Are the Kids Alright? An Analysis of Sex Education, the Sexual Behaviors of Minors and Age of Consent Laws in the United States

This paper explores the sexual development of children, the sexual education they receive, as well as the history of sex laws in the United States, to determine whether the laws regarding education and age of consent adequately protect children. A qualitative survey is also conducted with undergraduate students at the University of South Carolina to determine what topics were discussed in their sexual education curriculum, as well as their sexual behaviors as a minor. While the push for comprehensive sexual education models has been growing, millions of dollars are still being allocated to promote Abstinence Only Until Marriage programs, which have been shown to be ineffective. Sexual behavior occurs in humans from birth, with earlier pubertal age being a risk factor in participating in riskier sexual activities and relationships due to the pre-frontal cortex and ventral striatum being more underdeveloped (Hyde & DeLamater, 2024). In the United States, the federal age of consent is sixteen, while individual states have set the age of consent between sixteen and eighteen. Thirty-seven states have outlined age-gap provisions allowing a person who has not reached the age of consent to engage in consensual sex with someone within a certain number of years older, so long as the younger party has reached a minimum age. The survey shows that of the 355 participants, most of the University of South Carolina students’ first sexual encounters adhered to the state laws; however, inconsistencies in what counted as sexual behaviors and what topics were discussed during their sexual education brings to light the weaknesses in sexual education curriculum.