Eng 101 - Should Comprehensive Sex Education Take over Abstinence-Only Programs?

ENGL 101, English

29 March, 2011

Should Comprehensive Sex Education Take Over Abstinence-only Programs?

Almost a million teenage girls become pregnant every year in the United States. According to the Guttmacher Institute, "Teen pregnancy rates in the United States are twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan." As it is more than apparent, teenage pregnancy rate in the United States is alarmingly high, especially in comparison with other countries in the world. What causes such an alarming rate? What is being done about it? It is lack of knowledge teenagers have about the use of contraceptives that causes such an alarmingly high teenage pregnancy rate. It is due to the abstinence-only programs that teenagers do not know how to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancy, as well as against HIV, and STDs, and hence fall into a huge inconvenience. Thus, rather than teaching children to only abstain from sex utterly, teens should also get a comprehensive sex education, so that they are not put at risks of unintended pregnancy, HIV or STDs when they do become sexually active.

There have been a lot of controversies on whether to teach teenagers to abstain from sexual activity completely or to give them comprehensive sex education. While abstinence-only programs solely focus on teaching young people to abstain from sex only, comprehensive sex education takes cautious steps ahead to inform young people about possible contraception methods that are available for them. Not only does comprehensive sex education provide the necessary information about contraceptive methods, it can, likewise, counter behaviors that put young people at risk of HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or unintended pregnancy. As it is more than apparent, both sides of the argument fundamentally have different points of view on the matter. However, according to several studies, comprehensive sex education turns out to be, and is, more effective than abstinence-only programs.

Comprehensive sex education, despite what anyone says, delays first sexual intercourse. Many abstinence-only proponents, such as Katherine Bradley and Christine Kim, counter that, "comprehensive sex education programs only encourage children to begin premarital sex." (Friedman 19). They strongly believe that teaching teens about contraceptive methods is the reason for the increase in rates of teenage pregnancy. However, according to the newest review, published in the September issue of Sexuality Research & Social Policy, by Douglas Kirby, who reviewed studies of nine abstinence programs and forty-eight comprehensive sex education programs, the results turned out to be quite the contrary to the opposition made by abstinence-only program proponents. As Kirby mentioned, "while abstinence-only programs proved not to delay initiation of sex, nearly half of the comprehensive programs actually delayed first sexual intercourse, reduced the number of partners, and increased use of condom, or contraceptive use." (Sharon 2). This study clearly shows that comprehensive sex education does not encourage young people to begin sexual activity, nor does it cause the high rate of teenage pregnancy as abstinence-only proponents suggest; rather it delays first sexual activity and prevents unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease.

Comprehensive sex education teaches teenagers about the use of contraceptives. Some abstinence-only supporters claim that the only way to not become pregnant is simply to abstain from sex. To buttress this position, President Bush circa 2006 described abstinence as "the surest way, and the only completely effective way, to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease."(Dailard). Poor dear President Bush was right indeed that abstinence is "ideally" the safest contraceptive. However, the question worth asking is: do all teenagers actually abstain from sex until marriage?" The answer is a resounding no. Many teenagers are involved in sexual activity more than many might think. In fact, a study published in the