Premium Essay

Abstinence-Only Education Research Paper

Submitted By
Words 1599
Pages 7
The Ineffectiveness of Abstinence-Only Education and The Importance of the Implementation of Comprehensive Sexual Education Programs in U.S. Public Schools
Each of us deserves medically accurate and thorough information in order to make informed decisions about our health. Teenagers who are exposed solely to abstinence-only sexual education programs are not experiencing this right to information. Abstinence-only sexual education programs preach abstaining from sex until marriage, often omitting conversations about other significant topics of sexual health. Although practicing abstinence is the only sure way to avoid STIs and unwanted pregnancy, it is not realistic to expect all adolescents to remain abstinent until marriage as, according to …show more content…
Among other industrialized nations, the United States ranks first both in rates of teen pregnancy and in the contraction of STIs among teenagers (Stanger-Hall and Hall). The United States government has been funding primarily abstinence-only education programs since 1981 in attempt to reduce these rates. However, research suggests that implementing comprehensive sexual education programs – those that include detailed, medically accurate information on an array of sexual health topics – into all U.S. public schools would result in a decline in rates of teen pregnancy and in the contraction of STIs. Comprehensive sexual education programs are more effective than abstinence-only education programs in informing adolescents …show more content…
In 2015, three states – Texas, Alabama, and South Carolina – passed legislation requiring that only negative information regarding sexual orientation be provided to students (Marinelli). In Alabama, for example, – a state which requires that abstinence is pushed as the expected social standard for unmarried persons – public school course material and sex educators, when discussing sexual orientation, – if it is discussed at all – must include an “emphasis, in a factual manner and from a public health perspective, that homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state” (Thoreson). The Supreme Court invalidated Alabama’s criminal law against same-sex conduct nearly fifteen years ago; however, the law restricting the discussion or “promotion” of homosexuality in public schools remains. Educators have no choice but to omit LGBT-inclusive discussions. This leaves LGBT students relying on friends and social media for education on their bodies and how to stay safe and healthy in their sex lives. In fact, 78% of lesbian, gay, and queer youth along with 65% of bisexual youth aged 13-18 reported using the internet in search of sexual health information in 2011 (“American Adolescents’

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Teen Pregnancy

...pregnant, 1,100 teenagers attain an STD, and one young person contracts HIV (Carmona, Elders, & Satcher, 2015). At some point in history, presumably the decade of the 1980s, I too became part of a similar data set. I am the offspring of teenage mother. No matter if it is some thirty-three years ago or 2015, teenage pregnancy is occurring. The only exception between the two different decades is the magnitude of such adverse side effects that not only impacts the teenage mother, but others as well. In a majority of instances some sort of family member, or social worker, need to intervene and care for the child (since the mother can still be called one herself). As for my situation, I was very grateful to have both sets of my grandparent’s take over the responsibilities and duties that an adult mother and father typically account for. Granted, there was sufficient assistance to aid my teenage parents, but their irresponsibility, immaturity, and lack of knowledge for the future, divided both families forever. Which brings me to this; should the teenagers be blamed for the high pregnancy rates, or should the blame be laid at the feet of sex education programs and society around them, or rather a culmination of both? I believe we can’t just blame the individuals themselves. I feel it is the utmost responsibility and collective effort from the government, programs, parents, and role models around them to lay down the knowledge they need in order to make appropriate decisions so they can...

Words: 2689 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Document

...Sexual abstinence was the normal society lifestyle until the late 1950 s. Most men and women would not have ever slept with another person out of wedlock. While this sexual abstinence lifestyle was in effect, a mentality of independence struck the adolescence of the United States. They felt as though they must engage in sexual activity, just to defy society s view of Premarital Sex Premarital sex, an act that is practiced excessively in the world today, is not all that it is caught up to be. It definitely has more side effects than benefits. ... what was morally right. The reason sexual abstinence is an issue today is because many people claim premarital sex is wrong. People base their opinions on what the Bible has said. When the Bible is used to justify any means of behavior, it usually becomes a moral issue. The main issue at hand is whether premarital sex is classified as morally right or wrong. The Catholic Church claims that premarital sex is wrong and immoral. Premarital Sex Pre-Marital Sex During the twentieth century, premarital sex has become an important issue. Sexual abstinence was the normal society lifestyle until the late 1950 s. Most men and ... Not only does the Catholic Church believe this, so does nearly every other Christian faith. In many other countries, premarital sex is not as huge of an issue as it is here in the US. The basis for this is unsure, but religion and culture seem to play into it largely. In the 1990 s, the teaching of abstinence is beginning...

