Could Sex Education and Information really be Bad for the Adolescent Brain?

The slogans "Knowledge is Power" or "Information is Power" are becoming more popular with computer companies, cell phone sellers, colleges, national movements and in local classrooms.  The premise is that the more education/information you have, the better informed you will be to make the right choices for yourself. You will be a more powerful person in whatever endeavors you choose to pursue.

What boggles my brain is when people what to curtail that power by not supplying the knowledge and education to the people who need it the most.  Adolescents are not adults, thus have less experiences and "life lessons" to use as references.  Their decision making abilities, the balancing of rewards & consequences, and judgments around risks, are based on what they know is true or what they believe. All of these cognitive processes are being fine tuned in the adolescent brain at the same time they are given more responsibilities and independence in life.

In many areas of a teen's life, society agrees that the more information a youth has the better.  For example, alcohol and drug abuse.  DARE programs, special education days, and awareness months are started on the idea that if teens know the dangers of alcohol and drugs they will choose not to start using/abusing them.

Another example is driving.  Driver's education was very basic when I went through the course.  I learned how to turn the car on, push the gas peddle, break in time, use the blinkers, when to merge onto a highway, and parallel park.  Besides the basics, adolescents are now learning additional warnings of driving on today's roads.  They hear more about drinking and driving.  They are told not to text on cell phones, to use "speaker phone" when driving so both hands can be on the wheel, and to keep the music down so it is not a distraction. 

So why is there such a debate over sex education?  Many people acknowledge that there is a rush of hormones during puberty that make adolescents "sexual beings."  They begin to notice the other gender, or maybe the same gender, as sexual interests.  They begin to date with bodies full of sexual feelings and brains that are not fully developed to manage it all.  If people really believe that "knowledge is power" then the more knowledge given to the adolescent brain about all  aspects of sexuality will make them more powerful in their ability to make choices.

Unfortunately the debate over sex ed rages on and it is presently in my "backyard."  A Wisconsin County District Attorney is threatening to charge any health education teacher, who provides sex ed classes already, if they follow the new state law that calls for sex ed classes to adopt a comprehensive curriculum that offers information on abstinence and safe sex practices (i.e. how to put on a condom, using birth control, etc.).  The charge would be "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" - a misdemeanor punishable by 9 months behind bars and a  $10,000 fine.  The District Attorney argues that youth need "all the information they can get about sex to make the best choices", but learning how to use a condom is promoting sex. WHAT?

My rebuttal: how can you say a certain "type" of information helps with the decision making process while a different "type" does not?  A "good choice" or "right decision", especially in developing brains, is based on the PROCESS of making that decision, which includes having ALL the information.