Teaching Morality More Important than Sex Education in Public Schools

People such as President George W. Bush has made no secret of his view that sex education should teach teenagers "abstinence only" rather than including information on other ways to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Unfortunately, despite spending more than $10 million on abstinence-only programs in Texas alone, this strategy has not been shown to be effective at curbing teen pregnancies or halting the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. (2010 Union of Concerned Scientists) In addition, the Bush administration distorted science-based performance measures to test whether abstinence-only programs were proving effective, such as charting the birth rate of female program participants. In place of such established measures, the Bush administration required the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to track only participants' program attendance and attitudes, measures designed to obscure the lack of efficacy of abstinence-only programs. (Federal Register 65:69562-65, November 17, 2000). This

Many questions and concerns have come about regarding this promotion of condoms being distributed in public schools. Will it lower teen pregnancy rates? Will condoms reduce sexually transmitted diseases? Will the distribution of condoms in public

Limbaugh uses statistics to prove that condom failure rate can be as high as 20 percent and compares it to the safety of an airplane. The statistic used for the condom proves to be incorrect since the failure rate of a condom is very low ranging from 2 to 4 percent if used correctly. The comparison used between the lives of passengers in a plane to the failure of a condom used by any being is far off since condoms sold as a

You experience a terrible feeling in your stomach as you rush to open and proceed to put in on. Afterward, you noticed that the condom wasn't put on correctly and had ripped. The feeling in your stomach is worse than before. But, this can be prevented if teens were taught how to properly have safe sex and put on a condom. Using a condom is effective with preventing STDs and pregnancies 98% of the time. Imagine if all teens used condoms if they decided to have sex. And, if they were taught how. In the end, teaching teens how to use a condom in se education will reduce the risk of contracting diseases and

From 1955–1965, 42% of Americans of reproductive age relied on condoms for birth control. In Britain from 1950–1960, 60% of married couples used condoms” (Condoms and Sponges). Although the idea of this pill was before World War II, the pill was made available to the public in 1960. If those using condoms were aware of the stronger ability the pill had over the condom, the pill would have all power. Condom selling companies would try to overpower us with their promotion during World War II but to prevent that we would use propaganda and allow the public to see statics of being impregnated using these two methods. Although the FDA or allied soldiers would want to ban this pill, mass pills would be made and distributed to all locals.

Since the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the U.S. in the early 1980s the issue of sex education for American youth has had the attention of the nation. There are about 400,000 teen births every year in the U.S, with about 9 billion in associated public costs. STI contraction in general, as well as teen pregnancy, have put the subject even more so on the forefront of the nation’s leading issues. The approach and method for proper and effective sex education has been hotly debated. Some believe that teaching abstinence-only until marriage is the best method while others believe that a more comprehensive approach, which includes abstinence promotion as well as contraceptive information, is necessary. Abstinence-only program curriculums disregard

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

“Don’t have sex because you will get pregnant and die!” (Mean Girls). This famous quote said by Coach Carr, the health teacher, in the movie Mean Girls swarms the brains of teenagers all over the world. While this quote is quite extreme and is making a mockery of abstinence only programs, it’s analogous to what teachers across the nation are reciting to brainwash our youth. Abstinence-Until-Marriage programs are implemented in numerous high school and junior high schools across the country. While the title seems promising, “Mathematica [Policy Research Inc. (on behalf of U. S. Department of Health and Human Services) found that through] evaluation, [there’s] no evidence that abstinence-until-marriage programs increased rates of sexual abstinence” (What the Research Says…). Teaching a course that isn’t beneficial is meaningless and merely a waste of time. These curriculums use fear tactics to scare children away from sex, reinforce gender norms, and provide inaccurate medical information. Schools that provide abstinence only programs are denying our youth factual, substantial knowledge and survival skills. Instead, these schools should consider an abstinence-plus program, also known as a safe sex contraception education, for their students.

