Sexual content has long been a target for censors in the United States. Its controversial nature is highlighted in the debate over sexuality education in public schools. Opponents argue not only with the substance of such courses, but the right of the state to provide instruction on sexuality at all. Some consider the topic so freighted with religious and moral overtones, that they consider it inappropriate for the public schools to provide any information other than basic biology.

The abstinence-only movement began in 1981, when Congress passed the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA), which funded charitable and religious organizations to promote “chastity education” to young people. It was in 1996, however, that the movement began to gain greater support from government and public institutions. That year, Congress established a federal program to exclusively fund abstinence-only education programs. In 2005 alone, Congress devoted approximately $170 million to abstinence-only education.

The exclusive purpose of abstinence-only education, as stipulated by federal law, is to teach “that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual acitivity” and “that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.”

The result of this focus on abstinence-until-marriage usually means that materials about contraception, STDs and safer sex practices go unmentioned - sometimes as far as being razored out of textbooks or being given minor treatment in sex ed classes. Lessons on sexual orientation are taught only in the context of HIV/AIDS infections. Abortion is presented as morally wrong. And teachers are warned against talking about certain topics and sometimes disciplined or threatened with lawsuits for speaking frankly about sexual matters.

For a collection of materials on censorship of sex education, visit NCAC's project on Sex and Censorship.

» July 30, 2008 - In Southern States Still Receiving "Title V" Abstinence-Only Education Funding, Statistics are Startling In states like Kentucky, who still receive funds for abstinence-only education, the birth rate is an alarming 20% higher than the nation's average, and HIV affects and overwhelming amount of individuals.

» July 30, 2008 - In Utah, A Correlation Between Increasing Rates of STD's and Lack of Information Planned Parenthood of Utah is beginning a campaign for comprehensive sex-education in Utah schools, after teen pregnancy rates rose and Gonorrhea infections almost doubled since the year 2000. This is due in part to students recieving abstinence-only education, which the executive director of Planned Parenthood claims is similar to recieving no education at all.

» June 19, 2008- ACLU's Caroline Fredrickson States Not Only Health, But Also Economic Reasons to End Abstinence-Only Education It is well-known that abstinence-only education is damaging to a teen's health and can be a way of promoting religion in classrooms. But, Caroline Frederickson points out that in a time when the US economy is tight, abstinence-only education is also just another waste of tax dollars.

» June 17, 2008- Stanford University Student Reflects on Her Failed Abstinence-Only High School Education Kelley Winn, who went to a high school teaching abstinence-only education may have recieved an education on the ethics of sex, but what her education lacked was a biological and psychological examination of sex, as well. She left high school uneducated and unprepared, and blames abstinence-only education for this.

» June 17, 2008- Schools Required to Teach Medically Accurate Sex Education Classes Washington state took a hard look at the facts and figures about teen sexuality in an abstinence-only education state - including the fact that 1 in 4 girls has one or more STD's - and passed the Healthy Youth Act, which requires that schools now teach not only about absintence, but also comprehensive sex education that is medically accurate and deals with contraceptives.

» June 15, 2008- Is Abstinence-Only Education REALLY Working in Massachusetts? Lowell and Lawrence schools in Massachusetts have stuck with abstinence-only education programs in their schools. However, Lowell had the 9th highest, and Lawrence the 3rd highest teen pregnancy rates in the state of Boston, rasing the question - how successful are these programs?

» June 1, 2008- NAEA Begins Misleading "Parents for Truth" Campaign The National Abstinence Education Association is beginning a campaign in which it hopes to recruit 1 million parents nationwide to defent schools against comprehensive sex education classes, which it claims mislead parents and students.

» June 1, 2008- Comprehensive Sex Education Credited for Decline in Abortion, Pregnancy Better sex education, teaching youth how to use contraceptives and other preventive methods has been credited with the decline of abortions in teens between 1990 and 2004. The abortion rate decreased 24% in this time period, with no rise in the live birth rate.

