HYATTSVILLE, Md., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- More than 95 percent of U.S. teens got formal sex education, but a much smaller percentage received instruction on birth control methods, health officials say.
Using data from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds 96 percent of females and 97 percent of males received sex education before age 18.
Sixty-two percent of male teens and 70 of females said they received information on birth control.
Ninety-two percent of male and 93 percent of female U.S. teens report being taught about sexually transmitted diseases and 89 percent of male and 88 percent of female teens reported receiving instruction on how to prevent HIV/AIDS, the report says.
Eighty-one percent of male and 87 percent of female teens say they received formal sex education on "how to say no to sex," the report says.
More than two out of three male teens and almost four out of five female teens reported talking with a parent about at least one of six sex education topics including: "How to say no to sex"; methods of birth control; STDs; where to get birth control; how to prevent HIV/AIDS; and how to use a condom.
The report contains data involving face-to-face interviews conducted with 7,356 females, 1,381 of them ages 15-19, and 6,139 males, 1,386 of whom were 15-19.
