Beginning high school is typically a nerve-racking experience for every teenager. Their workload becomes heavier, teachers and parents become more persistent, and the pressure to fit in increases. With so much going on teenagers tend to succumb to the pressure from their peers and engage in activities that they normally wouldn’t, specifically sex. A lot of teenagers believe that being sexually active is cool and if they aren’t they will be considered an outcast. As more teens become sexually active, more and more school programs are implemented to promote abstinence-only education. Yes, abstinence is great and if practiced correctly very effective, but that rarely happens. These abstinence-only programs are flawed because they fail to educate teens on the methods of contraception available to them if they do decide to engage in sexual activity and instead only focus on all of the possible negative things that come out of having sex. Abstinence-Only Education programs are ineffective and should be replaced with comprehensive programs.
While abstinence-only programs focus more on the moral and ethical side of the spectrum, comprehensive programs focus on being more realistic. Comprehensive programs acknowledge that teenagers will probably have sex and educate them on the proper precautions to take. According to Malone and Rodriguez:
This includes teaching not only about abstinence, but also contraception, including emergency contraception; reproductive choice; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), and questioning issues; as well as, of course, anatomy; development; puberty; relationships; and all of the other issues one would expect to be covered in a traditional sexuality education class.
Overall, comprehensive pr...
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...ake smart choices when engaging in sexual activity and are more likely to seek out information they need when becoming sexually active (Callaghan).
Third, one of the main goals of Abstinence-Only programs is to prevent teen pregnancy and currently this goal is not being met. Teen pregnancy rates have continually declined over the past 20 years (Trends in Teen Pregnancy), but not at the hand of abstinence-only programs. Studies have shown that more conservative states lean towards abstinence-only programs rather than comprehensive programs and those states have a higher teen pregnancy rate. Mississippi, the number one conservative state is also number one in teen pregnancy whereas New Hampshire that has a more laid back approach and prefers comprehensive programs (Sex Education) has the lowest teen pregnancy rate in the country (50-State and National Comparisons).
This is a website page edited by Sue Alford, the Editor and Director of Public Information Services for Advocates of Youth, a nonprofit organization in Washington D.C. This advocacy group promotes efficient sexual education and is dedicated towards STI and HIV/AIDS prevention. Alford contrasts comprehensive and abstinence-only education through a descriptive table that lists how they differ in curriculum, methods of teaching, and attitudes towards sexual activity in adolescents. This source will help me see the distinctions between the two methods of education, allowing me to interpret the pros and cons of each.
However, for some time now, sex education has been a hot button issue in the United States. The debate is over which form of sex education is best for students. In recent years there has been much debate about which form of sex education is most effective: Abstinence, Abstinence-Plus, or Comprehensive. Abstinence sex education does not acknowledge that teenagers will become sexually active, thus, students do not learn about the different forms of contraception, and students do not learn about abortion. Also, students are taught that the risks of contracting an STD or HIV are prime reasons to remain abstinent. Abstinence-plus sex education explores the context and significance of sex. Although abstinence-plus education still promotes abstinence, it is acknowledged that many teenagers will become sexually active. Students are taught about contraception, abortion, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. Comprehensive sex education does not focus on teaching young people that they should remain abstinent until marriage, though it does teach it. Although students learn the benefits of abstinence, students learn how to themselves when they do decide to have sex.
Those in support of Comprehensive Sex education believe that if teens get complete and accurate information about sex, then they will be able to make better decisions (Magoon 57). Even those who remain abstinent until marriage need to be able to recognize an STD because their partner could have made a different decision and not remained abstinent (Magoon 57). There are many groups and organizations that promote Abstinence-only education or Comprehensive Sex education (Magoon 80-81). The debate over Sex education is almost solely a discussion of what is moral and what is practical, says Kekla Magoon (6-95). Abstinence-only advocates main issue with Comprehensive Sex education is the debate of whether or not giving teens more information actually leads them to being sexually active (Magoon 73).
In the article, “More Schools to Teach Abstinence-Plus,” as seen on page A21A of the September 16, 2011 issue, author Morgan Smith tells her readers about new programs being introduced in West Texas to tech teenagers about not only abstinence, but additional how to practice safe sex. The article explains how teenage pregnancy rates in West Texas continue to spike despite the effort to push abstinence on teens. It explains in detail of a new sexual education program where teens are encouraged to choose abstinence but are educated in effective contraception as well. It covers schools in Midland, Texas and how endeavor to switch policy’s is embraced by the majority of community members as an active approach to decrease teen pregnancy. (Smith 1)
Abstinence-Only programs are currently the most used in public schools, but this method is seriously out-dated and does not aptly deal with the issue that teenagers are participating in underage sex regardless of whether they have been told that they should not. Without the proper information, teenagers are blindly making a decision about having sex that could impact their lives in far many more ways than they can fathom, most not fully understanding the ramifications of their decision. The implementation across the nation of a comprehensive Abstinence-Plus program teaching: abstinence, health risks, birth control, teen pregnancy, and providing students with information and birth control is exactly what is needed.
