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What should public schools teach our children about sex? It can be a complex question, especially when dealing with morals, social norms, pop culture, hormones and health. When students sit down for their sex education, should teachers embrace an abstinence-only policy?
Lifeway points to a RAND Corp. study that shows how effective abstinence pledges can be. From the author of that study (in the article Lifeway linked in their response): "'But that's not to say virginity pledges should substitute for comprehensive sex education, because a majority of teens do have sex, and even among teens who take virginity pledges, many of them have sex,' Martino says."
For those who know best how effective abstinence education can be, it's not sufficient. Comprehensive sex-ed is much more important than simple moralizing.
- jhstutzman July 31, 2008 12:33PM
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Abstinence-Only Programs Don’t Work
- From APHA
By American Public Health Association - Protect, Prevent, Live Well
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In a perfect world YES, but we don't live in a perfect world
In a perfect world it would be wonderful to teach abstinence-only and to believe that this would work for all children. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world and we much education young adults about the need for safe sex. We can put our heads in the sand and pretend that our abstinence teaching works wonders, but it's just not the case. Look at the statistics. So what are we to do? Teach abstinence first, but also, we must teach children about safe sex.
- marloma July 15, 2008 11:58AM
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Don't Lie To Yourself
Truthfully, I can't believe that health teachers go home at night and belive they truly stopped some underage pregnancy. In reality, no teacher, parent, pastor, or anyone can stop it, besides the teens themselves. So not teaching teens how to prevent and just saying "don't do it" really hurts them in the long run. Plus, teenagers lie all the time. Saying some oath is just like lying about what they're doing on a saturday night. They sugar-coat everything to make it sound better to their parents and themselves. Every person goes through the same pressures and problems. Teachers and adults just need to try to help and not try to live for these teens.
- Emily Barrett
January 25, 2009 5:41PM
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Dealing with Reality Not Intentions
Certainly, any teen may take a pledge to purity, with great intentions. But in reality, 88% of them end up breaking their pledge. So we MUST have a back-up plan, and this is why abstienence-only programs just don't work. Although abstinence is the ideal, we must educate teens about birth control, STDS, and the psycological effects of engaging in sexual intercourse. In the here and now, abstience oaths sounds like the straight and narrow, but when caught in the heat of the moment, teens are highly likely to fall off the path.
- trotterk88
January 25, 2009 6:54PM
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Agreed
I have to say the article is pretty much 100% correct. Abstinence only sex-ed programs don't work. The fact of the matter is that teens are going to have sex, and we need to make sure they know all the facts and consequences of their actions. Teens need to know what STDs are and how to prevent them if the have sex, and abstinence only sex-ed programs dont't get that message across.
- Luke2734
February 11, 2009 9:34AM
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if only
If teens would listen to abstinence only programs then I would have no objection to schools teaching only abstinence. The problem, however, is that as said in this article 88% of teens will have sex before marriage. This is a clear indicator that teaching abstinence only will not work. If teens are going to have sex anyway wouldn't you want them well informed on how to use contraceptives and how to stay safe from STD's?
- tator
February 26, 2009 2:17PM
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The Numbers are There
88% said they would wait until marriage and didn't. That says something. I wonder how many of those have/had STDs or unplanned pregnancies because no one taught them safe sex. At my high-school there is very little sex-ed. We're only required to take a semester of ' health ' which barely goes into sexaul education at all. Of all my friends that have sex, I don't know ONE that uses condoms.
- ieatcomputers
June 12, 2009 12:54PM
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