraceptives. Parents will have the option of removing their children from sex education lessons. In 2008, parents circulated a petition demanding that the school district change its policies on sex education by dropping the abstinence-only approach and replacing it with a comprehensive approach, the Post-Gazette reports. The new policy has received widespread support from parents and students, with many expressing their support at a public hearing on the issue last week (Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2/25). Officials say a change in the curriculum is necessary because Pittsburgh's teen pregnancy rate is higher than the regional average, the AP/CBS3.com news reports (AP/CBS3.com, 2/25).

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