The bar for girls in the first image in the leftmost column has the number 96 in it. The bar for boys in the first image in the leftmost column has the number 97 in it. It's also slightly longer than the corresponding bar for girls. Using the synthesis of these two pieces of information, I conclude that more boys than girls report receiving any sex education in schools, not that it's significant, or anything, of course.

Reading graphs. It's not complicated, even for social scientists.

This is pure conjecture, but (especially with parents), it could be that female teens receive education about sex in conjunction with a discussion about the physical changes of puberty (growing breasts, menstruation) that make sex education relevant - I know that's how it worked between my mother and I. I got the period discussion and the sex discussion all at once.

It's possible that male teens don't have the same discussion, as their physical changes are more subtle and don't require a conversation equivalent to "the period talk."

It looks like the boys got as much or more education in the areas that are more relevant to them: General, condoms, and STDs (incl. AIDS).

The places where they got less seem to make sense:
1. Methods of birth control. Since condoms are specified in another bar, this must mean "non-condom birth control". In other words: birth control that women use.
2. How to get birth control. Since condoms (the birth control men use) are easily locatable in any drug store, this doesn't seem as relevant to boys. Other methods of birth control may require more complicated arrangements.
3. How to say no to sex. This may be related to cultural concepts of who is the sexual aggressor. But there's a non-cultural, biological, explanation for it, too. Women have more to lose from sex than men do. They're more likely to contract HIV from an infected partner, and they can get pregnant.

Why are the confidence intervals so much bigger for girls in the first graph? (Aside from the "how to say no" and birth control, it's not clear there's any difference.) For that matter, why are the questions different for school and parents?

I've done qualitative research on this issue and expect that part of the reason for the higher levels of discussion among parents is because moms and sisters talk to females about hormonal methods for (1) contraception (2) non-hormonal benefits and (3) because they worry that their daughters/sisters are more vulnerable when it comes to pregnancy. They are. Even the adolescent males we interviewed agreed that females bear the brunt of the burden on this one.

Qualitative research also suggests that these types of items are very superficial ways to get at exposure to sex ed information. A lot of kids already know about this stuff by time the are "educated" at school.

An aside: I wish people wouldn't use the term "botched abortion." It's a very safe medical procedure, undergone by 1.2 million of women per year with very few deaths; 9 in 2005 potentially related to abortion: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5808a1.htm?s_cid=ss5808a1_e&ref=nf

Viagra, on the other hand: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/283/5/590

I wish my great-grandmother didn't die from tetanus after a botched abortion, but that doesn't make it so. It's a very real risk whenever safe abortion access is restricted and desperate women turn to unsafe abortion methods as a result.

This is definitely bias from self-reporting. Girls are more likely to feel comfortable about reporting talks they might have had with their parents about sex.
Also, i would assume that sex education is taught in co-ed classrooms in school. If boys are not reporting on certain sex related topics, i would assume they are not paying attention in these discussions when topics head that way. It would be the teacher's responsibility to ensure information was disseminated. How comfortable these kids felt about reporting what they learnt is another issue all together.

My entire sexual education included my mom handing me a box of pads when I was eight and saying you will need these someday and a 5 minute video in 5th grade that showed two stick figures hugging and a seed floating from the male bodies heart to the females heart as an expression of love. Thank you public schools and parents! Everything else I read on the internet a decade later. I still have friends that don't believe there is any way to protect against aids 'condoms only prevent babies and i'm already on birth control' and have met more then a few people who swear that the aids virus is so tiny it can float through the air and can be inhaled. I really wish people would get over themselves and there personal beliefs and make sure every child in public school knows the risks. And for the nuts out there keeping proper education out of school..I blame my abortion on you!

Yes, boys receive less education than girls due to research. Provision of the knowledge and topessaybrands.com is met for the approval for the themes. The skills of the girls are good for the performances of the goals for society.