For today’s teens, it can be a dangerous world. Popular culture can give them the wrong facts and influences. And not all families have open, healthy communication about sex. If a teen feels that he or she can’t talk to a parent, we all want there to be a trusted adult to turn to for accurate information about how to prevent unintended pregnancy and disease.

Many Florida schools are failing to teach our young people how to protect themselves. Without the facts, teens are at risk of pregnancy and diseases that threaten their health, which puts their education and futures at risk. With comprehensive sex education, even if a teen chooses not to wait, he or she will still know how to be safe. Click here [1] to learn about how you can show your support for medically-accurate, comprehensive sex education.

Unfortunately, Florida currently has no statewide standards for teaching sex education. We know that too many Florida schools don't give students the facts they need and teachers are not receiving adequate training to teach sex ed effectively. It's hard to think about the risks that your kids face, but it's a reality.

• In Florida, AIDS-related illnesses are the 9^th leading cause of death for teens and teens report 31% of all newly acquired cases of sexually transmitted infections.
• Florida has the 2nd highest AIDS case rate in the country, with 4,960 new AIDS cases in 2005 and 100,809 cases overall.
• Florida has the 6th highest syphilis rate of any state, with 724 reported cases in 2005. Florida has the 6^th highest teen pregnancy rate and each year 48,440 teens get pregnant.
• In 2005, 12% of female high school students and 21% of male high school students in Florida reported having had four or more lifetime sexual partners.

Parents and teachers, working together, know best how to teach the difficult subjects of sex and life skills. But too many schools cater to a narrow minority by allowing abstinence-only sex education to censor teachers and exclude parents’ input. Our youth need comprehensive sex education that is age-appropriate, including the facts that help protect them from diseases that threaten their health.

The Healthy Teens Coalition is working hard to bring regulated comprehensive sex education to Florida public schools. We're working with parents and teachers across the state to make sure that schools give kids the information they need to make smart decisions and to stay healthy. Our youth's futures depend on it.

For information about talking to your child or teen about sex, click here [2].