Lgbtq Diversity

The US teen pregnancy rate is at 72.2%, which is larger than any rate in Western European countries. Sex education can solve the problem that we see, and possibly lower that rate. It can benefit kids by informing them about everything involving sex instead of sheltering them from the truth. Abstinence-only education is the other option that is typically used, but creating a program to cover everything and not exclude some children who have different beliefs is the overall goal. This program should be offered for all students as a mandatory course because of the amount of information that is to be gained by teaching about sex, relationships, protection, STD’s, and sexual orientation.

Additional research has explored the effects of abstinence based programs on actual behavior outcomes. Kohler, Manhart, and Lafferty (2008) compared the effects of abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education programs, operationalizing effectiveness in terms of initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy rates. They found that teenagers who received comprehensive sex education rather than abstinence-only or no education were significantly less likely to report a teenage pregnancy. In addition, their conclusions mirrored Sather and Kelly (2002), finding that abstinence-based programs did not reduce the likelihood of engaging in sexual activity. Kohler, Manhart, and Lafferty (2008) actually concluded that comprehensive sex education was more likely than abstinence based to reduce the percentage engaging in sexual activity. Overall, the researchers showed that comprehensive sex education, including but not limited to contraception, did not increase the prevalence of sexual activity in teenagers or the risk of teen pregnancy, while also showing the that abstinence only education produced a higher likelihood of pregnancy.

In 2005, nearly half of all high school students have had sexual intercourse. Plainly stating that abstinence programs do not work (USA Today). Abstinence programs were beneficial many years ago, but since they are ineffective in delaying teen pregnancy, then teen pregnancy rate has increased. Abstinence programs teach the “no sex until marriage” clause, but they don’t teach teens about birth control and the consequences of having sex at before they’ve matured. Although many studies argue that abstinence programs are educational and beneficial, other studies will show that they don’t delay teen sex, they don’t prevent the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), and are a waste of taxpayers’

Even though sex education has been proven to lower pregnancy and abortion rates among teens, for years people have argued that comprehensive or safe-sex education encourages early sexual activity instead of steering the thought away. However, the main issue is not education about sex but specifically what kind of education. In 1986 Planned Parenthood commissioned a poll to determine how comprehensive sex education which teaches about abstinence as the best method for avoiding STDs and unintended pregnancy, when affected behavior. Much to the agency’s disappointment, the study showed that kids exposed to such a program had a 47% higher rate of sexual activity than those who’d had no sex education at all. In contrast, a 1996 study on “Project

We all want to see pregnancy and sexual transmitted disease (STD) rates among adolescent become nonexistent. But each year twelve million unfortunate adolescent contract in STD and more than one million teenage girls become pregnant (IDPH). Therefore, the government pushes abstinence-only programs on adolescent in hopes that this would be the solution to this difficult problem. Unfortunately, these programs do very little to stop the increasing rates, but now have only pushed teens to continue in their sexual behaviors, along with denying them the tools to properly protect themselves. Even though research has disproven that abstinence-only programs work, comprehensive programs are still not being used in school. This is because there is an

Sexual education programs taught in high schools nationwide would be much more effective if instead of focusing exclusively on abstinence only programs, they taught a much more comprehensive program, which informed the adolescents how to be safe when it comes to dealing with sexual activities. Abstinence only programs are the widely favored programs of the past and of present time, but now more and more adults are starting to believe their children would be better educated if they were involved in a more comprehensive program, that not only emphasized the teachings of abstinence but taught their children how to be safe, and how to deal with the consequences of their sexual

Sex education programs decreases the risk of young adults getting pregnant and the reduce of STDS. The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS examined sex education programs. Out of 53 interventions, 22 “delayed the onset of sexual activity, reduce the number of sexual partners or reduce unplanned pregnancy and STD rates,” the UNAIDS analysis concluded (Fingers). Sex education teaches the use of contraceptives that have reduce teen pregnancies and STDS.

