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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?
Teens don't want to hear "Don't do that!"
They hear that enough as it is. A more effective way in making the teens of today safer when it comes to sex, is educating them on what they can do to avoid pregnancy and STD's, not drilling them with don'ts.
- garzafanhc
March 2, 2009 8:48AM
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Teens Want a Strong Abstinence Message
- From Lifeway
By LifeWay Christian Resources - Biblical solutions for life
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That's great, but...
Since the reality is that people are having sex (possibly) before they are ready they should be able to do so in the safest way possible.
It a bit like saying that since policemen would rather not be stabbed they shouldn't wear stab vests. In the long run we'd all like a society where nobody stabbed anyone but in the mean time we should protect those who are risk.
Providing young people with education about the emotional side of sex and encouraging them to abstain may have positive long term outcomes but until you can convince everyone to live this way (which will never happen of course) it has dangerous short term implications.
By ignoring all other forms of sex education you may simply be deferring the negative outcomes you describe. An adult who does not understand contraception is just as likely to experience depression at (for example) an unwanted pregnancy. There is no reason to think that uneducated adults in a better position to protect themselves than uneducated teenagers.
- willsurvive July 24, 2008 2:21AM
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That is a lie
Congratulations on using what is obviously a very biased source. No one in their right mind would think that teens are just eager to be told they should stop having sex.
As a teen myself, and having jumped around from many high schools and having friends in different parts of the country in high school (thank you, internet), I can attest that your statement and your sources are outright lies.
Teens DON'T want to be told they shouldn't be having sex. Teens are already having sex, whether or not they say anything. The few students who aren't having sex are either doing it because they actually believe in abstinence only, they aren't interested in doing it, or they'd never have a chance at sex. Most teens, however, are having sex: and aren't going to stop any time soon.
Try using a non-biased source this time, or some common sense.
- Blue Linchpin
December 20, 2008 9:55AM
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Argument for Abstinence Education
Teens are at an unstable age where emotional instability, impulsive behavior, and increased hormone production takes control of their lives. These factors put teens at high risk of pregnancy without proper sex education. According to a reporter on "Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health", teens participate in lascivious sexual activity because they want to fulfill their individual needs of intimacy, social status, and pleasure. Teens live under tremendous peer pressure, and want to fit in. Having sex propels the teen's social status higher despite the added risks involved.No matter how tough an abstinence health class can try, teens will put their popularity status before a teacher or values learned in class. Teens are at a time in their lives where there is no balance,and everything is fluctuating all at once, which alters the choices made by teenagers.
Instead of focusing on the repetitive negatives of STDs and pregnancy, the focal point should be helping teens find alternative ways of increasing social status, finding intimacy, and pleasure. Teenagers are sexual beings, and what they are feeling is natural. They should not be pushed away from the truths that their bodies are telling them. In fact, promoting intimacy is going against teenager's wants of finding social status, intimacy, and pleasure, so they will indeed rebel. Teachers need to work with a similar mindset of a teenager, yet find more responsible ways of finding these goals in their teaching.
Teens have emotional instability, and have a desire for finding an absolute. They want to have intimate relationships just like adults do. However, they lack the maturity and proper decision making because of their still developing minds and bodies. Human affection is a primal need. In a time so unstable at the teenage years, a teen wants to have that one absolute in their life. When teachers criticize teens for wanting to find fulfillment of their voids, they rebel because they want to feel loved. They want to have sex. That need is primal. Consequently, instinct takes over.
Teens need to be taught not to hide from their feelings because their instinct and sex drives are too strong for them to hold back. If teens are continued to be taught with abstinence as the goal, it will continue to fail. Yale University researcher Hannah Breckner performed a survey that yielded results that " sexually active virginity pledgers were less likely to use condoms at first sex than non-pledgers" Breckner also noted that "pledgers were less likely to seek and obtain STD-related health care, possibly because of increased stigmatisation or misperception of infection risk among pledgers". http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2005/mar/23youth.htm
Through this survey, it shows that students encouraged through abstinence do not get educated enough about birth control, STIs, and other risks. These children need to be safe and protected through methods, not words. Words will not prevent a pregnancy. Knowledge and the use of preventative measures will.
