...Abstinence-Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education Which is the Right Choice? Allysa Lekas English 401 Professor Kramer December 11, 2012 Abstinence-Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education The appropriate type of sex education that should be taught in United States public schools continues to be a major topic of debate, which is motivated by high teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States compared to other countries. This debate is centered on whether abstinence-only or comprehensive sex education should be taught in public schools. Some argue that sex education, that covers safe sexual practices, such as condom use, sends a mixed message to students, and actually promotes sexual activity. The United States government used to promote abstinence-only initiatives through the Adolescents Family Life Act. It cost 176 million dollars annually to fund abstinence-only programs. The central message of these programs was to delay sexual activity until marriage, and cannot include information about contraception and condoms (Stranger-Hall & Hall, 2011). It has been proven that abstinence-only education does not have an effect on the birth rates in the United States, but comprehensive sex education has. Teaching students to not only about abstinence, but about contraceptive use and information about sexually transmitted diseases, has decreased the birth rates in the United States as well as the contraction rate of sexually transmitted diseases. Comprehensive sex education...
Words: 3018 - Pages: 13
...Children and Sexual Education Frankie Hellyer Harrison College Children and Sexual Education "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death”, (S.F.Heart.com, 2012). [Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science", New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930] In 2000 my first and second grade children arrived home from school with a surprising question for me. I was asked what “69” meant. My response was “the number after 68 and before 70”. That was not the correct answer to the specific question they were asking, yet they were too naive to know any different. I did not feel they were at the appropriate age for a response to that question, but it meant it was time for a small bit of conversation regarding sexual education. Sexual education is opposed by some for religious beliefs, infringement of parental rights, and parental fears of a higher level of sexual promiscuity. Those opposed typically promote abstinence programs, (which have failed our society). Regardless what age a child is, sexual education is a very important topic and I feel it is crucial to start educating about sex now; in the schools; rather than wait for the latter possible unplanned STD, pregnancy, or even the unfortunate act of molestation. Since the beginning of time biblically, our society has been...
Words: 2043 - Pages: 9
...English III 12 February 2014 Outline I. Introduction A. Sexual education and abstinence programs seem to be taught nationwide, causing most parents to believe that this affects their children’s decisions regarding sexual activity; however, these programs have not had statistically significant impacts on the rate of sexual abstinence. II. Statics A. Schools 1. 39% of female and 45% of male high school students have had sexual intercourse. 2. Half of the students don’t really pay attention because they’re already having intercourse. 3. No significant changes since Abstinence-only programs started III. Federal Funding 1. 1981, more than 1 billion spent on these programs 2. Some of the funds that are given aren’t correctly monitored 3. 1996 as a welfare reform 4. Spend on programs that haven’t been effectively working for a while IV. Teen pregnancies A. Not mature 1. Not ready to take care of baby 2. Drop out of school 3. Won’t have successful career 4. Too busy with baby if they go to college B. Love & sex 1. Teens don’t take in consideration what consequences are 2. Express feelings in a different way 3. Peer pressure C. Statistics 1. 58% of pregnancies end in abortion 2. Rate of pregnancies is 61.9 out of every 1,000 women 3. Teen rate is 96 out of every 1,000 women V. Abstinence-only vs. Comprehensive sex A. Not working 1. Abstinence only is not consistent 2. Not teaching right way 3. Influence on such...
Words: 305 - Pages: 2
...Sexual Education in Public Schools: The Need for Change There is a crisis in the United States with teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease levels increasing. Research and public opinion have aligned in support of the pressing need for comprehensive and effective sex education for young people in United States Public Schools (Bleakly, Hennesy, & Fishbein, 2006). Around 8.5 thousand American teens become pregnant each year with over 9 million teenagers experiencing a sexually transmitted infection (Klein & Committee on Adolescence, 2005). By the time most American teenagers complete high school at age 18, 70% of females and 62% of males have experienced intercourse. While sex education might ideally take place in the home, these numbers suggest that sexuality is either not being discussed at all or is not being addressed adequately. Comprehensive sexual education, which includes abstinence and birth control methods, is considered a fundamental human right for American public school students. Current abstinence-only programs are unacceptable and should be replaced with more accurate and inclusive information immediately. For decades, the United States government has spent billions of dollars on an abstinence-only sexual education programs (SIECUS, 2004). This curriculum inhibited teachers from teaching birth control methods or even answering direct questions about how these methods worked. Research has identified several highly effective sex education programs that have...