In 2007, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy created Emerging Answers 2007. In this work, research and numerous findings on the benefits of sex-ed were compiled. An example of one of these findings is that no programs that teach sexual education have any correlation to an increase in sexual activities. Research has also found that when students are taught about sex-ed they are more likely to practice safe sex. “Studies show that when teens are educated about condoms and have access to them, levels of condom use at first intercourse increase while levels of sex stay the same...According to a study by researchers from Guttmacher and Columbia University published in the January 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, approximately 86% of the decline in teenage pregnancy in this country between 1995 and 2002 was due to dramatic improvements in contraceptive use, including increases in the use of individual methods, increases in the use of multiple methods, and substantial declines in nonuse. Just 14% of the decline could be attributed to a decrease in sexual activity” (“Comprehensive Sex Education”). These results make it very clear that sex-ed is what is best for America’s youths. In fact, America is somewhat conservative compared to other countries, as many

Research conducted by the National Campaign to End Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy to examine prevention programs, showed a strong experimental design and used appropriate analysis of comprehensive sex education programs. 40% of researched comprehensive sex education programs resulted in delayed sexual initiation, reduced the number of sexual partners, or increased condom or contraceptive use (Kirby, 2001). 30% reduced the frequency of sex, including individual return to abstinence, and 60% reduced unprotected sex (Kirby, 2007). Public opinion polls consistently show more then 80% of Americans supporting comprehensive sex education in high schools and in middle or junior high schools (Advocates for Youth, 1999; Kaiser Foundation, 2004). 85% believed teens should be educated on birth control and pregnancy prevention techniques (Kaiser Foundation,

Studies not only show that abstinence only programs do nothing to delay the age at which teens and young adults begin having sex, but they also fail to provide any information about alternative and necessary healthy sexual behaviors ((Santelli, J., Ott, M. A., Lyon, M., Rogers, J., Summers, D., & Schleifer, R, 2006). Humans are sexual beings, and yes one of the ways to avoid STI’s and pregnancy is through abstinence. However, these programs decline to take into account or acknowledge that these teens will inevitably become sexually active at one point or another, and in turn fail to equip them with the proper knowledge on how to be safe when they do make the choice to have sex. Making sex taboo does not create a population of well-informed young people with safe sex practices and it definitely has not aided in resolving the epidemic of teen STI’s. Rather it has exacerbated it by denying youth with the correct information and tools they need to make well informed healthy

“Teaching only about abstinence is like teaching ‘a driver 's education course in which teachers show students grisly photos of traffic accidents but never tell them to stop at red lights or buckle their seat belts’" (Wagle). Sex education is often a hot topic of debate within the States, where high school teens often receive some form of sexual education. However, the quality of this information varies from state to state and even district to district. Although there are many different definitions, the one being applied here is that abstinence-based curriculum teaches that the only truly effective way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and other sex related risks is by not having sex. This includes severely limited or no information about contraceptives or ways to lessen the spread of disease. On the other hand, comprehensive sexual education includes information not found in abstinence curriculum and resources about STDs and prevention, various contraceptive methods, healthy relationships and rape, and are inclusive towards queer and trans experiences. Sex ed is an important part of education, and a comprehensive sexual education is critical in both reducing teenage pregnancies and STDs and promoting health and good choices.

Rates of sexually transmitted disease (STD), teen pregnancy, and teen births are higher in the United States than in the majority of other industrialized countries (Kohler, Manhart, & Lafferty, 2008), indicating the controversial role that sex education plays in the initiation of sexual activity. In contempt of teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates are the highest among other developed countries (Kohler et al., 2008), and few public health evaluations on the effectiveness of formal sex education have been conducted. With a large social issue prominent in the United States, it is imperative to determine the differences based on formal sex education and whether abstinence-only education, comprehensive education or no education decrease health risks among adolescents (Kohler et al., 2008).

According to 48 studies of comprehensive sex and STD/HIV education programs in US schools; there was found to be strong evidence that such programs did not increase sexual activity. Some of them reduced sexual activity, or increased rates of condom use or other contraceptives, or both (Forrest & Kannabus, 2009).

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 (Klein, 2005). Comprehensive/realistic sex education needs to be instilled in schools because it is effective at assisting young people to make healthy decisions about sex and to adopt healthy sexual behaviors and habits. Comprehensive/realistic sex education has a monumental effect on today’s youth, resulting in a rabid drop in teen pregnancies, teen abortion rates, and sexually transmitted infections between teens. Unlike abstinence until marriage programs that have not been shown to help

There is a lot of controversy over teaching comprehensive sex education among people, some people believe that teaching comprehensive sex education causes rates of teen pregnancy and STI/Aids rates to go up. Just like we keep up with teaching the youth Math and Science, we also need to keep them up to date on issues like Sex Education. This is important so the youth can be aware of these things like STIs when they are adults and know how to protect themselves, and possibly others .“There is no evidence that teaching kids to use condoms causes a spike in sexual activity”(“Comprehensive”). In past surveys ninety percent of Americans over the age of eighteen felt sex education was very important to include in public school curriculum.Comprehensive Sex education has been proven statistically to be better than teaching abstinence only education. The population council declared that Abstinence only programs are ineffective at preventing teen pregnancy and STI’s.