Two years ago, a staggering 90% of Americans aged 18 to 44 said their sex education had failed them, leaving them unprepared for real-life experiences.

Now, in Alabama, a clash over access to sex education books in libraries is reigniting a broader cultural and political debate over how, and whether, teens should learn about sex at all.

With young people turning to media – books and the internet – to fill the gaps left by inadequate sex ed, advocates say libraries provide a crucial lifeline. And it’s at a time when the state is dealing with high teen birth rates and incidences of sexually transmitted diseases.

A fierce debate is unfolding over whether titles like Doing It! Let’s Talk About Sex — a frank, teen-oriented sex guide — should be restricted to adult-only library sections and effectively out of reach for the teens it was written for.

“Book bans and sex education are very connected in my mind,” said Christian Clark Okarmus, executive director of the Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health.

Alabama state library officials say there is no intention to ban sex education books from libraries. Still, they remain adamant that children should be protected from books they believe normalize sexual behaviors at young ages.

The issue flared up in Fairhope earlier this month and is expected to take center stage again at a July 18 meeting of the Alabama Public Library Services board. At stake is whether libraries will lose state funding for refusing to relocate books, including sex education titles, flagged by conservative groups like Moms for Liberty.

“The APLS board believes these sensitive topics should be addressed with care that parents, not government institutions or advocacy groups, should guide those conversations based on their child’s age and maturity,” said John Wahl, chairman of the APLS board who is also chairman of the Alabama State Republican Party.

The controversy also comes just weeks after a heated showdown in the Alabama Senate over a proposed abstinence-only sex education policy.

Further, the debate arises as advocates for improving sex education continue to cite longstanding public health struggles in Alabama in the form of high rates for sexually transmitted infections. Alabama’s STI rate for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis has long been higher than the national averages.

Alabama has the eighth-highest teenage birth rate trailing only seven other Southern states including neighboring Mississippi and Tennessee.

Experts say that sex education is one of the most important ways to prevent a STI and unintended pregnancies. Of the 15 states with the lowest teenage birth rates, 10 mandate sex education as part of a school’s curriculum.

Educational books

Library officials defending Doing It! say the 2018 book by YouTuber and author Hannah Witton contains no obscene content, but only straight answers to questions teens are already asking.

Amy Minton, an APLS board member, said the book and likely other sex education novels like it, are “sexually explicit” in the eyes of Alabama law.

A new code, adopted by the APLS last year, prevents a book with any references to sex within sections of a library accessible to youths under age 18.

“There is definitely not an exception for sex education in the APLS policies,” Minton said.

Minton emphasized that, “we want every family in Alabama to feel welcome in our public libraries. Parents who want their children to have broader access to materials have that ability, but at the same time, parents who do not want their children exposed to sexually explicit content should have confidence that their child will not accidentally stumble across inappropriate books in our youth sections.”

Okarmus said the few adults who are aiming to make decisions “for everyone’s children,” on topics like sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and anything else related to sex, are missing realities of teenage development and lifestyles.

“After 14 years in sex education, I can tell you that young people don’t need protection from these conversations,” she said. “They are already thinking about these topics and discussing them with their peers. And they’re looking to their peers and the internet to answer their questions because the adults in their lives are too afraid to speak about it.”

Polling shows a troubling reality of where teenagers are going online to learn more about sex. A 2023 report titled, “Teens and Pornography,” found that nearly half of teen respondents from ages 13 to 17 said that online pornography gives them “helpful” information about sex.

A recent Boston University survey showed that about a quarter of young adults are getting information about sex from porn sites.

“We all know that information from peers and the internet may or may not be accurate, and can certainly be harmful, especially with the prevalence of young people accessing porn online,” Okarmus said. “As a parent, I would much prefer for my child to read about something in a book, and hopefully I’ve created an environment where we can speak about it, or where they can speak with another trusted adult.”

Reshelving books

Angie Hayden, co-founder of Read Freely Alabama, said a book like “Doing It” should be shelved in age-appropriate sections within a library, for ages 13-17.

“It’s meant to be informative and not explicit or titillating in any way,” she said, adding that her organization has concerns the APLS board wants to deny sex education material to any teenager in Alabama.

However, Minton and Wahl have said that their intent is not to ban the books from Alabama libraries. They want the titles that include any references to sex to be reshelved in adult sections and have said there are ways youths can still access the books if they receive permission from a parent or guardian.

Libraries in Alabama allow all-access library cards, which if approved by a parent, gives a minor access to any section of a library. The cards can be applied for and received at their local library.

