(QMI Agency files)

Canadians are more open about discussing controversial sex-ed topics in the classroom — such as pleasure and homosexuality — than Americans and Britons, according to an Angus Reid poll released Wednesday.

The online survey found Americans focus more on family, Britons think sex-ed courses are useless, and Canadians want schools to begin teaching sex education at an early age.

Across the board, most said parents should be primarily responsible for teaching sex education to children and teens.

Almost 90% of respondents in the three countries said pregnancy, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual abuse and bullying should “definitely” or “probably” be discussed in a sex education course.

But while 69% of Canadians and 62% of Britons would like to see sexual pleasure discussed, less than half of Americans concur.

When it comes to homosexuality, 86% of Canadians, 76% of Britons but just 63% of Americans said they want the topic covered.

While only 13% of Americans and 17% of Britons said sex-ed courses should begin at age nine or younger, 24% of Canadians said that’s the ideal age to begin. About a third of all respondents felt the best time to start teaching sex education at school is between the ages of 12 and 13.

Angus Reid conducted the online survey in November. The participants were adults, and included 1,005 Canadians, 1,004 Americans and 2,004 Britons. The poll has margins of error of 3.1 percentage points for Canada and the U.S., and 2.2 percentage points for Britain.

The results were weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data.