On the subject of sex ed, it's not a scientific study, but this article has some interesting statistics, and it's from someone currently in the trenches (so to speak)...

http://www.latinitasmagazine.org/teens/articles.php?article=116

"The fact that America has a problem with teen pregnany doesn't surprise us any more. With 821,810 teens becoming pregnant each year, America has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the Western world. But maybe America should take a look at what makes it different from all other countries that have lower rates of teen pregnancy.

Teenagers in America are not more "child-friendly" than anywhere else, since 95 percent of teen pregnancies are unintended, but why do countries in Europe have such a lower rate? Here in America, one million teens will become pregnant over the next year, and half of these teens will end up on welfare. Can you believe that?

After Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Mississippi (which have 113 to 103 pregnant teens in 1,000), Texas has the fifth highest rate of teen pregnancy with 101 pregnant girls. These are startling facts from Naral Pro-choice, an organization that tries to inform the population about taboo-themes. France only has 20 pregnancies per 1,000 and Germany 16–a significant contrast. Countries in Europe have a rate of teen pregnancies five times lower than that of America...

...let's take a look to other countries' methods. In my home country, Germany, I was taught sex education starting in fifth grade. We learned about the penis, period and puberty. We watched interesting videos with naked men and women in them. In class, boys and girls were giggling and glancing at each other. We also learned how to use a condom, where to get it and that it is a contraceptive that prevents you from STDs.

Sex education is taught in Germany with the official reasoning that it shall inform you about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, intercourse and other aspects of human behavior. Most people in my class already knew how children are conceived, but whether they decided to have sex or not – at least they knew all the ways to protect themselves.

During my sex education class, my teacher also asked us to write topics on a small sheet of paper that we would like to discuss. If these wishes differed a lot from the prescribed schedule, the teacher would just change his plans and teach that. Could this type of education—giving information and answering questions—be a reason for the lower rate?

Another difference is conspicious: In Berlin, the capital of Germany, not only teachers, but the whole city, seems to talk more about contraceptives. There is a campaign that advertises for condoms, hands out postcards, free condoms, and, most of all, shows condom posters on every fifth streetcorner. The slogans are funny and colorful. Also, there are youth-magazines that talk about teen topics and have numbers to call with questions. Advertisements and magazines exist in the U.S., but they address this issue with teens less.

So, is it really sex education that makes the difference? To answer this question with a simple "yes" or "no" is not possible, but the following statistic might back up my opinon. Britain has the hightest teen pregnancy rate in Europe with 65 per thousand. In Britain, sex education is mandatory in secondary schools, but it focuses on fetal development and physical changes while contraception and safe sex are treated discretly. Additionally, parents can withdrawl their child from sex education lessons. England is the only country in Europe where sex education does not cover everything and still is a hot topic. This country has the highest rate of teen pregnancies in Europe. Still, the United States with its abstinence-only sex education program has even higher rates of teen pregnancy.

To me, teenagers should have the chance to know as much as possible about sex to decide whether they want a baby or not. They also might not realize that the government's funding for day care centers at school is insufficient. At my highschool, there are 18 spaces for the whole high school. According to the nurse at my high school, 62 teenagers at the school got pregnant last year. As you can see, the government also does not take responsibility for the consequences of its policies."