On November 5, 2007, the University of Florida released a study confirming what we already knew - that the state of sex education in Florida is failing our youth. The very next day, a national report, Emerging Answers 2007, was released by Douglas Kirby, Ph.D., and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The report showed that abstinence-only programs are ineffective, and includes strong evidence that abstinence-only programs do not have any impact on teen sexual behavior.

Did you know?

• Florida has the 6th highest teen pregnancy rate with 48,440 teenage pregnancies annually.
• Florida has the 2nd highest AIDS rate in the country, with 4,960 new AIDS cases in 2005 and 100,809 cases overall.
• In 2005, 47% of female high school students and 54% of male high school students in Florida reported ever having had sexual intercourse.
• In 2005, 12% of female high school students and 21% of male high school students in Florida reported having had four or more lifetime sexual partners.
• And in 2006, Florida had 121,791 reported cases of sexually transmitted infections other than HIV/AIDS.

Without comprehensive sex education in the classrooms, Florida's teens are at a greater risk for unintended pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS.

Teens need and deserve responsible sex education that includes information about abstinence, AND about protection from diseases and pregnancy.

While we all hope that teens will wait to have sex, half of Florida teens have intercourse before they graduate high school. We need comprehensive sex education so even if a teen chooses not to wait they will still know how to be safe.