Words: 1704 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Contigency

...repeated. This is often used in the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse, and is being studied as a smoking cessation method. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit substance in the United States, with approximately 5.5 million regular weekly users and high prevalence among young adults. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in marijuana use as well as in rates of marijuana use disorders among adults in the 18- to 29-year old age range, most markedly among members of ethnic groups. This paper will define contingency management and how it is implemented by a competent and trained human service worker. By using contingency management the effective treatment of marijuana abuse and the ability to abstain will be investigated. Introduction Contingency management in medicine is a treatment plan that gives immediate rewards for desired changes in behavior. It is based on the principle that if a good behavior is rewarded, it is more likely to be repeated. This paper will define contingency management and how it is implemented by a...

Words: 3003 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Sex Education

...Edwards 1 Courtney Edwards Research Paper November 13, 2011 Pros and Cons of Sex Education in Schools Sex education in public school has been a controversial issue in the United States for quite a while now.   I feel like it really needs to be into schools with so many teen pregnancies, HIV and STD’s cases sex education is needed. Most of the American public believes that sex education should be taught at home by the children’s parents. They feel this way because the sex education programs in schools do not emphasize on abstinence instead they encourage the children to have sex instead. American culture is very sexually oriented. When you turn on your TV or listen to music sex   is all you can hear. The pros of sex education in school are countless. Sex education in school gives the kids opportunities to express themselves with their sexuality. It also prevents them from becoming parents at an early age. 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). By age 18, 70 percent of U.S. females and 62 percent of U.S. males have initiated vaginal sex. When expressing comprehensive sex education is effective at assisting young people to make healthy decisions about sex and to obtain healthy sexual behaviors. No abstinence-only-until-marriage program has been shown to help teens delay the initiation of sex or to protect themselves when they do initiate sex. The U.S. government...

Words: 1706 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Sex Education in Public Schools

...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

Premium Essay

Sex Education in School

...Sex Education in Schools Anquavese Jones ENG/102 06/26/2011 Becky Wilfahrt Abstract Teenage sex education is a topic of much debate in America’s schools because sex and its health related issues are prevalent in the lives of so many adolescents. Teenagers’ engagement in sexual activities has led to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, emotional and psychological injuries, and out-of-wedlock childbearing (Rector, 2002, para. 1). Therefore, schools across the nation have been charged with implementing programs that will educate the young about the risks of engaging in sexual activities before marriage. America’s schools use one of the two commonly known approaches in hopes to deter premarital sex. These approaches are abstinence education and comprehensive sex education. Abstinence education is a type of sex education that places strict emphasis on abstaining from sex until marriage. Comprehensive sex education examines abstinence along with sexual reproductive health education and contraceptives. This paper will examine both approaches and show that comprehensive sex education is the most effective method. Introduction Sex is a hot topic that reaches many children through the different mediums to include school, internet, radio, and television. An effective way to arm our children with important data concerning sex education is by providing abstinence education in our schools. According to Powezek, in the United States, maturation classes are usually implemented...

Words: 2288 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Ob Nursing

...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

Premium Essay

Drinking Age

...Increasing or decreasing the legal age at which people can purchase and drink alcohol has been a controversial issue for quite some time now. Some people say that it should be lowered because teens drink anyway, some say that it should increase or the stay the same due to health risk. There are many other viewpoints to both sides and in this paper we are going to explore both sides to the story Some believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered and we are going to explore why. They say if a person can go to war, shouldn’t he or she be able to have a beer? They American society has determined that upon turning 18 teenagers become adults. This means that they can enlist into the military to serve, fight, and potentially die for their country. Most importantly at age 18 you become legally responsible for your own actions. You can buy cigarettes even though in time you know that they can give you lung cancer. You may even purchase property, sign contracts, take out a loan, vote, hold office, serve on a jury, or adopt a child. But strangely at 18, one cannot buy a beer. In most other countries, the age of majority coincides with the legal drinking or purchasing age. Lots of people drink before they turn 21, despite the current legal drinking age. Doesn’t that prove that the policy is ineffective? The trend over the past decade is that fewer 12-20 year olds are drinking, but those who choose to drink are drinking more. Between 1993 and 2001, the rate of 20 year old who...

