MTV to examine abstinence-only sex education

MTV on Thursday, October 3, will air a half-hour television special examining sex education in schools and the Bush administration's push for abstinence-only sex education as part of the network's ongoing "Fight for Your Rights" campaign. The program, titled "Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself: Sex in the Classroom," includes interviews with teenagers in Lubbock, Tex., who joined together to push for comprehensive sex education, including the use of condoms to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, because they were alarmed by the city's rates of teen pregnancy and STD infections. Results from a poll of 1,061 people ages 13 to 18 on sex education issues also will be presented. That survey found that 84% of the respondents believe school-based sex education programs should include information on contraception and condom use. Nearly three quarters of the respondents also opposed federal funding of abstinence-only sex and HIV prevention education. Check local listings for airtimes.