In Maryland, local school boards are required to work with the country health department to establish a health education program with specific goals. In the area of sex education, these goals include:

•  Helping students develop and use skills for making responsible decisions about sex. Students are taught how having sex can affect their lives and others;

• Giving students the information to develop and use skills for making responsible decisions about preventing pregnancy;

• Teaching students about a variety of family structures and roles of family members, male and female roles in American society, sexual orientation, birth control, and family planning.

General health education classes must be taught in kindergarten through twelfth grade in mixed gender groups; reproductive health classes begin between the ages 10 and12. An elective sex education course, designed with the input of an appointed committee that "broadly represents the views of the community,” is offered in middle and high schools. That course must cover a number of topics, including birth control, family planning, and sexually transmitted infections.

Parents or guardians may remove their children from any or all sex education classes, and the sex education courses offered in middle and high schools require parental permission for participation.

Does a program like the one Maryland uses work?