Words: 1250 - Pages: 5
...Jonathan Stokes 1 Jonathan Stokes English 155 Instructor Caramess May 18, 2012 Comprehensive Sex Education vrs. Single Sex Education There have been many debates and changes made throughout history on the subject of Sex Education in school. Now a day's there are many forms of sex education. Two main forms of sex education being debated on are Comprehensive and single sex. Dates of when sex education was first taught in school date back as early as the 1830’s. However sex education didn't really get noticed or take a dramatic affect in scholls till the 1900's. In 1913, Chicago became the first major city to implement sex ed for high schools. During the 1920's school finally began adding sex education to their curriculums. "To prevent the immense evils of self-pollution, therefore, in our boys and students ... They should always subsist on a plain, simple, unstimulating, vegetable, and water diet; and care should be taken that they do not eat too fast, and are not excessive, in quantity. They should never be kept too long a time in a sitting, confined, or inactive Jonathan Stokes 2 posture. They should never sleep on feathers." —Sylvester Graham, Lectures on Chastity (Cornblatt 1) (1834) Upon further investigation into my topic i have found several key dates and facts. one fact was that during the 1930's the U.S. Office of Education started publishing articles and training teachers. also during the 40's and 50's colleges began adding courses on Human...
Words: 455 - Pages: 2
...Andre Ferguson English 120 September 30, 2014 Argumentative essay Promoting Sexual Education between Doctors, Parents, Schools, and Children as Early as Elementary School The debate over whether or not comprehensive sexual education ought to be schooled in faculties is not any less heated than it absolutely was once it 1st became a recent disputation within the 1960’s. Some argue that it shouldn't be schooled in the slightest degree, in or out of the house. What several area unit unaware of is that sexual education has been a significant ethical perplexity since the year 1892, once the National Education Association passed a resolution citing the necessity for “moral education within the schools” (Cornblatt). This hot-button issue has created notably slow progress over the course of history, mostly as a result of spiritual principles implementing political theory. Today, sexual education is obligatory publicly faculties in twenty two of fifty states within the U.S. as a result of very little advancement created within the administration of sexual education schemes, voters of the U.S. have unnoted a deeper underlying issue – which is, at what stage in adolescence is it necessary and most helpful for this difficult, life-long learning method to begin? Additionally due partially to the slow progress these programs have revamped time, some oldsters have even neglected to the touch upon the difficulty entirely. What’s a lot of, these continued failures to be proactive have...
Words: 2787 - Pages: 12
...Sex Education in Public Schools "Sex oozes from every pore of the culture and there's not a kid in the world who can avoid it" Charles Krauthammer stated. (Bender) Why should a teen have to avoid the topic of sex? Many teens are taught to believe that sex is wrong until after they are married, but not taught the truth about sex. Sex is a natural biological urge that no piece of paper makes a difference about. What should be different, is how teens are taught about sex. In 1996, the United States government passed a law giving funding to states that offered abstinence-only sex education programs in public schools. Since this time, over half of a billion dollars has been given to states to promote abstinence-only programs. (Brody) After a study of four of the schools with abstinence only programs showed, that teens who had participated in the class were no more likely to hold off on having sex, engaging in oral sex, lower the amount of sexual partners or avoiding sex completely than, a teen that did not attend the class at all. (Trenholm) Comprehensive sexual education programs have helped the rate of sexual transmitted diseases, (STD Surveillance) number of unwanted pregnancies and or abortions decline. Sex education also has been shown to reduce the possibility of sexual violence. (Gorden) Comprehensive sexual education programs promote knowledge about prevention, knowing the symptoms of STDs and where to get tested. In 2009, two years after the...
Words: 1013 - Pages: 5
...English 1303 Abstinence-only: Does it work? Statistics show that “70 percent of US teens have engaged in oral sex…and more than 45 percent have had intercourse at least once.” Today’s future generation has been involved in sexual activities more than ever. The question is, do they know what they are getting themselves into? With the deliberation on what should be taught in a sex education class, many wonder if the abstinence-only programs are working to lower the number of teens that participate in these activities? Paul Weyrich’s article “Abstinence Education Works” and Arthur Caplan’s article “Abstinence-Only Sex Ed Defies Common Sense: Education Policy Spreads Ignorance, Sends Confusing Messages to Teens” both have different viewpoints on abstinence-only sex education. Weyrich claims that having abstinence-only education programs can prevent teen pregnancies and transmissions of sexually transmitted diseases. Research from Texas A&M, show that sex education classes that teach abstinence have significantly lowered sexual activity rates among teens. Studies show that abstinence programs are very beneficial and many ways towards teenagers. The programs teach teens to be safe, prepared, and mature about sex; as well prepare them for when they get married and have sex in the future. Weyrich finishes off strong by restating his main point: the best prevention against STDs and unplanned pregnancies is not having sex before marriage. According to Caplan, STD’s are rapidly...
