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Essay On Comprehensive Sex Education

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Comprehensive Sex Education Teenage pregnancy rates are higher in American than they are in most other industrialized countries. This is a direct cause of the prominence of abstinence-only-before-marriage (commonly known as abstinence-only) education in United States schools. Besides teen pregnancy, abstinence-only education does more harm to America’s youth. There is a debate being discussed about how sexual education should be taught in schools. Even though abstinence-only education in schools promotes abstinence, a comprehensive sex education provides teenagers with accurate information, has community support, and empowers youth. Comprehensive and abstinence-only education are two very different approaches to the teachings of sexual education. Comprehensive education provides extensive information about contraceptive use, prevention of STDs, and sexual health while also promoting abstinence. It is an open-minded program that exposes students to some controversial topics like sexual orientation and gender identity while other types of programs often shy away from these discussions. On the other hand, abstinence-only education programs promote abstinence as the only option for teenagers and young adults …show more content…
They openly teach students about LGBTQ youth, and “by affirmatively recognizing that people have different sexual orientation and teaching pupils about gender identity, LGBTQ youth will be safer in school” (“California” 9). All comprehensive programs are “culturally appropriate and unbiased, without promoting a religion” (“California 9) while abstinence programs unfairly include the “marginalization of gay and lesbian youth” (LeClair 291-322) in their programs. Religion shouldn’t be at all included in any of this information but some of the most popular abstinence-only programs “blur religion and science” (“Comprehensive”). All in all, comprehensive programs welcome one and all, without

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