» May 18, 2008 - Joycelyn Elders, Former Surgeon General, Discusses Abstinence-Only Education Comparing abstinence-only education to child abuse, Joycelyn Elders says teenagers need comprehensive sex education in order to make the right decisions, slow the spread of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and combat ignorance.

» February 7, 2008 - "Safe Sex or No Sex" Leads to Student Suspensions At a school teaching abstinence-only education in Illinois, two students, age 14 and 15, were suspended after wearing shirts that depicted condom wrappers and said "Safe Sex or No Sex." School officials deemed the shirts inappropriate.

Read an author's comments on the suspension here.

» May 30, 2008- Teacher Under Investigation for Answering Student Questions in Health Class A teacher was put on paid administrative leave while the school district investigated what was discussed in a health class. Parents have complained that she answered student questions about homosexuality, oral sex and masturbation. Read NCAC's letter to the Principal and Superintendent.

» February 8, 2007 - Global Democracy Protection Act This legislation would roll back the "Global Gag Rule," which requires foreign aid organizations to withhold reproductive health information from those they assist abroad. The current policy stifles free speech and prevents medical professionals from offering the full range of legal, medically acceptable options to women.

» July 12, 2005 - Parent Asks Fayetteville Schools to Purge Libraries of All "Vile and Gratuitous" Materials A parent in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who succeeded in getting the school to ban three sex ed books from school libraries, then asked the school to conduct a district-wide audit to purge the libraries of all materials that contain "vile and gratuitous sexual premises." The parent claimed that she found 70 such books after conducting her own audit.

» February 28, 2005 - Florida H.S. Prinicpal Confiscates Copies of School Newspaper The principal of Wellington H.S. in Wellington, FL confiscated copies of the school newspaper over an article about sex, claiming the she was doing "what was best for the student body."

Fall 2004
Sex Ed Books Under Consideration in Texas Missing Major Gaps
Of the four sex ed textbooks under consideration by the Texas Board of Education, only one acknowledges condoms and none discusses other contraceptives. In one book, students are advised to get plenty of rest so they can make good decisions, to prevent sexually-transmitted diseases. The publishers claim that the teachers' supplements will fill in the gaps. Groups on both sides of the issue have been trying to affect the outcome, which will have a major impact on textbooks used nationwide. Texas is one of the largest purchasers of textbooks in the country and publishers find it extravagant to publish multiple versions, so, as Texas goes, there goes the nation.

June 29, 2004 - John Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union The U.S. Supreme Court found that the Child Online Protection Act ("COPA") was a constitutionally invalid content-based restriction.
Related: » NCAC Amici Curiae Brief in Support of Respondents » NCAC Press Release on Case

» August 9, 2002 - Public Library in Iowa Bans Book for Teens Board members of a public library in Dyersville, Iowa voted to keep Sari Says, by Sari Locker, off its shelves, citing it as inappropriate material for their library. The book provides teens with advice on a variety of subjects, and one chapter deals with sex.
Related:» NCAC Letter to Dysersville Paper About Removal of Sari Says » NCAC Letter to Dyersville Public Library About Removal of Sari Says »Banned Books Event Attracts Readers and Writers
Author Sari Locker joined NCAC at its booth in New York City at New York Is Book Country on September 29, 2002 signing her recent book, Sari Says: The Real Dirt on Everything from Sex to Schools.

» March 1, 2001 - Pennsylvania Lawmakers Seek to Punish Penn State for Sex Ed Student Event Pennslvania lawmakers expressed disapproval of "Sex Faire," a student-organized event at Penn State that educates students on various sexual issues including health concerns, date rape and sexual consent.

» Winter 1998 - President Clinton Vetoed Bill That Would Deny U.S. Funds to Foreign Organizations that Advocate Abortion President Clinton vetoed the Foreign Affairs Reform bill that would have paid our back dues to the United Nations. The bill would deny U.S. family planning funds to foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform abortions, or lobby either pro or con about abortion, restrictions on speech that would never be tolerated in our own country, as NCAC pointed out.

» Winter 1998 - Court Bars Internet Filters in Loudon County Library Public libraries in Loudoun County, Virginia, may not block sexually explicit material on the Internet, ruled a federal district judge in a decision that is expected to influence library policies elsewhere (Mainstream Loudoun v. Board of Trustees).

