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?
Widespread premarital sex has created severe economic and social costs, not to mention the personal pain it places upon teenagers and their families. In pure economic terms, researchers estimate that adolescent childbearing itself costs the taxpayers $6.9 billion each year. Some estimates put the figure even higher. When other disadvantages faced by adolescent mothers are factored in, the cost to taxpayers leaps to between $13 billion and nearly $19 billion per year.
Most of the costs of teen childbearing are associated with negative consequences for the children of teen mothers, including increased costs for healthcare, foster care and incarceration. More than 80 percent of these young mothers end up on welfare. As their children grow, they are more likely than children of later child bearers to have health and cognitive disadvantages, and to be neglected or abused. The daughters of adolescent mothers are more likely to become adolescent moms themselves, and the sons are more likely to wind up in prison. Such children also have a higher risk of getting in trouble in school, becoming high school dropouts and living unproductive lives.
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