Obama Boosts Funding for 'Evidence-Based' Sex Ed

President Obama has reversed Bush-era policies and shifted federal funding away from abstinence-only sex education programs toward programs that have been proven to reduce teen pregnancy. Abstinence programs will still receive funding, but over $114 million in this year's federal budget will go to "evidence-based" programs, NPR reports.

One set of programs that will be eligible to receive federal funds are based on a model developed by Bronx educator Michael Carrera. Teens in his program were more than 50% less likely to become pregnant than those in other schools. Carrera—who stresses that teaching young people about sex isn't the same thing as giving them permission to have sex—says lessons about sex and relationships should come early and should be linked to programs dealing with the many other issues in young people's lives.
(More Obama administration stories.)