Last Updated: November 2019
Author: Division of Maternal and Child Health, Vermont Department of Health
Research has repeatedly found that sex education which provides accurate, complete, and developmentally appropriate information on human sexuality, including risk-reduction strategies and contraception helps young people take steps to protect their health, including delaying sex, using condoms or contraception, and being monogamous. Comprehensive Sex Education "teaches about abstinence as the best method for avoiding STDs and unintended pregnancy, but also teaches about condoms and contraception to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and of infection with STDs, including HIV. It also teaches interpersonal and communication skills and helps young people explore their own values, goals, and options."
In Vermont, the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicates:
This indicator is part of Healthy Vermonters 2020 (the State Health Assessment) that documents the health status of Vermonters at the start of the decade and the population health indicators and goals that will guide the work of public health through 2020. Click here for more information.
This question uses the School Health Profiles Lead Health Educator questionnaire and calculates the percentage of schools that teach all of the following in a required course taught during grades 9, 10, 11, or 12:
Exemplary Sexual Health Education (ESHE)
Specifically, high school based lead health educators needed to respond “yes” to the following questions,
TQ11. During this school year, did teachers in your school teach each of the following HIV, STD, or pregnancy prevention topics in a required course for students in each of the grade spans below? (Mark yes or no for each topic)
Topic
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