The Federal Government has invested millions of dollars into an abstinence education program for young adults that provide ways for them to avoid sexual activity at such a young age. The program teaches teens the importance of sustaining from sexual activity before marriage and the importance of a monogamous relationship in a marriage. It also teaches them the harmful effects psychologically and physically, of sexual activity at a young age.
As many know everyone is different in every way, therefore why do we hold everyone to the same standards and expectations. Abstinence-only education teaches the students that it is only morally correct for students to remain abstinent until they are married. Instead of leaving the option up to the adolescent after providing all information, they put fear into them to choose what they think is the only “morally acceptable” choice. When talking about condoms, abortion, and other sexual orientation they only give the failure rates and more then likely will omit the controversial topics. Instead of giving true facts that have been proven, abstinence-only education will teach the students anything they have to so that they fear having sex. They also teach that if an unintentional pregnancy occurs the only morally correct option would be carry the baby for full term, then give it up for adoption if it comes to that; which is wrong. The other options have been provided for the reasoning of many of the different situations the world faces to this day. We should better improve the world by providing teenagers with sex ed
“Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs)” (McKeon). These shocking statistics are conspicuous to any ordinary American, yet the United States schools have taken little initiative to teach effective sexual education. Sex education programs in the U.S. mainly fall under two categories – comprehensive or abstinence-only. Abstinence-only sex education programs present abstinence as the only effective means to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases and infections; whereas comprehensive sex education programs teach abstinence as a secondary choice, while also informing students about birth control and contraceptives. Comprehensive sex education should be the only sex education method taught in schools because it is the most effective technique to keep students well-informed, prepared, and safe.
The primary argument which most advocates for abstinence only education have is that sex before marriage is immoral, not appropriate and that abstinence is the only completely effective method of preventing teen pregnancy and STI contraction. These advocates also emphasize that condoms are not a sure-fire way of preventing pregnancy and STI contraction. Many of the proponents for abstinence-only education believe that educating youth with information concerning sex and contraception will embolden them to become to begin or increase sexual activity. Such advocates accredit the lowering of teenage pregnancy to abstinence only education (Collins, Alagira, and Summers 12-13).
Abstinence-only curricula shouldn’t be taught in schools because it is morally wrong. It is hypocritical, the people who are in charge of deciding what type of sexual education teenagers are receiving are well past the pressures of being a teen themselves. They are placing lofty standards on teenagers, and some of them didn’t hold up these standards themselves. It is unrealistic for adults to expect all
National Abstinence Education Association. “Comprehensive Sex Education Is Inappropriate And Harmful.” Do Abstinence Programs Work?. Christina Fisanick. Michigan. Greenhaven Press, 2010. 33-42. Print.
Santelli, J., Ott, A., Lyon, M., Rogers, J., Summers, D., &Schelifer, R. (2006). Abstinence and abstinence-only education: A review of U.S. policies and programs. Journal of Adolescent Health 38 p.p.72-81.
The government likes to pretend that if high school students get taught the “abstinence-only” method they would never think of taking part in sexual activities. Statistically this is incorrect. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “56 percent of high school students are virgins”(Martin). For the 56 percent abstinence only is doing them well, but there are still 44 percent of high school students engaging in sex without knowing the precau...
There are a few major differences between safe sex education and abstinence only. Abstinence only education is all about, “just saying no.” They teach to abstain from all sexual acts until marriage. Safe sex education takes a very different approach. It teaches all about sex, the consequences of sex, contraceptives, different STDs, ways to protect yourself from STDs, pregnancy, and other issues regarding teen bodies. There is a debate against these different sex education programs because some think abstinence only education does not have any effect on teenagers while some believe that safe sex education encourages teenagers to engage in sexual behavior. Over 750,000 girls became pregn...
Sex education in our schools has been a hot topic of debate for decades. The main point in question has been whether to utilize comprehensive sex education or abstinence-only curriculum to educate our youth. The popularity of abstinence-only curriculum over the last couple of decades has grown largely due to the United States government passing a law to give funding to states that teach the abstinence-only approach to sex education. But not teaching our children about sex and sexuality is not giving them the information they need to make well educated decisions. Sex education in our schools should teach more than just abstinence-only because these programs are not proven to prevent teens from having sex. Children need to be educated on how to prevent contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies and be given the knowledge to understand the changes to their bodies during puberty. According to the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten-12th Grade from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), comprehensive sex education “should be appropriate to age, developmental level, and cultural background of students and respect the diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community” (SIECUS).