Parents of N.C. public school students may have a choice in what their children learn about sex education under a bill that cleared the state Senate Tuesday.

The bill, which would require all school systems to offer comprehensive sex education, goes back to the House where legislators will try to resolve differences between the version of the bill they originally sent the Senate and what has emerged yesterday, WRAL reports.

Currently, abstinence-until-marriage is the curriculum offered for nearly all 115 state school districts. But under the House version of the bill, schools would be required to teach two separate programs—abstinence and comprehensive sex education—and parents would be required to fill out a permission slip for their child to get either of the two programs or to have no sex education at all, WRAL reports.

Who can argue with so many choices? Every parent now will have a say in what sex education his or her child receives. For many parents, talking about sex with their own offspring is difficult. For teens, it’s downright embarrassing. The fact is, sex remains a taboo subject. This bill would allow parents to choose for schools to provide the foundation of this education, opening the dialog between parents and children.

The need for sex education is apparent: North Carolina is consistently ranked ninth in the nation for teen pregnancy rates, a place that continues to hold steady, according to N.C. Healthy Schools, an initiative of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Obviously, it’s best if teens wait until marriage to have sex, but whether all teens are going to do so is a question already answered based on the statistics. Isn’t it better for them to be prepared and protected so as to avoid an unexpected pregnancy? Imagine your 16-year-old son or daughter with a newborn baby.

Interested advice on parenting teens? Read CarolinaParent.com's Books to Help Parents Survive, and Guide, Teens.