Summer 1998
Sex-related Words Banned From Use in New York City School DIstrict Abortion, contraception, homosexuality and masturbation are words that aren't discussed in New York City's Community School District 24. The Board adopted a policy in 1987 to delete those words from curriculum materials. "Ask your parents," is District 24's pedagogical response to kids' questions. Now a Board member says the policy is too lenient and wants to ban all mention of those subjects anywhere on school grounds.

» Summer 1998 - Congress Aims to Delete "Abortion" From Literature of U.S.-funded International Groups Congress wants to bleet out the A-word from any international group that receives U.S. family planning funds. The legislation, HR 1757--also known as the Global Gag Rule--has passed both houses of Congress and now requires the President's action.

» February 13, 1998 - Magazines Banned from Long Island Middle School Library for Containing Sex Ed Info Three magazines were removed from the Hauppauge Middle School Library upon the urging of a local religious figure who urged parishioners to object to the publications because they contain "information that goes against what we believe is the truth about sex as Catholic Christians."
Related: » NCAC's Letter to Hauppauge School Superintendent » Teen Magazines Too Racy?

Winter 1997
North Carolina School Board Orders Sex Ed Chapters Sliced Out of Health Textbook
The school board in Franklin County, North Carolina ordered three chapters sliced out of its ninth-grade health textbook, Making Life Choices: Health Skills and Concepts. The exorcized chapters deal with AIDS, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases; pairing, marriage and parenting; and sexual behavior and contraception. "Shades of 1936, Germany," high school principal Wayne Wilbourne reportedly said when the bowdlerized books were returned to the students.

» Government Financing of Abstinence-Only Education Recently, the Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4122. If passed into law, H.R. 4122 would extend federal and matching state financing for abstinence-only education for another five years.

» Surgeon General's Report Recommends Comprehensive Sex Ed The NCAC applauded the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on sexual health and behavior that called for comprehensive sexuality education to begin early in life.

» Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Word The Executive Coordinator of Network for Family Life Education writes on the strange campagin afoot to remove the S-word from our lexicon.

» Abstinence-Only: Short on Facts, Long on Fancy Students enrolled in federally-funded abstinence-only sex education programs are misinformed about science, deprived of vital health information, and exposed to gender stereotypes and religious dogma, according to a Congressional study commissioned by California Representative Henry A. Waxman.

» Sex and Censorship: Dangers to Minors and Others? A review of the Sex and Censorship seminar sponsored by the NCAC in June 1998.

» Opposition to Censored Sex-Ed Grows A Human Rights Watch study of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Texas documents the risks to young people from withholding life-saving HIV prevention information.

» NCAC Reviews Recent Youth Censorship Books A book review on Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children From Sex by Judith Levine and The First Amendment and Civil Liability by Robert M. O'Neil.
Related: » NCAC Letter to University of Minnesota President About Harmful to Minors » NCAC Responds to Critics of Harmful to Minors

» Anti-Censorship Sex Ed Campaign Taking Off NCAC's campaign against censorship in sexuality education is picking up steam and support. The campaign is intended to inform educators, legislators and public policy-makers about the threat to important First Amendment principles from publicly-funded "abstinence-only" public school programs.

» Abstinence-only is Censorship In 1996, with little discussion, a provision was added to a popular welfare reform law that established a federal entitlement program for abstinence-only-until-marriage sexuality education.

» Abstinence-only Education: Why First Amendment Supporters Should Oppose It An NCAC statement paper on abstinence-only education.
Related: » Abstinence-only Press Kit

» Sex and the Censors A review of sex-censorship cases.

» Joint Statement Opposing Government Censorship of Sex Ed The NCAC and 34 other free speech groups released this statement regarding its public education campaign to oppose the Coingressional re-authorization of federal funding for abstinence-only education.

» A Brief NCAC Statement Championing For Comprehensive Sex Ed Joan E. Bertin boils down the arguments for why abstinence-only sex education doesn't cut it.