Editing Human sexuality (section)

=== Sex education ===
The age and manner in which children are informed of issues of sexuality is a matter of sex education. The school systems in almost all developed countries have some form of sex education, but the nature of the issues covered varies widely. In some countries, such as Australia and much of Europe, age-appropriate sex education often begins in pre-school, whereas other countries leave sex education to the pre-teenage and teenage years.<ref>{{cite news|title=Think Sex |publisher=TheAge.com.au |access-date=11 October 2009|url=https://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/think-sex/2006/05/28/1148754861223.html}}</ref> Sex education covers a range of topics, including the physical, mental, and social aspects of sexual behavior. Geographic location also plays a role in society's opinion of the appropriate age for children to learn about sexuality. According to ''TIME'' magazine and CNN,{{full citation needed|date=February 2016}} 74% of teenagers in the United States reported that their major sources of sexual information were their peers and the media, compared to 10% who named their parents or a sex education course.<ref name="ReferenceA" />{{page needed|date=February 2016}}

In the United States, most sex education programs encourage [[Abstinence-only sex education|abstinence]], the choice to restrain oneself from sexual activity. In contrast, [[comprehensive sex education]] aims to encourage students to take charge of their own sexuality and know how to have safe, healthy, and pleasurable sex if and when they choose to do so.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/report_downloads/demystifying-data-handouts_0.pdf|title=A Definition of Comprehensive Sexuality Education|last=Panchaud|first=Christine|date=2016|website=Guttmacher Institute}}</ref>

Proponents for an abstinence-only education believe that teaching a comprehensive curriculum would encourage teenagers to have sex, while proponents for comprehensive sex education argue that many teenagers will have sex regardless and should be equipped with knowledge of how to have sex responsibly. According to data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, many teens who intend to be abstinent fail to do so, and when these teenagers do have sex, many do not use safe sex practices such as contraceptives.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bearman|first=Peter|date=2001|title=Promising the Future: Virginity Pledges and First Intercourse|journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=106|issue=4|pages=859–912|doi=10.1086/320295|s2cid=142684938|url=https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8ZG73VN/download}}</ref>