Ohio Comprehensive Sex Education Program Improves Knowledge Of Safer-Sex Practices, Study Finds

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 26 Jun 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Ohio students who participate in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's comprehensive sex education program show more knowledge and better attitudes toward safer-sex practices than students who do not participate, according to a study released Tuesday by Philliber Research Associates, the AP/Dayton Daily News reports. The school district uses a graduated sex education program for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program begins with instruction about the human body and inappropriate touching and progresses to discussions about sexually transmitted infections and relationships. The study, which was funded by the AIDS Funding Collaborative in Cleveland, found that more than 75% of parents of children in kindergarten through sixth grade approved of the program.

The Collaborative for Comprehensive School Age Health, a coalition of northeast Ohio organizations that opposes abstinence-only sex education, said that the report validates the effectiveness of the city's program. The study's release coincides with advocates' efforts against two other sex education-related measures under consideration in the state budget plan. According to the AP/Daily News, the Republican-controlled state Senate wants to require the state Department of Education to apply for federal abstinence-only education funding. The state Senate also wants Ohio to continue to require legislative approval before any changes can be made in health education, although Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and the Democrat-controlled House want to change these requirements, the AP/Daily News reports (AP/Dayton Daily News, 6/23).

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