Abstinence-only education. Especially in religious context, teenagers are taught to wait until marriage to have sex, yet some of these teenagers then become pregnant though being taught abstinence-only; much like the case of Bristol Palin, Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s daughter becoming pregnant though being taught to stay abstinent until marriage. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) also run rampant among teenagers that are taught abstinence only education. The article Red Sex, Blue Sex from The New Yorker states, “Communities with high rates of pledging also have high rates of S.T.D.s” (Red Sex, Blue Sex). Pledging meaning teenagers who vow to remain abstinent until marriage.
Clearly, teaching abstinence only education or having no sex education does not impede teen pregnancy or the spread of STDs in the manner that it should. Therefore, policy should dictate that abstinence should be taught as the primary sex education in school, yet also there should be an emphasis and safe sex. Condoms should be distributed freely to students in high school. Sex should not be taught as a “bad thing” to students and should be embraced as natural as long as long as teenagers are healthy and responsible.
Although these issues are not the only ones hurting American teens, their reformation will act as a conduit for other issues like child neglect and abortion. A developed society should be able to reform it’s policies when they no longer work in the modern context. A society’s foundation relies on a strong family unit and a healthy population of citizens to survive.
Work Cited: Margaret, Talbot. "Red Sex, Blue Sex." The New Yorker 11 Nov 2008 2 Dec 2008
3 comments:
"Abstinence-only education. Especially in religious context, teenagers are taught to wait until marriage to have sex, yet some of these teenagers then become pregnant though being taught abstinence-only; much like the case of Bristol Palin, Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s daughter becoming pregnant though being taught to stay abstinent until marriage."
This confuses me a bit, how do teenagers become pregnant through being taught abstinence only? Because they aren't taught to use protection?
I do agree that sex should not be taught as a bad thing but rather a very serious thing that should occur safely and with a caring partner.
Precisely correct.
I couldn't agree more. Sex educators in this light are primarily focusing on pushing the notion of abstinence until marriage. While this might initially seem to be the best course of action by such a system, the critical flaw is that they are not focusing on the advocacy of safe sex. There's a big difference between the two; while abstinence guarantees pregnancy prevention, it only does so if it is abided by - which it generally isn't. Safe sex, however, not only greatly reduces / prevents pregnancy in most circumstances, but also allows for people to experience sexual intercourse, as opposed to depriving them of it as abstinence would.
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