There are not many pregnant teenagers in the Cohasset schools,
but that "does not mean our students are not having sex," Middle
School Vice Principal Dr. Michael Gill said.
Teen pregnancies can be expected to be low in towns like
Cohasset, where high school students "have high hopes and high
expectations for the future. They are more highly motivated to take
precautions," Gill said.
Schools in Massachusetts differ in what they teach students about
sex, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and homosexuality. It is one
of the few subjects that the state Department of Education does not
regulate, so what teens learn depends entirely on where they go to
school.
In Cohasset, sex education, which begins in the sixth grade and
continues through high school, the emphasis is on abstinence.
"Abstinence is promoted first and foremost as the single best
means to prevent pregnancy and unwanted sexually transmitted
infections," said Gill, who oversees health education.
High school students also receive instruction about
contraception.
The Cohasset program also addresses other negative consequences
of early sexual behavior. "We're talking about the feeling of shame,
strong feelings of guilt and being labeled in negative ways," Gill
said.
While time is devoted to discussions about sexually transmitted
disease, Gill said schools seem to be devoting less attention to
AIDS, compared to the 1980s and '90s.
In a 2007 statewide survey of about 3,000 public high school
students, 89 percent reported receiving HIV/AIDS education.
That was down from 93 percent in the previous survey in 2005.
The students were asked about their sexual histories and behavior
as part of a Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
In the 2007 survey, 49 percent of the students said they had
spoken to a parent or other adult relative during the previous year
about sex.
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