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?
Please select the category that most closely reflects your concern about this content,
so that we can review it and determine whether it violates Civility 101 or isn't
appropriate for some other reason.
Abusing this feature is also a violation of Civility 101.
Explanation:
1
11
7
8
1
1
1
1
6
2
2
Biweekly updates on new debates and experts
Please check your email to confirm your subscription.
© 2008 Opposing Views, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Opposing Views, Inc. is not responsible for the content posted on this website. Please view full disclaimer under Terms
But Abstinence-Only Education Doesn’t
- From APHA
By American Public Health Association - Protect, Prevent, Live Well
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
This argument only works on paper
Sure it would be nice if children followed everything you taught them and if they did we wouldn't need to teach them about protecting themselves. Here's the catch, they don't listen. However much we would like our children to wait until marriage most of them don't and when they don't know how to properly protect themselves they end up getting pregnant.
Lets now weigh the cost to society of a baby born to an unwed mother versus the cost of education and subsidized birth control. We teach them sex is bad and they do it anyway THEN they're so ashamed they cover it up and are less likely to get proper maternity care increasing their risk of premature birth. I don't know the numbers but I'd rather pay for birth control than a couple of weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit for a teenage mother's unintended pregnancy.
- EAnthes
December 9, 2008 3:17PM
Reply to this Recommend (2)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Virginity Pledges
They don't work. I've seen peers take them. I've taken one. They don't work.
What the youth of America deserves is information that can be life-saving. Not a blatant sidestepping of necessary information.
"Just don't do it" is authoritative and most teenagers want to make decisions on their own rather than hear an ultimatum. It's ignorant and terrible. Everyone deserves access to the truth from experts and most kids expect their "sex ed" class to have the most accessible experts. If they don't get truthful information from this source, they might not get it at all.
Trial by fire is a primitive concept, especially when dealing with an issue like sex. Do we not trust tomorrow's leaders to make their own informed decisions about something so significant and so central to life? Abstinence-only sex education is elitist.
- goldenbear16
May 14, 2009 10:04PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.