Sex Education Will Be Required in All California Public Schools

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill requiring all California public schools to teach sexual education. Currently, schools are permitted to teach sexual education but participation in it is completely voluntary.

Under the new law, students may only be exempt from sexual education courses with parental consent.

“Providing sexual education, including information about STDs and their prevention, through our public schools ensures that the state is reaching millions of young people at a formative stage in their lives when this information can take hold,” said Whitney Engeran-Cordova, Senior Director, Public Health Division for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “This allows them to make wise and informed decisions as they engage in sexual activity when they are older.”

According to data from the Department of Public Health, STDs have dramatically increased in the last five years. Chlamydia has risen by 17percent from 2009 to 2013. Gonorrhea has increased by 63 percent. Primary and secondary syphilis have smaller raw numbers but have grown at the rate of 76 percent.

The president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Michael Weinstein, applauded Gov. Brown’s signing of AB-329. “From the larger public health perspective, inattention to this crucial public health matter also perpetuates this growing epidemic of STDs with increasing costs to society. By signing AB 329, Governor Brown is paving the way for educators and public health professional to intervene with young people before another generation is swept into this epidemic.”