Texas parents
reject abstinence-only education

Despite a statewide push for abstinence-only education in Texas by Republican officials and lawmakers, a survey of parents in the San Antonio area shows that they want their children's school sex education classes to include instruction on condom use, the San Antonio Express-News reports. The survey of 126 parents of middle- and high-school students in low-income and rural areas of Bexar County showed that 80% say instruction on condoms and birth control should be offered in schools, beginning in middle-school grades, alongside abstinence instruction. Only 13% of the parents surveyed supported abstinence-only sex-ed programs.

"What we found is the vast majority of parents really want us to include positive information about contraceptives and condoms," lead author Janet Realini, told the Express-News.

The Texas Education Code requires all state schools make abstinence the core of their sex-education programs, but individual districts are permitted to teach about condoms and birth control if they choose to. Most do not, but San Antonio's three largest school districts are among the few that do provide students with condom information, health officials say. (The Advocate)