Words: 680 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Sex Education: Truth or Taboo?

...Kendall Hoyt ENGL 202-13 Research Paper Sex Education: Truth or Taboo? Each and every year the government spends over forty million dollars to support families that have resulted from teenage pregnancies (“Statistics on Teen Pregnancy” Question 1). However, the government chooses to only fund abstinence programs in schools. If a school chooses to have an abstinence plus birth control program, the government will not present them with any federal funds to help cover the costs of the program (Lindberg, Laura, Duberstein, and Isaac Maddow-Zimet 332). Not only will the government refuse to fund the program, but the parents are also scared such courses will negatively influence their children and churches say it goes against moral conduct. The church argument should be invalid if our country wants to live up to the separation of church and state. The church should not be able to dictate what students learn. However, that is beside the point. Until schools have the backing of the community and parents, this will not be changed. The media also plays a big role in negative influences on teen pregnancy. In my opinion, this is something that classes could change. Deciding on who should receive this education is another debate. Everyone should receive this education. The information is very helpful and useful. When asked about sex education, Helen B. Shaffer had this to say, “while sex education in the schools has become fairly prevalent, much of it still skirts around the very questions...

Words: 5410 - Pages: 22

Premium Essay

Pre-Marital Sex: Policy Implementation

...Pre-Marital Sex: Implementation Process Pre-marital sex has been a pressing public policy issue for decades. In the United States, numerous programs have been implemented to deal with the effects that pre-marital sex has had on the Nation’s economy and various other areas. In an essay prior to this paper, we looked at pre-marital sex from a public policy standpoint by judging the issue from five contexts: political, economic, social, historical, and ethical. In this essay, we will continue to examine pre-marital sex as a public policy issue, but we will be focusing on the policy implementation process; first by looking at what may cause it to be a problem, then by looking at the steps that the U.S. Government can take to find alternatives and implement policies, after we can look at policies that the U.S. Government has taken to fix the problem, and finally we will examine the most important criteria that is necessary to evaluate a public policy. Before I begin, I feel that it is important to draw attention to a portion of my first essay. Since we are looking at the implementation of policies, we must first come to a conclusion as to what the issue we are looking at affects most. Out of the five contexts examined in the first essay, I believe that the economic problems caused by pre-marital sex is the primary focus of the U.S Government; therefore, when looking for the root cause of the problem, we will be looking at it from the eyes of U.S policy makers and what they might...

Words: 2026 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Premarital Sex Research Papers

...God's view, the primary purpose of sex is not recreation,but rather re-creation. In other words, sex is for reproduction. God does notlimit sex to married couples to rob pleasure from those who are unmarried.Rather, God commands against premarital sex in order to protect unmarriedpeople from unwanted pregnancies, from children born to parents who donot want them, and to protect children from parents who are not preparedfor them. Imagine, for a moment, a world without premarital sex. Therewould be no sexually-transmitted diseases, there would be no un-wedmothers, there would be no unwanted pregnancies, there would be noabortions, etc. According to the Bible, abstinence is God's only policy when itcomes to premarital sex. Abstinence saves lives, protects babies, givessexual relations the proper value, and most importantly abstinence honorsGod.   Thus, as defined in the dictionary, an urge or shall we say, thoughts of manifesting them, is sex. (The Bible calls this lust) To have physicalintercourse is sex. Whether it is two unmarried partners or one married andone not - it is sex. Participating "up to a point" of actual physical intercourse,such as having oral sex, is sex. Societal trends don't change the definitions.Frankly, there is no line to draw; it is strictly a decision to engage in sexualactivity or not. There are many factors to consider in this choice. Included inthese factors are unwanted pregnancies, unwanted children, life-longemotional effects (regret, broken hearts and guilt are among them)...

