Parents and education leaders across Florida agree: teens need comprehensive sex education that gives them the information, skills, and encouragement that leads to responsible decision-making.  But too many Florida schools cater to a narrow minority by allowing abstinence-only programs to deny teens the facts, censor teachers, and exclude parents' input from their own children's education. For today's teens, it can be a dangerous world. Popular culture can give them the wrong facts and influences. And not all families have open, healthy communication about sex. If a teen feels that he or she can't talk to a parent, we all want there to be a trusted adult to turn to for accurate information about how to prevent unintended pregnancy and disease. Many Florida schools are failing to teach our young people how to protect themselves. Without the facts, teens are at risk of pregnancy and diseases that threaten their health, which puts their education and futures at risk. With comprehensive sex education, even if a teen chooses not to wait, he or she will still know how to be safe.

The Healthy Teens Campaign is the leading voice of parents, educators, and teens themselves working together to ensure all Florida teens are safe and informed. Let's make sure that our teens get the comprehensive sex education they need-information about abstinence, AND other prevention methodsthat will protect them from diseases and pregnancy.

• Fully 78% of Floridians support comprehensive sex education, and favor it by a 3-1 margin over abstinence-only education.
• Nonetheless, Florida currently has NO statewide standards for teaching sex education - which means many school districts keep parents and teens in the dark by promoting abstinence-only education.
• In 2006, Florida had the 6th highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, yet our state accepted the 2nd largest amount of abstinence only funding.
• We need statewide standards so we can be sure that teens learn the facts from trusted, responsible sources.