While the teen birthrate has fallen, so has the percentage of teens who are getting sex education.
That's the conclusion of a new report based on federal survey data from the Guttmacher Institute.
The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, compared the proportion of teens that were taught about birth control in two time periods: 2006 to 2010 and 2011 to 2013.
The report found the percentages declined over the time spans among both girls and boys.
Chrissy Cmorik, education outreach manager for Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, said all teens need comprehensive sex education.
"And we want them, before they engage in any type of sexual activity, to know not just how to protect themselves, but also to know what a healthy relationship is, and to know about consent," Cmorik said.
California law requires all students in grades seven to 12 to receive at least two medically-accurate sex ed courses. Cmorik said the education is about more than birth control.
“It’s about consent. It’s about boundaries. It’s about understanding ourselves and what those boundaries are so that we can communicate with our partners," she said. "How do we talk about when we are ready for sex?”
Students in San Diego Unified schools receive sex education in sixth, eighth and 10th grades.
