Regardless of sex education programs in schools adolescents are becoming sexually active at an earlier age, and teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases have become a widespread problem. Some experts question the effectiveness of sexual education while others believe it needs to become more comprehensive. This paper attempts to answer the question why has sex education failed the children of the US?
             Sex education was first launched into schools in the 1960's by pioneer activist and researcher Dr Mary Calderone who founded the organization Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). As the "sexual revolution" intensified in the mid 1960's, Calderone found her organization much in demand. Parents and school administrators appealed to sex educators to help them turn the "rising tide of teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and general promiscuity" (Moran, 2000). SIECUS coordinated and contributed to "hundreds of programs nationwide, prompting Time Magazine to refer to Calderone, then in her 60's, as the grandmother of sex education" (Moran, 2000).
             There is no denying that kids need the right information to help protect themselves. However, despite Calderone's 1960's launch of sex education programs and the continued growth of these sex education programs in schools today the US has more than double the teenage pregnancy rate of any western industrialized country. More than a million teenagers become pregnant each year in the United States (Wetzstein, 1994). Teenagers have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) of any age group, with one in four sexually active young people contracting an STD by graduation (Wetzstein, 1994). Knowing these statistics it becomes obvious that something more needs to be done to protect and educate children about these realities. Asking the question, why has sex education failed ...