“They remain available in adult sections, and children can still access them with parental consent,” Wahl said. “This policy ensures that families who want broader access to sex education materials have that ability, while also protecting the rights of families who do not want their children exposed to such content without their knowledge.”

Hayden said she is perplexed by the APLS board’s stance. She said there appears to be no reason for local library boards to conduct reviews of book challenges if the state already has a preconceived view over what constitutes “sexually explicit.”

“It’s the vagueness that is intentional,” Hayden said. “It’s meant to create a sense of fear in our public library directors because their funding is very much on the line including in Fairhope.”

Disease, pregnancies

She also notes there are complications and inconsistencies between Alabama law and what the APLS is doing. For one, she notes the age for legal consent for sex in Alabama is 16, and so is the age to marry.

Alabama’s STI rates rank among the five highest in the nation for syphilis and chlamydia, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state is among the 10 worst for gonorrhea infections.

“We’d like to know why they want to deny this where pregnancy and (STI) rates are in the top 5 of the country,” Hayden said, referring to the APLS board and sex education books within teen sections. “If they apply the definition of sexually explicit, it would in fact mean no sex materials for anyone under age 18.”

She added, “Keep in mind, the age of consent is 16. It’s where teenagers are expected to give birth but are not allowed to read about sex education our public libraries.”

Wahl admits that on the broader question about public health and sex education, “there’s no doubt that Alabama faces serious challenges.”

“That only makes it more critical to thoughtfully consider what our children are being exposed to, especially in public spaces like libraries,” he said. “One of the primary goals of the APLS code changes was to protect children from early sexualization, something that is becoming increasingly common in youth media and literature. Children should be allowed to develop emotionally, mentally and physically without being exposed to graphic or adult content before they are ready. Books that promote or normalize sexual behavior at a young age can cause serious harm.”

Legislative battle

The focus on a sex education book also comes at a time that the topic is being discussed in the halls of power in Montgomery.

One of the fiercest debates on the Alabama Senate floor this session involved legislation sponsored by Republican Sen. Shay Shelnutt that mandated Alabama schools teach “sexual risk avoidance.”

The legislation mirrored a social conservative push in other states to push for an abstinence-only education and away from the comprehensive sex education model that researchers credit as a better approach toward driving down disease rates, unwanted pregnancies, bullying and more.

The legislation died in the Senate after a lengthy debate in late April. Shelnutt, during the debate, said that students who didn’t want to be taught sexual risk avoidance could opt out, and have their parents teach them “the crazy stuff.”

The debate featured similarities to the current library content issue, with Shelnutt arguing in favor of an opt out clauses for parents who sought a different approach toward sex education.

Opponents, meanwhile, argued that the legislation prevents sex education altogether, which is something that not all parents in Alabama support.

Alabama’s sex education has not scored well by researchers for years. In 2020, a report from Human Rights Watch found that the state’s schools were failing to educate young people about their sexual and reproductive health, citing standards that were not inclusive of LGBTQ youth along with the focus on abstinence-only education.

However, Alabama is far from the worst in the South.

The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) gave Alabama a C- for its sex education grade, including a D+ for its sex content grade. That score is higher than some neighboring states like Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas – all of which received an F.

Alabama’s score likely avoided a lower score thanks to the approval of HB385 in 2021, which requires sex education instruction, if it occurs within a school district, to be medically accurate.

The state, since 1987, also requires AIDS education in health classes, starting in the fifth grade. Further instruction about reproductive health and the risks of sexual activity is required in middle and high schools, but local districts can come up with their own sex ed policies as long as they meet basic requirements.

Some school systems like Shelby County Public Schools, do not have a policy but follow state standards in their approach with sex education. In Tuscaloosa County, fifth and sixth grade students learn from a Weekly Report product covering the basics of the immune system, viruses, how HIV is and isn’t spread, and the global impact of the virus.

“Unfortunately, because sex education is not mandated and not tracked by ALSDE, it’s hard to know what’s being taught outside word of mouth,” Okarmus said. “In my experience getting that information from schools or districts has been tough. I’ve spoken to teachers from across the state who incorporate things like STI education into their lesson plans, but I do not know of any programming currently happening in Alabama public schools that would meet the definition of comprehensive sex ed, or even sufficient sex ed.”

During April’s Senate floor debate over sex education, Democratic Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison of Birmingham argued that an approach of “just saying no” about sex isn’t working, and that teenagers are going online and turning toward pop culture to seek information.

“So, if none of this is being talk about in the schools … where do they learn about it?” Coleman-Madison said. “If you don’t tell them, they’ll seek the knowledge on their own. My fear is if you don’t (educate) the kids, they will go to other sources. The world has changed from what we grew up in.”