Though federal and states governments have invested heavily in abstinence-only education, these programs contain false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health. Many of the curricula misrepresent the effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, blur religion and science, and treat gender stereotypes as scientific fact. In this episode, we list a few examples, delve into our own experiences both receiving and teaching sex education, and discuss how abstinence-only education feeds into everyday lives by shaping harmful perceptions about gender roles, sexual orientation, safe sex, and more.

Links: The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence Only Education Programs(http://spot.colorado.edu/~tooley/HenryWaxman.pdf) "People Are Still Having Sex" video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ImRyPymRAM) "Billy's Dad is a Fudge-Packer" video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh9amMeiRYQ) Advocates for Youth (http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/) Bedsider (https://www.bedsider.org/) Planned Parenthood: Learn (https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn)