As of March 2026, 10 states have introduced legislation to make sex education opt-in. Opt-in policies restrict access to sex education by requiring parents to submit written permission before their child receives sex education. The result is students missing out on vital sexual health and abuse-prevention information, not because their parents object, but due to a policy that assumes non-participation as the default. “Sex Ed and Parental Consent” arrives at the height of attacks against sex education as a much-needed update to our 2018 policy paper.