Evie Blad, a former Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter now at Education Week, blogs about a new study by the Centers for Disease Control on a variety of health topics related to schools, including sex education. Her summary:
More than half of high schools in 44 states surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teach all 16 topics recommended by the agency as “essential components of sexual health education,” it reported Wednesday. And only about a fifth of middle schools in those states teach all 16 topics, the agency said.
In other words, all students aren’t getting all the pertinent sex education they need, often in states that nominally require it by law.
I took a gander at the full report, with state-by-state reports. A quick glance indicates mixed results in Arkansas. Better, actually, in some respects than I might have expected.
It’s not all about sex. Topics include physical activity. A small percentage of Arkansas schools offer physical activity outside of interscholastic sports, for example.