Abstract
Like abortion, contraception, and guns, the debate over sex education policy in the United States is divisive and seems intractable. While ample policy research and analysis have focused on the former issues, less attention has been paid to the latter. This study begins to fill this gap through a thematic analysis of sixteen interviews conducted with a range of health policy and sex education experts. The study’s goal is to explore conceptions of US sex education policy—contested issues, evidence use, and the narratives that influence policy formulation—in order to advance the discussion and ultimately improve sex education curricula. The author identified four common themes across these interviews: ultimate objectives, teaching approaches, views on teen sex, and limitations of evidence. These lend important insight into how experts and advocates frame the sex education debate, revealing stark areas of contestation as well as potential common ground. Such insights can inform deliberative inquiry to improve community decision making and guide collaboration among scientists, health professionals, advocates, and policymakers toward collective policy formulation.
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