We All Want Healthy Young People

We want young people to know their bodies. To recognize when something’s wrong. To understand consent, stop bullies, and build healthy relationships.

That’s what sex ed helps build. Young people who know themselves, respect others, and make safe, healthy decisions.

Most of us know this. We just haven’t been loud enough about it.

A parent sitting with two children, framed in a cloud shape with a hand-drawn question mark

Sex Ed Is About So Much More than Sex.

It’s about knowing your body well enough to speak up at a doctor’s appointment. To recognize when a relationship isn’t healthy. To know what you’re consenting to — and what you’re not. To understand who you are. To spot and stop bullying. To protect yourself online. To think about what’s right for you, not what someone else wants you to believe.

That knowledge doesn’t just protect you once. It’s power. And it stays with you for life.

Over 30 years of research demonstrate that sex education produces benefits well beyond preventing pregnancy and STIs. It also improves youth mental health, helps prevent bullying and violence, and supports young people to navigate new online realities.

Two people embracing, framed in an eight-pointed star shape

So Who’s Working to Make Sure Kids Today Don’t Get It?

A small, well-funded minority is replacing real sex ed with shame-based, medically inaccurate information that serves their backwards agenda – not families, not young people, and not the truth.

They’re organized. Billionaire-backed. And they’re hurting kids in classrooms in your community right now in order to build their own power. But they are not the majority. And that matters.

Americans support sex ed. 90% of parents say that they support sexual health information in schools.

The opposition is loud, but we outnumber them. We’re building the power to win.

For Parents

We All Want Our Kids to Have It Better Than We Did.

You taught your kid to look both ways. You put a helmet on them before they rode a bike. Making sure they learn about their body, consent, and healthy relationships is the same instinct just for a different kind of danger.

Sex ed doesn’t replace what you teach at home. It backs you up. And in a world where social media and algorithms reach your kid so young, they need that backup.

“As a parent, I know that I can’t always be there. That’s why I want my child to have the information and skills she needs to know when something isn’t right and the language to talk to me about it.”

-Callie Simon, Executive Director

For Young People

You Already Know What Bad Sex Ed Costs.

You lived it. In the situations you weren’t prepared for. In the shame that stuck around longer than it should have. In everything you had to piece together from friends, the internet, trial and error. None of it should have been on you.

Right now, kids in your old classrooms are getting the same thing. The same programs. The same silence. The same shame. You’re old enough now to change that. And you’re exactly the right person to do it.

“Nobody planned for the kid who didn’t get real sex ed to grow up and fight to change that. That kid was me and I invite you to join us.”

-Alison Macklin, Director of Public Affairs

What Real Sex Ed Actually Teaches

Bodies & Health

Real sex ed teaches you accurate names for body parts and how your body works and grows. It helps you understand what’s healthy and normal for you and how to protect your health as you grow up. It’s medically accurate, age-appropriate, and answers the questions you’re too embarrassed to ask out loud.

Mental and Emotional Health

Sex ed isn’t just about your body, it’s also about your mind. Covering stress, self-esteem, coping skills, and knowing when and how to ask for help.

Consent & Boundaries

You learn how to ask for what you want, say no to what you don’t, and respect other people’s answers. It’s not just about sex, it applies to hugs, personal space, and everyday interactions too.

Healthy Relationships

What does a good relationship actually look like? This category covers trust, communication, and spotting the difference between healthy and unhealthy patterns in all your relationships: friends, family, and dating.

Identity & Self Understanding

Everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in what they learn. This covers gender, sexual orientation, different kinds of families, and the many ways people grow into understanding who they are.

Goal Setting & Decision-Making

Real sex ed isn’t about telling you what to do. It’s about giving you the tools to set your own goals, make your own choices and stick to them, even under pressure from friends, partners, or media.

Media Literacy and Digital Life

From texting to social media to porn, young people are navigating relationships and bodies online just as much as in person. Young people learn how to think critically about what they see online and how to stay safe.

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