Teens need to know the facts about sex. A program that will effectively keep teens safer is one that does not tell a teen, no, no, no. A teen would just rebel and commit sexual acts, but unsafely because of the lack of knowledge an abstinence only program gives to its students. Teens are at a time where decision making is not at its highest peak, but if they know how to be safe, and if they are taught to find social status, pleasure, and intimacy in other ways, than we will be speaking in terms that a teen will respect and is more likely to abide to.
- Kabunky
February 5, 2009 7:44PM
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Who are these teens?
While students may say that they want abstinence to be taught in schools, it seems that there is a pattern with teenagers that they like to have boundaries put in place in order to break them down. Although this may not be true for all teens this broad generalization is much like the argument that "engaging in premarital sex often leads to depression." While something such as the act of having sex, with emotions behind it, may lead to depression, there are also things such as drugs, family problems, bad grades, low self-esteem, ect. that led to depression. While "seven in ten teens said they did not think it is okay for high school age teens to have sexual intercourse", who are these seven teens that believe this? Have they simply never had the opportunity to have sex? Or are they saying it is not right for high school age teens to have sex, and then being one of those teens having sex with their significant other? Also, the morals of these teens must be taken into account. Based on one's religion, environment they were raised in, and even gender can effect what a teen’s decides to do in their personal time. This should not effect what teens are taught in school since all teens do not feel the same about this issue. Just because teens do not feel like they want to have sex does not mean they should not be taught want to do if the situation arises. Without the education in schools, teens that want to take the precautions will be forced to look towards possibly unreliable sources for their information. Now does this world want teens being educated by trained teachers who will honestly and carefully answer all of their questions, or would it rather the future generations search the internet or even go into a sexual act without any information?
- Shay
February 9, 2009 8:57PM
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Exactly
Statistics that merely state the opinions of ten teens don't show any reliable information whatsoever. These are incredibly biased statistics and I don't even see any information as to where these teens go to school or even their gender.
- Kurtis34
February 11, 2009 9:35AM
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I totally agree.
I agree with all of what you said. Statistics depend on the auidence that is asked, so those people could have been all students that practice abstinence. The people who become depressed after haveing prematrial sex are probably more depressed because they thought they were 'in love.' I also agree when you say that a person's enviornment, gender, and religon effect the decison a person makes. A person makes the decison for themselves, unless of course they are taken advantage of. Because a person makes the decison for themselves, abstinence-only sex-ed shouldn't be taught. It shouldn't be taught because a person needs to know how to take care of themselves.
- HAYDEN
February 12, 2009 10:14AM
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Ways to "make love" without actually "doing it"
I agree. While teens are falling so deeply into what they believe is "love", their hormones are raging and they are filled with so many emotions that they become overwhelmed and the only way they know how to express such strong feelings is to engage in intercourse with the girl/guy they are dating. Maybe if teens were shown different ways to express themselves and their feelings (such as through writing, or music, or art) they could show their special person they love them without "making love". But I find it interesting that in the statistic this argument shows, the teens that now wish they had waited for marriage until having sex, well...didn't. So obviously whatever we are teaching kids about "abstinence-only" isn't working because even though they may wish they hadn't done "it", they did.
- trotterk88
February 11, 2009 10:43PM
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Beware:
Not all teens are going to chose abstinence! Obviously it's not the best idea for adolescents to jump right into sex, but that doesn't mean that some won't chose to do it anyway. Teaching only abstinence methods of sex education will set those other individuals up for stds and pregnancy. You can't just pretend like that population of kids doesn't exist and leave them open to such consequences.
- tripleayex
February 15, 2009 9:10AM
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From a teen
if my school taught abstinance only sex ed almost everyone here would have sex just to rebel against the school.. i'm a firm believer in abstinence but.. that's only cuz i learned about sex and i'm scared i ain't gonna ruin my life by gettin pregnant but.. with the proper use of contraceptions it can be prevented and with an abstinence only program teens aren't going to know about how to prevent it.. which is really what teens need to be taught.
- DaisyMarieGeorge
March 11, 2009 10:08PM
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