Connecticut is showing signs that sex education is working, as more teens who are having sex are using condoms, according to a recent health survey.  Although two thirds of all high school seniors report having had sex, the good news is that nearly 60 percent of those surveyed did use condoms to protect from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

From the DarienPatch:

“Providing comprehensive sex ed in the public schools is urgent,” [Susan Yolen, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England] said citing a 2008 survey conducted for Planned Parenthood.

According to the report: “This sentiment crossed party lines, and both pro-choice, and anti-choice voters alike express a preference for medically accurate sex education.”

Administrators from area schools, including Westport, Wilton, Ridgefield, Darien and New Canaan declined to comment on the survey. However, Yolen said that doesn’t mean the schools aren’t addressing the subject.

Positive Directions, a youth focused non-profit organization, works with Weston, Wilton, and Westport. The group aims to educate youth and parents about the consequences of risky behavior.

“These are health problems that need to be addressed community-wide,” Colleen Fawcett, director of the Wilton Youth Council, recently told the Wilton Board of Selectmen.

The survey is a measurement of what’s going on out there, Cooper said. But the good news is that risky behavior is declining. Partly because of education and partly because of the changing nature of the ways teens socialize.

Connecticut is also reporting that the number of high school students that have had sex in the last year is five percent lower than the rest of the country, a positive trend for the state.