Words: 2042 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Significant Relationship of the Student's Gender and Their Opinion on Sex Education

...the Addition of Sex Education in Basic Education Curriculum of Secondary Schools A Research Paper Submitted to the Teacher in Advanced Statistics Jose Panganiban National High School Jose Panganiban Camarines Norte In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Subject by: Angel Rose E. Manulid Mary Jane Castillo Jea Camille Abarca John Paul Panol March 23, 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have my sincere thanks to all the people who have contributed and helped me to work on this research study. This research would not have been possible unless my fellow group members did not helped me on gathering data or conducting a face-to-face survey on the students of Jose Panganiban National High School. I would also like to thank the students that had been asked and interviewed about our research and for those who gratefully answered our questions in a good manner. The preparation of this important document would not have been possible without the support, hard work and endless efforts of my classmates and my valuable friends to help me to finish this study and also to the work of the other group that became the basis of the format of this research paper. I would like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to my favorite and statistics teacher, Mrs. Marife Osorio, in spite of making our heads bleed and break through every 2:30 on the afternoon from Monday to Friday, for teaching us and making our knowledge wider about these research papers, statistical methods...

Words: 2486 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Resrach Paper for Teenage Pregnancy

...Teenage Pregnancy Unit Teenage pregnancy: an overview of the research evidence Introduction In 1999 the government’s ten-year national Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was launched. The main aims of the strategy are to: • Reduce the rate of teenage conceptions with the specific aim of halving the rate of conceptions among under-18s, and to set a firmly established downward trend in the rate of conceptions among under-16s, by 2010 • Increase the participation of teenage parents in education, training and employment to 60% by 2010, to reduce their risk of long-term social exclusion. This briefing presents headline findings from key research relating to teenage pregnancy and parenthood which has emerged (mainly) since the launch of the strategy. The topics covered include research on young people’s sexual behaviour; sources of sex and relationships information; what works in preventing teenage pregnancy; who is at risk of becoming a teenage parent; how to support teenage parents, and many more. It draws on a range of sources including systematic reviews of the effectiveness of prevention and support interventions, national surveys and primary research studies. The emphasis is on the UK and specifically English research. It was compiled by Catherine Dennison, Research Manager supporting the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. Although not representing a systematic or exhaustive search of the published literature, the briefing is intended to be of use to those engaged in implementing the Teenage...

Words: 7408 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

ENGL 122 Source Evaluation

... 2008. Web. 2 Oct. 2015. Instructions: This assignment will help you to develop your skills in evaluating sources and using them effectively in your research essays. Choose an article that is five or more pages from the Academic Search Premier database about a topic for which you have a deep interest. You will summarize this article in 100-150 words and answer the five questions that follow. Whether summarizing or answering the questions be sure to not copy directly from the article. Summary: Margaret Talbot writes about teenage pregnancy and how most of the teenage girls that this affects...

Words: 661 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Teenage Pregnancy

...Teenage Pregnancy Unit Teenage pregnancy: an overview of the research evidence Introduction In 1999 the government’s ten-year national Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was launched. The main aims of the strategy are to: • Reduce the rate of teenage conceptions with the specific aim of halving the rate of conceptions among under-18s, and to set a firmly established downward trend in the rate of conceptions among under-16s, by 2010 • Increase the participation of teenage parents in education, training and employment to 60% by 2010, to reduce their risk of long-term social exclusion. This briefing presents headline findings from key research relating to teenage pregnancy and parenthood which has emerged (mainly) since the launch of the strategy. The topics covered include research on young people’s sexual behaviour; sources of sex and relationships information; what works in preventing teenage pregnancy; who is at risk of becoming a teenage parent; how to support teenage parents, and many more. It draws on a range of sources including systematic reviews of the effectiveness of prevention and support interventions, national surveys and primary research studies. The emphasis is on the UK and specifically English research. It was compiled by Catherine Dennison, Research Manager supporting the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. Although not representing a systematic or exhaustive search of the published literature, the briefing is intended to be of use to those engaged in implementing the Teenage...

Words: 7408 - Pages: 30