...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...
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...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...
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...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...
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...(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 junction rectifier to the misuse of a number of society’s most outstanding resources. Non-“abstinence-only-until-marriage” sexual education in establishments of education, bolstered by doctors, parents, and/or guardians within the stages preceding pubescence, is crucial as a method of combating rising rates of teenaged pregnancies and STDs. It isn’t uncommon for folks to feel that they're...
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...Promotes Self Respect d. Promotes Safe Sex e. Reduces STDS f. Educates on how to properly use birth control 2. Provides another source for teens to go to discuss safe sex a. Nurses b. Coach 3. It will tell teens it’s okay to have sex 4. Safe Sex still starts at home this is not a replacement a. Education is power b. Providing a feeling of respect not shame c. A place to speak openly Let’s Talk about Condoms in High School Statistics has shown that 70% of teen girls that have given birth drop out of school (Mangel, ACLU). Within two years 25% of these young women will give birth again and only one third of them will receive a high school diploma (Stanley J. Swierzewski). Will offering condoms in schools help reduce this epidemic? Yes it will; teen pregnancy rates in southern schools are much higher in Southern States compared to Northern states by about 30% (Steenhuysen). Providing birth control to teenagers will allow them another source to get protection. Teen pregnancy will cost North Carolinas over one billion dollars a year, also North Carolina has the 9th highest teen pregnancy rate (ACLU). Boys would be allowed to get condoms from their coaches and in a lot of cases boys would feel more comfortable going to his coach then his parents. This will also help bring down the STD rate as well. Half of all new STD including HIV...
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...Gresle´-Favier, 2013, writes that “Sexual abstinence before marriage education, commonly known as abstinence-only education, teaches sexual abstinence before marriage as the only means of preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). As for contraception/ protection (birth control or condoms), this is only alluded to in order to underline the failure rates of these methods.” And at 16-22 these youths, given the accurate information can and will make their own decisions, doesn’t it make more sense to give them accurate information for which to base those decisions? “Western views of human rights have traditionally recognized the rights of individuals to lead their lives as they see fit, as long as they do not impinge on the rights of others. In this framework, individuals are considered able to make rational decisions and as being the best judges of their own interests. This agency has, traditionally, not been accorded to children who are considered not rational and mature enough to act in their own best interests. This approach of childhood has been increasingly challenged in the past decades as children have been growingly considered as competent social agents.” (Archard 1993). Also the adults aged 18-22, are just that, adults, there is no logical...
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...Who is Responsible for Sex Education? Writing 291 Joseph A. Marco 22 July 2010 Public schools systems have been implementing sexual education into their classrooms as a regular part of instruction for decades. Ongoing controversies exist when dealing with this issue whether sex education being taught in the public schools or whether it should be considered the responsibility of the parents. It seems most parents are either for or against it and very rarely are they standing on middle ground. Given the statistics does it matter who teaches the children of the United States the basics of sex education? Children should receive a basic unbiased and informative sex education in school, from their it should be the parents responsibility. By their 18th birthday, six in 10 teenage women and more than 5 in 10 teenage men have had sexual intercourse. Of the approximately 750,000 teen pregnancies that occur each year, 82 percent are unintended with more than one quarter ending abortion. The United States continues to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world – almost twice as high as England, Canada, and Wales and eight times as high as the Netherlands and Japan. In addition to the teen pregnancy rate, the teens in the United States contract roughly nine million new sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) each year. Though teens in the United States have levels of sexual activity similar to levels among their Canadian, English, French, and Swedish...
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...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...
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...many of these youth fail to obtain a high school degree. The costs of failure in high school are growing, both for the individual student and for society overall. Mathematica researchers have conducted many of the most important studies of at-risk youth and interventions designed to address their educational needs. Synthesizing Lessons from Dropout Prevention Programs We have studied a diverse array of dropout prevention approaches, ranging from small programs in a single school to those designed to address the dropout problem in clusters of schools or entire school districts. Mathematica's staff are also principal investigators for the What Works Clearinghouse comprehensive review of evaluations of dropout prevention programs. Our staff are assessing the strength of the evidence on the effectiveness of dropout prevention initiatives and synthesizing the lessons from these studies for policymakers and educators. Re-Engaging Out-of-School Youth Youth who drop out of high school represent a loss of human potential. For the Office of Vocational and Adult Education within the U.S. Department of Education, Mathematica conducted case studies of six dropout recovery programs that help youth ages 16 to 21 return to school, earn a high school credential (either a diploma or GED), and prepare for further education and jobs. Drawing on site visit interviews and an analysis of school records, the study examined program goals and partners, admissions and attendance policies, instructional...
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...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...