Words: 910 - Pages: 4
...the Texas Tribune, put his chin in his hand and asked Gov. Rick Perry: "Governor, why does Texas continue with abstinence education programs when they don't seem to be working? In fact, we have the third-highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, among all the states." "Abstinence works," Perry replied, his arms folded and resting on the table be-tween them. Smith tried again – the point of the question, he said, was that abstinence education, by the stats, doesn't exactly seem to be working. It does work, Perry replied; it's the "best form ... to teach our children," he said. "Can you give me a statistic suggesting it works?" Smith asked. I Heart Pants abstinence website "I'm sorry, I'm just going to tell you ... from my own personal life, abstinence works," said Perry, increasingly agitated. "If the point is ... we're going to stand up here and say, 'Y'all go have sex and have the whatever is going on ... and here's the ways to have safe sex' – I'm sorry; call me old-fashioned if you want, but that's not what I'm going to stand up in front of the people in the state of Texas and say, 'That's the way we need to go, and forget about abstinence.'" Of course, neither Smith nor anyone else was asking the governor to "forget about abstinence," but the truth, say advocates for adolescent health, including doctors and educators, is that teaching "abstinence only" has not worked to reduce the high rates of teen pregnancy and births in Texas despite the tens of millions in funding...
Words: 2547 - Pages: 11
...Brown, S. (1997). Sex Education and Abstinence Programs: Why Don't W More? Children and youth services review, 19 (5 -6), 4 55-463. Cavazos-Rehg, P. A., Krauss, M. J., Spitznagel, E. L., Iguchi, M., Schootman, L., . . . Bierut, L. J. (2012). Associations Between Sexuality Educatio Schools and Adolescent Birthrates: A State-Level Longitudinal Mo Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 166 (2), 134. Constantine, N. A. (2008). Converging evidence leaves policy behind: Sex in the United States. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42 (4), 324 -326. Daley, D. (1997). Exclusive purpose: abstinence-only proponents create f entitlement in welfare reform. SIECUS report, 25(4), 3. Eisenberg, M. E., Bernat, D. H., Bearinger, L. H., & Resnick, M. D. (2008). Su comprehensive sexuality education: Perspectives from parents of youth. Jou rnal of Adolescent Health, 42 (4), 352 -359. Hogben, M., Chesson, H., & Aral, S. (2010). Sexuality education policies an transmitted disease rates in the United States of America. Internat journal of STD & AIDS, 21 (4), 293 -297. Irvine, J. M. (2004). Talk about sex: The battles over sex education in the Un Univ of California Pr. Kirby, D., & Scales, P. (1981). An analysis of state guidelines for sex educa instruction in public schools. Family relations , 229-237. Kirby, D. B. (2008). The impact of abstinence and comprehensive sex and education programs on adolescent sexual behavior. Sexuality Rese Social Policy...
Words: 315 - Pages: 2
...Abstinence- Only Vs. Comprehensive Sex Education Nickenha Ashley SOC 233 Professor Singer October 31, 2013 The debate about “abstinence” vs. “comprehensive” sex education has been occurring for at least three decades. The common ground that drives these competing approaches is concern about the negative consequences of adolescent sexual activity to the health and well-being of individuals and society. The debate about these programs were re-energized recently based on the research of about four different abstinence program, where teens in that study reported that they did not abstain from sexual activity more than non-participants. Based on these results it has come to the conclusion that the abstinence approach to preventing teen sexual risk behaviors does not work. My position on this topic is that I feel that all schools should implement the comprehensive sex education class rather than the abstinence only. The abstinence only approach to sex education does not protect young people from HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and unplanned pregnancy. This approach will likely have serious unintended consequences by denying young people access to the information they need to protect themselves. Sex education will prepare them only for when they want to make that decision but will clarify that having no sex is the only way to truly prevent any accidents. The idea that sexual activity is the ticket to popularity is burned into teens brains by media, through television...
