We know that parents and educators across Connecticut can agree on the need for comprehensive sex education that gives teens the information, skills, and encouragement that leads to safe and responsible decision-making. In Connecticut, schools are not required to teach sex education.  Currently the state Department of Education does offer a Healthy and Balanced Living Curriculum Framework for schools who want to offer comprehensive health education. Yet funding for comprehensive sex education is not available to school districts.

Research shows that teenagers who receive sex education that includes discussion on contraception are more likely than those who receive abstinence-only messages to delay sexual activity and to use contraceptives and condoms when they do become sexually active. Yet in Connecticut there is no dedicated funding for comprehensive sex education. Young people need access to life-saving information to help them make responsible and healthy decisions. The Healthy Teens Act would help establish a grant program to distribute much needed resources to schools to provide medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education programs and to support programs that train teachers or educate parents on providing sexuality education to their children.

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