“Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die! Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just don't do it, OK, promise? OK, now everybody take some rubbers.” This quote was said by Coach Carr in the movie Mean Girls and is similar to what teens are being told in schools around the country although there are some that leave out condoms altogether. Yet when a teenage girl does end up pregnant nobody asks if she had access to contraception or if she really understood the risks of having sex. Instead she is looked down upon because she “couldn’t control herself” or her parents “didn’t teach her well enough”; all of a sudden it’s somebody else’s problem and nobody wants the finger pointed at them. This is wrong on multiple levels. Throughout history teens have sneaked away to have sex and teaching abstinence-only is not the way to go about stopping them now. By not teaching teens to practice safe sex, we are setting them up to fail and when failing means the possibility of ending up with a transmitted disease or a baby, that is unacceptable. It goes without saying that abstinence only education has very valid points. For example, abstaining from sex is the only 100% sure fire way to prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (American Pregnancy Association). It has also been argued that by promoting abstinence, society is also promoting higher moral standards because it makes teenagers value the meaning behind the act of sex rather than just the enjoying the act of it. According to some studies, teens who have engaged in sexual activity have ended up with immediate regrets. According to The Heritage Foundation, premarital sex can lead to depression, increased rick of infections, and ... ... middle of paper ... ...t Pictures, 2004. DVD. Peterson-Beadle, Amanda. "Teen Pregnancies Highest In States With Abstinence-Only Policies." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Rector, Robert. "Facts about Abstinence Education." The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 30 Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. "State Policies on Sex Education in Schools." State Policies on Sex Education in Schools. National Conference of State Legislature, 1 July 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Wilson, Kelly L., Matthew L. Smith, and Mindy Menn. "Abstinence-Related Word Associations and Definitions of Abstinence and Virginity Among Missouri High School Freshmen." Journal of School Health 83.11 (2013): 787-94. Wiley Online Library. American School Health Association, 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Wirthman, Lisa. "Abstinence vs. Sex Education." The Denver Post. N.p., 06 July 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Everyone has an opinion about sexuality education. From vocal parents at PTA meetings to state governors who must decide whether to apply for federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs or more comprehensive sexuality programs, or both, or neither. From school pri...
When it comes to monitoring and ensuring the well-being of school-aged children, the agendas of most of our nation’s parents, teachers, and public education policy makers seem to be heavily focused on topics such as bullying, drug awareness, and social development. Although each of these issues is very important and deserving of the attention it receives, there is one topic – sexual education in the public school system – that holds just as much relevance amongst today’s youth, and yet it continues to be denied the same consideration. With underage sex being one of the nation’s long-lasting taboos, one would assume that effective Sex Ed programs in the public school system would be geared towards today’s youth. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case, especially for those residents of the state of Florida. Reflective of the predominantly conservative mindset of the early to mid 1900s, the sex education programs in the Florida education system seem to focus primarily on “abstinence-only-until-marriage” (Support SIECUS).
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).
Today’s young Americans face strong peer pressure to be sexually active and engage themselves in risky behaviors (Merino 100-109). Anyone deciding to have sex must first think about all the risks involved. Kekla Magoon, author of Sex Education in Schools, says that “half of all teens aged 15 to 19 years old in the United States have had sex” (Magoon 64-65). It is currently not required by federal law for schools to teach Sex education and those few schools that do teach Sex education have the decision to determine how much information is allowed. Advocates from both sides of the Sex education debate agree that teens need positive influences in order to make practical decisions (Magoon 88-89). Opponents of Abstinence-only education believe it fails because it does not prepare teens for all the risks of sex (Magoon 64-65).
Smith, Morgan. "More Schools Choose to Teach Abstinence-Plus." The New York Times 16 Sept. 2011, National ed.: A21A. The New York Times. 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.
National Abstinence Education Association. “Comprehensive Sex Education Is Inappropriate And Harmful.” Do Abstinence Programs Work?. Christina Fisanick. Michigan. Greenhaven Press, 2010. 33-42. Print.
If any more convincing is needed, here is more evidence: The lowest pregnancy rates are found in states that teach comprehensive sex education (Kirby), and an analysis of the comparison between federal funding, chlamydia, gonorrhea and pregnancy in teens age 15 to 19 found that there is a link between higher funding of abstinence education programs and higher rates of negative health outcomes (Trenholm, Devaney, Fortson, Quay, Wheeler, and Clark) . To conclude, abstinence-only sex education is ineffective, inaccurate, and injurious to students’ health, and states should adopt a more comprehensive sex
Students should be informed about more than just “don’t have sex” because eventually it is going to happen and they need to be educated on the proper way to handle the situations. Because students are mostly taught abstinence it has created the situation to where researchers find” Abstinence-only education, instead of reducing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, has made teenagers and young adults more vulnerable to ST...
Collins, Chris, Priya Alagiri, and Todd Summers. "Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education: What Are the Arguments? What Is the Evidence?" AIDS Research Institute. University of California, San Francisco, Mar. 2002. Web. 19 Feb. 2011. .
Kohler et al. (2008)“Abstinence-only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy.” Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4): 344-351.
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...
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).
“Forty-one percent of teens ages 18-19 said they know nothing about condoms, and seventy-five percent said they know nothing about the contraceptive pill” (Facts on American Teens). Even if schools taught just abstinence it still would not be enough. “In 2007, a study showed that abstinence only programs have no beneficial impact on the sexual behavior of young people” (Facts on American Teens). Sex education is not taken as seriously as it should be in schools, it is treated like it is not a big deal. Schools should require a sex education class that specifically teaches students about sex and goes into depth of all the possible consequences because of the high pregnancy, abortion, and virus rates.
Before moving on, one must know that sex education is about, but not limited to the discussion of sexual intercourse. As a Buzzle article states, it involves a multitude of topics that introduce human sexual behaviors such as puberty, sexual health, sexual reproduction, sexuality, and more (Iyer). If formally received in school, these topics are brought up and discussed at age-appropriate times over the course of children’s junior high and high school education. Moreover, as I have introduced earlier, the way sex education should be taught is divided into two approaches. It is between taking either a conservative, abstinence-only approach or a more liberal, comprehensive approach. Abstinence-only education, approaches students by stressing the importance of “no sex before marriage” as be...