Words: 746 - Pages: 3
...investigate sexual education because it is a policy area that hits close to home. Sexual Education is an issue with many facets, but it falls under the larger umbrella of reproductive freedom. Many people would consider themselves either pro-life or pro-choice, but there is also a middle section that is less defined. This section is present because of cases like rape, health difficulties, or future health of the baby. With education, it is less black and white in the eyes of the general populace. Further, sides are frequently taken due to religious beliefs. Education is typically a more local issue, but it has a large impact on the rate of pregnant teens, which ultimately funnels into the debate over abortion. More specifically, the federal government has to take action on both abortion and sexual education because of their inter-connectedness. With that said, the focus of my policy is primarily the need for comprehensive sexual education. I work for the American Civil Liberties Union, and within this I am a part of TACL. The point of this group is to focus on civil liberties for students. With the passage of the abstinence only bill in Tennessee, I feel as though my liberties have been taken. I believe that you cannot stop students from doing what is natural by not teaching them about it or teaching them about protection. Studies show that in states with abstinence only education laws, the pregnancy rate is much higher. I want to focus my research on education about safety...
Words: 5851 - Pages: 24
...Early Comprehensive Sex Health Education Tenesha Rivers Keiser University Early Comprehensive Sex Health Education “Education is a powerful weapon”, is a popular saying that I always find truth in. This does not differ when it comes to Comprehensive sex health education, also called sex education. Sex education involves learning and understanding how to form appropriate opinions about sex: including “sexual identity, relationships and intimacy” (Avert, 2011). This method to sex education does not encourage sexual activity, and it offers medically accurate information about birth control and sexual development (Wind, 2006). With many unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), and sexual abuse this day and age, there are undisputed benefits to sex education. However, sex education becomes a controversial issue when the information is provided to young people of middle and high school age. There are a few reasons certain people feel that early comprehensive sex health education is not appropriate. However, I feel that early sex education is not only appropriate but necessary in promoting health and preventing the negative effects that ignorance of the subject could lead to. An important part of the curricula is sexual development and reproduction. This portion of the curricula focuses on “the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty and sexual reproduction, including fertilization and conception, as well as sexually transmitted diseases...
Words: 1001 - Pages: 5
...OB/Peds March 11, 2014 Community Resources Paper The Risks and Education of Teenage Pregnancy The at-risk group that I chose to research is teenage pregnancy, and the education and risks associated with it. I selected this topic because I feel like it is essential to teach our children all the risk and responsibilities that come with the decision to become sexually active, before they become sexually active. If teens are taught the essentials about pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and are educated on the resources available, they will be able to make an informed decision before making a crucial decision. I feel that when abstinence is all that is taught by parents, our children are too scared to ask about sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy, and don’t know about the resources available to them to prevent both. Teenagers who are sexually active have no idea all of the different resources available to help them to prevent pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted infections. When they become sexually active they are afraid that they are going to get in trouble for not being abstinent which further increases their chance of getting pregnant or spreading infections because they are too scared to ask about it before they put themselves in the situation. Among the most conservative states I found the following. “Mississippi continues to have the highest teeth birth rate, with 55 births per 1,000 girls. New Hampshire...
Words: 1480 - Pages: 6
...Abstinence vs Condom Distributiom Sexual education was introduced to the American public school system in 1913. The superintendent of schools, Ella Flagg Young promoted the teaching of sexual education and implemented sex hygiene lectures in the Chicago, IL School system (Allen 17). The goal then was to reduce social problems such as venereal disease and prostitution by educating the public about sex. Now, in the beginning of the twenty-first century, goals are different, but the conflicting opinions on sexual education are still going on strong. Health promotion goals for teenagers include postponement of sexual activity until psycho social maturity and consistent use of condoms by those who do engage in sexual intercourse (Dillion 35). Most people agree with these goals to a certain degree. However, the tension arises when methods of meeting these goals are discussed. The following report explains some of the biggest issues dwelling around how the public schools should teach sexual education. The two ma! in options discussed are teaching abstinence and condom distribution. Throughout the US, school districts and states are basing their policies around these two ideas. The importance of this issue is very significant. Over last century, our statistics for teen health and sexuality problems have been getting worse and worse. The decision that we make now will decide if we: 1.educate and inspire our youth and the sexual health status of our youth improves for...
Words: 1244 - Pages: 5
