--- title: Sex Education Is Negative, Sexist and Out of Touch: Study description: Hardly anyone is happy with sex education, finds a new study of sex ed and relationship classes around the world canonical: https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-12T22:30:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:09.619Z article:section: Health og:title: Sex Education Is Negative, Sexist and Out of Touch: Study og:description: Hardly anyone is happy with sex education, finds a new study of sex ed and relationship classes around the world og:url: https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c8658efce4c30c0/6988a59bcd1bbacb98702460/condom-banana.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5017 og:image:height: 2822 og:image:alt: "Condom on banana, close-up" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sex Education Is Negative, Sexist and Out of Touch: Study twitter:description: Hardly anyone is happy with sex education, finds a new study of sex ed and relationship classes around the world twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c8658efce4c30c0/6988a59bcd1bbacb98702460/condom-banana.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sex Ed Is Negative, Sexist and Out of Touch: Study > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e67262fd-3e73-48f9-a08a-75a833fff01d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e67262fd-3e73-48f9-a08a-75a833fff01d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=e67262fd-3e73-48f9-a08a-75a833fff01d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e67262fd-3e73-48f9-a08a-75a833fff01d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Millennials Are Having Less Sex Than Their Parents [Watch (HLS stream): Millennials Are Having Less Sex Than Their Parents](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ovGvicW.m3u8) (0:44)  _Published 2016-08-03. More young adults born in the 1980s and 1990s are choosing not to have sex, according to the results of a new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior._  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Sep 12, 2016 10:30 PM UTC  Condom on banana, close-up Condom on banana, close-up Roman Merzinger—Westend61/Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Sep 12, 2016 10:30 PM UTC All of the deep embarrassment you felt during sex-education class is still reddening the faces of kids all over the world. A new study has found that in at least 10 different countries, kids hate the way they’re being taught about sex in school. In the [study](https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/9/e011329.info) published in the journal _BMJ Open_, researchers pored over 55 qualitative studies that examined the views of young people — mostly ages 12 to 18 — who’d received sex-and-relationship education at school in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Iran, Brazil and Sweden between 1990 and 2015. Even across all of those different countries and a 25-year time span, kids’ views were remarkably consistent: sex ed sucks. The problems, researchers found, were numerous. “Everything we got in our class had a really clinical feel,” said one student. ‘They don’t mention anything about same-sex relationships,” said another. A group of students recalled their PE teacher Miss Plum, who was so uncomfortable giving her own presentation that she cried during it. Still, the researchers were able to identify the two biggest issues with sex education. The first: schools don’t acknowledge that sex is a special subject that, unlike a standard English or math class, requires a bit more finesse to teach effectively. “They don’t take into account that sex is a potentially embarrassing and anxiety provoking topic,” writes study author Pandora Pound, a research fellow in public-health research methodology at the University of Bristol in the U.K., in an email to TIME. “The result can be awkward, painful and unsatisfactory for all involved.” The second major problem was that schools seemed to deny that their students were sexually active, which made the information out of touch with reality, irrelevant and overly skewed toward heterosexual intercourse, the researchers say. There was little practical information: telling students about community-health services, for example, what to do if they got pregnant or the pros and cons of different kinds of birth control. Teachers also presented the information as overly scientific, with hardly a nod to pleasure and desire; female pleasure, specifically, was rarely mentioned. But one of the worst parts of sex ed for students was that it was too often delivered by their teachers. “They describe it as ‘cringey’ and embarrassing to have their teachers speaking about sex and relationships,” Pound says. The best way to improve sex education, Pound says, is to relieve embarrassed schoolteachers of their duties by having someone else do the topic justice. “\[It\] needs to be delivered by experts who are sex positive, who enjoy their work and who are in a position to maintain clear boundaries with students,” Pound says. “We need to get the delivery right — otherwise young people will disengage.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/"},"headline":"Sex Ed Is Negative, Sexist and Out of Touch: Study","datePublished":"2016-09-12T22:30:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:09.619Z","description":"Hardly anyone is happy with sex education","url":"https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/","keywords":["Sex","Contraceptives","condoms","sexism","Sex Education","Sex/Relationships"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c8658efce4c30c0/6988a59bcd1bbacb98702460/condom-banana.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c8658efce4c30c0/6988a59bcd1bbacb98702460/condom-banana.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Condom on banana, close-up\"","caption":"\"Condom on banana, close-up\"","creditText":"Roman Merzinger—Westend61/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/","name":"Sex Ed Is Negative, Sexist and Out of Touch: Study"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Millennials Are Having Less Sex Than Their Parents","description":"More young adults born in the 1980s and 1990s are choosing not to have sex, according to the results of a new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6ovGvicW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-08-03T17:06:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6ovGvicW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/","duration":"PT44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4488013/sex-education-sexism-abstinence/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```