Originally Posted by me_punctured

Investing more in sex education programs does not necessarily mean that they will be effective in educating young teenagers about sex. There's also the burden on the schools of assuming responsibility for educating their students about sex. Where is the parental involvement? And to what extent should the parents participate in their children's sex education?

And this is the U.S. 21st century. Children who are still in elementary school are more than likely to know about sex. Why? Sex is everywhere, it penetrates the media more than it did a decade ago: advertisements, t.v., movies, you name it. Starting a sex education program in eighth grade will undoubtedly provoke laughter and ridicule from the adolescents.

I'd be careful about addressing the specific issues of low-income young women. There may be an element of truth about the lack of awareness about STDs in this particular group classified as "high-risk", but you need to back up this assumption with solid evidence. I'd be more concerned about the accessibility of birth control methods, though.