stinence-only advocates contend that they want to send kids into the world with strong characters and good values. Despite arguments by such groups that they seek to teach a "core" set of ethical values, the nature of the values that are stressed betrays a cramped pluralism. These right-wing radicals are a loud minority-not the average person. Studies show that the majority of parents do not want abstinence-only education for their children. The average parent wants comprehensive sex ed for their children. Steve Rabin of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation made some significant Trinchieri 8findings in the Foundation's latest sex ed opinion poll, "84% of parents want sex-ed classes to teach kids how to get and use birth control," and "Four out of five parents want teachers to discuss abortion with their kids, and three out of four want them to discuss sexual orientation" (Parents). Sexuality education needs to be changed to fit the desires and needs of society for a comprehensive sexuality education.For more than a century, public schools have had a limited approach to sexuality education. At best, instruction has been restricted to lessons about sexual anatomy, reproductive physiology, and sexually transmitted diseases. Comprehensive sexuality education, addressing health, development, desire, alternative sexualities, and relationships, is "conspicuously absent in more than 90 percent of schools nationwide" (Elia). Traditional topics such as sexual health, human development, and abstinence are discussed, but not exclusively. This approach more accurately reflects the complexity of sexuality. As Debra W. Haffner, M.P.H., President of The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) states, "SIECUS supports abstinence education. But SIECUS does not support teaching young people only about abstinence" (McIlhaney). In this realistic approach to helping young people come to understand sexuality,...
