Report: N.Y. schools don't adequately conduct AIDS and sex education

A study conducted by New York assemblyman Scott Stringer, a Manhattan Democrat, found that more than 60% of the school districts in New York State violate state or local regulations on providing students with education on AIDS and sex, The New York Times reports. The study, based on a survey of school administrators, showed that many schools lack trained health teachers, use outdated textbooks and curricula, and sometimes even fail to offer required instruction on such issues as drug abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention. The study showed that the statewide sex education curriculum hasn't been updated since 1986 and the HIV/AIDS curriculum was last updated 12 years ago. Nearly two thirds of the districts surveyed for the study did not have adequately trained teachers to instruct students about HIV/AIDS. Stringer said he conducted the study because he believes health education has largely been ignored in New York for the past decade. Officials with the state Department of Education say they are looking into how health programs are operated throughout the state's school districts.