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...be discussed at the sole discretion of the parent. With the focus of debate centering on whether or not sex education is best left to the parents, it is important to examine what exactly parents are teaching their children. Upon a review of the literature I found that the research regarding parents and children’s conversations about sex was lacking. Many of the studies were outdated or used questionable research methods. The purpose of this research project is to examine the experience of parent to child communication about sex. Literature Review The idea that knowledge has a direct impact on behavior faces a serious challenge when presented in the context of sex education. Much debate has centered on the efficacy of sex education programs in the U.S. as teen pregnancy, abortion, and STD rates continue to soar in spite of efforts to curb these negative trends. This debate is fueled by a societal shift in expectation relative to the purpose of sex education. Before the AIDS crisis and skyrocketing pregnancy rates of the 1980’s, sex education’s main goal was to facilitate open and honest discussion with adolescents regarding their...
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...Abstinence only versus Sex education in preventing teen pregnancy Anamika Laddha Chamberlain University Abstinence only versus Sex education in preventing teen pregnancy Introduction United States has the highest level of teenage pregnancy amongst the industrialized nations – nine times as high as Netherlands or Japan, twice as high as England and Wales or Canada. Over eight hundred thousand teenage girls get pregnant each year, most unintentionally (The Alan Guttmacher Institue, 2000). Four out of ten young women become pregnant at least once before age 20. Moe than 80% of these pregnancies are to unmarried teens (National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2004). Teenage pregnancy usually refers to girls who have not reached legal adulthood. World Health Organization defines Teenage Pregnancy as “any pregnancy from a girl who is 10-19 years of age,” the age being defined as her age at the time the baby is born. It is not limited to any social, economic, racial or ethnic groups. It is a serious issue that has effect on all of us and should be a concern from obstetric and socio-economical point of views. Factors Contributing to Teen Pregnancy The reasons behind teen pregnancy are complex, varied, and typically interconnected. As Sisson (2012) points out that teen pregnancy should not be looked as isolated issue and it must be understood within context of social complexities and inequities all of which needs to be effectively addressed in order to be one step closer...
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...society and the people who drink. This is usually implemented by our government. They create policies and social programs that can treat those afflicted with alcoholism. There are several ways that this can be accomplished, such as limiting access, and taxing the substance to reduce demand. There are also social programs put in place that can help educate, rehabilitate and help recover. This a strategy compared to zero tolerance carries a unique ability to be tailored to suit individual needs as opposed to a one size fits all blanket policy. The harm reduction policy stands on a principle that alcoholism will not be completely eliminated so it would be more benefit to address the negative harms. For instance as alcoholism can be a major problem at work, some companies provide someone as an advocate and counsel. These counselors can work with them to modify behavior and reduce alcohol related incidents and further harm to their self on the job and in their personal life. That is something prohibition policies cannot do for an individual person. The proponents of zero tolerance see the alcoholic epidemic as a disease and therefore cannot allow continued usage if the person is to be treated and recover. It is not looked at as merely a social or health issue. To support this, the Annual Review states "addiction as a progressive disease with no cure—only abstinence is accepted as a means of stemming the course of the disease, and even a single occasion of drug use is equated with...
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...One Nation Under God The United States of America is a country founded on religious principles and freedoms. Protestants escaping religious persecution in England came to the new world and planted the seeds of what would grow into a world superpower. The Native Americans, whose ancestors had been the first men to live there, became nothing but second class citizens. They were forced into slavery whilst dying by the thousands from disease brought by the white man. The pilgrims’ quest for religious freedom had brought ruin to an entire culture. Though it was the greatest, this genocide was not the last injustice done by religious organization in the new world. The framers of the United States constitution granted the right to freedom of religion among others. But all rights are limited; they cannot be exercised if they infringe upon another’s rights. Furthermore, despite claims of separation of church and state Christianity continues to take precedent over the rights and liberties of many citizens. Today one of the chief injustices regarding religion in America is tax exemptions for religious organizations. Proponents of tax exemption for religious organizations claim that there is no breach of separation of church and state. This claim is made on the grounds that by not taxing religious organizations they are not affiliating with them; therefore separation of church and state is attained. This logic is flawed to an unbelievable extent. The government electing not to tax religious...
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...To fully get the point across about why birth contraceptive should be pursed with carefulness, the consequences of abortion to women should also be made clear. Although educating people on the growing process of the fetus would be add to the help, it would be more advisable to instead have detailed examples on the detrimental effects of abortion that have on women. Although some seem to think that abortion is quick and easy solution, it is not, abortion has consequences, and women have a right to know about those consequences. People can help manufacture proper texts, graphs, images, and materials for this educational program, private educational companies could be hired by the Department of Education or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help reduce the expenses in return for using unbiased, impartial government...
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