The Healthy Teens Connecticut coalition is working to ensure that Connecticut's youth have access to medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education providing them with the necessary skills to make safe and responsible choices surrounding their sexual health.

In a poll conducted by Lake Research (March 2008), Connecticut voters express a significant level of urgency around providing comprehensive sex education in public schools. They strongly prefer that sex education be comprehensive, age appropriate and medically accurate and they largely reject abstinence-only programs. This sentiment crosses partisan lines and pro-choice and anti-choice voters alike express a preference for medically accurate sex education.

Did you know?

• Few Connecticut students get comprehensive, age-appropriate, medically accurate information about sexual health before they become sexually active.
• Connecticut has no designated funding stream for comprehensive sexuality education in schools.
• 70% (7,665) of reported Chlamydia cases in CT in 2006 were among young people aged 10-24. Left untreated, Chlamydia is a major contributor to infertility later in life. 55% (1,463) of reported Gonorrhea cases in CT in 2006 were among young people aged 10-24.[1]
• The CT Department of Public Health reported the state teen birth rate as 6.9% in 2004. However, the rate is significantly higher in Hartford (20%), New Britain (16%), Windham (15.4%), New London (14%), New Haven (13.6%), Killingly (13.6%), Bridgeport (13.2%), Norwich (12.5%), and Putnam (9.9%).
• Teens and young adults under the age of 25 continue to be at risk for HIV and most young people are infected through unprotected sex.[2] African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV infection, accounting for 55% of all HIV infections reported among persons aged 13-24.[3] The lifetime per person HIV care cost is now $618,900.[4]
• Research has shown that comprehensive sexuality education programs result in consistent condom use among teenagers who are sexually active.[5,6,7] This is particularly important considering 64% of sexually active teenagers in CT didn't use condoms the last time they had sex.[8]
  

The Healthy Teens Act introduced in the 2008 session would have helped ensure that Connecticut's young people have access to comprehensive, age-appropriate, medically accurate information. The legislation introduced stated the Department of Education will offer incentive grants to interested schools who want to do a better job in delivering comprehensive, medically accurate sexuality education to teenagers, teachers, or parent/guardian training programs. The purpose of these grants will be to support programs that provide age appropriate sex education to students and to support programs that train teachers or educate parents on providing sexuality education to their children.

What is comprehensive sex education?

Comprehensive sex education is responsible and balanced sexuality education that seeks to assist young people in understanding a positive view of sexuality, provide them with information and skills about caring for their sexual health, and help them acquire skills to make decisions now and in the future. It is medically accurate and provides information about abstinence and contraceptives as tools to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).