There are many different types of safe and effective birth controls including condoms, IUDs, birth control pills, the rhythm method, vasectomy, and tubal ligation. Once the IUDs and implants are inserted, they are 99% effective for 3 to 10 years. On the other hand, the pill is only 91% effective and condoms are 82% effective. However, recent studies have shown that birth controls have dropped birthing rates significantly over the years. In Colorado, 48% of the teen birth rate and the teen abortion rate dropped over a span of five years. In St. Louis against their peers nationwide, pregnancy and abortion rates were significantly lower when it comes to their sexually active teens (McClain, D., 2015). These statistics show great evidence regarding the impact birth control has on people who are sexually active, and it is important for women to reach out and prevent unintended

The reminder of this film made me realize that this tactic can cause psychological damage and horror to the persons subjected to such experiments. Second, according to Hoff, Gregorich, & Grinstead (2008), limitations were “generalized only to women attending family clinics. Because of use of clinics in the trial study, an oversample might have occurred with regard to those whose interests were in female-initiated barrier needs. Third, the accuracy of data might have been compromised by reliance on self-reports” (pg. 7). This study of limitations showed that women who used or did not use condoms may or may not have increased safe sex practices with men. Third, experimental design limitation described by VanWormer, Martinez, Benson, & Crain found that “generalization of countries may appear to have differences in sampling approaches. Next, external validity might affect the internal validity of the conclusion. Afterward, standardized procedures seem to show some difference between countries that could not control” (10). A sampling of surveys found that social economics and psychological factors were important factors, but bigger contributions such as age, gender, socioeconomic, and education levels affected the results significantly depending on certain factors. Finally, Vilarruel, Cherry, Cabriales, & Ronis (2008)

There are many problems facing teenagers these days. None are bigger than the issue of underage sex, and all the issues stemming from it. The number of teenagers becoming sexually active, pregnant, and contracting sexually transmitted diseases are rapidly on the rise. There is no simple fix, or easy solution to this problem. Sex education should begin at home, and extend to include an effective program in schools that reinforce a clear message of abstaining from sexual activity in addition to informing students of the risks posed by engaging in sexual activity. The political, and religious dissension on this issue has resulted in a procedural stalemate preventing schools from effectively addressing the problem, and implement a

It has been almost thirty three years since the first federal funding was put to use in “. . . sex education programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage to the exclusion of all other approaches . . .” according to the article “Sex education” (2010) published by “Opposing Viewpoints in Context;” a website that specializes in covering social issues. Since then a muddy controversy has arisen over whether that is the best approach. On one hand is the traditional approach of abstinence (not having sex before marriage), and on the other is the idea that what is being done is not enough, and that there needs to be a more comprehensive approach. This entails not only warning against sex, but also teaching teens about how to have

Programs that encourage abstinence have become a vital part of school systems in the US. These programs are usually referred to as abstinence-only or value-based programs while other programs are called as safer-sex, comprehensive, secular or abstinence-plus programs which on the contrary promote the usage of effective contraception. Although abstinence-only and safer-sex programs disagree with one another, their core values and stand on the aims of sex education is to help teens develop problem-solving skills and the skill of good decision-making. They believe that adolescents will be better prepared to “act responsibly in the heat of the moment” (Silva). Most programs that have been currently implemented in the US have seen a delay in the initiation of sex among teens which proves to be a positive and desirable outcome (Silva).

Controversy is rampant regarding the sexual education of grade school children. Some insist that it is prudent to educate children on this subject beginning as early as kindergarten. Others strongly disagree that earlier education has any effect at all on teen sex and pregnancy and, therefore, abstinence should be the focus. Lastly, we have those who believe advocating abstinence is appropriate, but agree that a more in depth sexual education is also necessary for those who are going to have sex anyway despite our best efforts to teach them otherwise.

Coinciding with the onslaught of the new millennium, schools are beginning to realize that the parents are not doing their job when it comes to sexual education. The school system already has classes on sexual education; these classes are based mainly on human anatomy. Most schools do not teach their students about relationships, morals, respect, self-discipline, self-respect, and most importantly contraceptives. Everyday students engage in sexual activity, many of them with out condoms. This simple act jeopardizes these students' futures and possibly their lives. An increasing amount of school systems are starting to combine messages involving abstinence from sexual activity,