Editing Teenage pregnancy (section)

===Education===
The Dutch approach to preventing teenage pregnancy has often been seen as a model by other countries. The curriculum focuses on values, attitudes, communication and negotiation skills, as well as biological aspects of reproduction. The media has encouraged open dialogue and the health-care system guarantees confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach.<ref name=dutchmodel>{{cite journal|author=Valk, Guus|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001201/120152e.pdf|title= The Dutch Model|journal=The UNESCO Courier|volume=53|issue=7|page=19|date=July 2000|access-date= 3 July 2011}}</ref>

In the United States 2016, 39 states and the District of Columbia out of the 50 states required some form of sex education of HIV education.<ref name="Sex and HIV Education">{{Cite web|date=14 March 2016|title=Sex and HIV Education|url=https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education|access-date=21 October 2020|website=Guttmacher Institute|language=en}}</ref> Out of these 39 states and the District of Columbia, 17 states require that the sexual education provided be medically accurate, and 3 states prohibit a program from promoting sexual education in a religious way. These three states include California, Colorado, and Louisiana. 19 of those 39 states stress the importance of only having sex when in a committed marriage.<ref name="Sex and HIV Education"/>

From this data, 11 states currently have no requirement for sexual education for any years of schooling, meaning these 11 states may have no sexual education at all. This could mean these states are allowed to teach sexual education in any way they would like, including in medically inaccurate ways. This point is also valid for those 22 states that do not require sexual education to be medically accurate. Comprehensive sexual education has been proven to work to reduce the risk of teen pregnancies.<ref name="Sexuality Education">{{Cite web|title=Sexuality Education|url=https://advocatesforyouth.org/resources/fact-sheets/sexuality-education-2/|access-date=21 October 2020|website=Advocates for Youth|language=en}}</ref>

Without a nationwide mandate for medically accurate programs, teenagers in the United States are at risk for missing out on valuable information that can protect them. It is unfair to expect teenagers to make educated decisions about sex that can lead to teen pregnancy when they have never been properly educated about the issue. A program developed by experts in public health and sexual education titled ''National Sexuality Education Standards,'' is a valuable resource that describes what the minimum requirements of sexual education should be across the nation.<ref name="Sexuality Education"/> Giving teenagers the tools that are outlined in that roadmap would have positive effects, as it gives teenagers the resources to make educated decisions. Currently, there is not a national implementation of this program in the United States.

Teen pregnancy can be reduced by sex education, as a 2022 study in 55 US [[County (United States)|counties]] showed. The study used federal funded sex education programs as a proxy for sex education, but provided no details about funding levels, the number of students reached, or the amount of time spent on sex education. The reduction of teenage births, not pregnancy, was significant, with a 3% reduction, indicating that an increase in funding, education, or reach could decrease teenage pregnancy even further.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mark|first1=Nicholas D. E.|last2=Wu|first2=Lawrence L.|date=22 February 2022|title=More comprehensive sex education reduced teen births: Quasi-experimental evidence|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=119|issue=8|pages=e2113144119|doi=10.1073/pnas.2113144119|doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424|pmid=35165192|pmc=8872707|bibcode=2022PNAS..11913144M }}</ref> Although 3% sounds like a small number, given a teenage girl population of 10 million females aged 15–19 in 2020,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=U.S. population by age and gender 2019|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/241488/population-of-the-us-by-sex-and-age/|access-date=22 February 2022|website=Statista|language=en}}</ref> and ~190,000 teenage births per year, a 3% reduction would translate to about 6,000 prevented teenage births per year when extrapolated to the whole nation.