Should Sex Ed Classes Change for 7th and 8th Graders in North Carolina Public Schools?

On March 11, 2009, the News & Observer reported on a House committee proposal that would enable schools to let parents of 7th and 8th graders choose between letting their children take a comprehensive sex education course, or attending classes that focus on abstinence. The bill still has to travel through another House committee before it goes to a full House vote, then, if it passes in the House, it will go to the Senate.

In 1995, the NC legislature passed a law requiring a focus on abstinence until marriage in NC schools, but the classes also covered information on the effectiveness and failure rates of various forms of birth control. Read the full story here. You can read Wake County's Healthful Living Education policy here. What do you think? Should the policy change to encompass both choices or should the government stay out of this issue? Take our poll on the Triangle TRACKS home page to weigh in.