Sex Ed., just the mention of it brings flashbacks to a room filled with giggling preteens. Despite that image, sex education should be taken seriously. What is taught to young people early on about sex, impacts their lives as adults. Abstinence only sex education teaches students to wait until marriage for sex, often leaving out details about STDs and pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education gives students medically accurate and evidence based information about sex, providing them with the knowledge they need to have safe sex and healthy lives. Despite comprehensive education being the most informative method, in 2014, abstinence only programs received $55 million dollars in federal funding, as indicated by the State Profile from …show more content…
A study of abstinence only education in relation to pregnancy rates in 48 states across the U.S. was performed in 2005. A positive correlation was found in the level of abstinence taught and pregnancy rates, from an article by David W. Hall, Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, published by PLOS One on October 14, 2011.
2. Second, students aren’t informed about STDs, HIV/AIDS, and other possible sex related health complications.
a. A quote from Emily Bridges, MLS, in an article published by the Future of Sex Education (FoSE) in 2014, stresses the need for a reformation in sex education curriculum in schools with this alarming statistic, “Young people ages 15-24 account for 25% of all new HIV infections in the U.S. and make up almost one-half of the over 19 million newly diagnosed STD infections Americans acquire each year.”
b. Virginity pledges ( /// ) are a key problem in the lack of STD education because students don’t know the risks of other sexual interactions. A quote from Peter Bearman, Ph.D., in an article published by Science Direct in April 2005 reports, “Because virginity is often culturally linked only to vaginal sex, to preserve virginity, adolescents and young adults may engage in other sexual behaviors that involve exchange of fluid and are thus salient for STD acquisition.” …show more content…
This Act would also promote inclusion for all students as highlighted by the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2013, published on the website Congress.gov in 2013, it “Prohibits programs funded under this Act from discriminating on the basis of actual or perceived sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion.” 3. Some might argue that abstinence only sex education is the most effective way to teach.
a. The concern about comprehensive sex education is that when students learn about growth and development, they will be influenced to have sex at an earlier age.
b. In a study by Science & Success, previously cited, 14 of the 26 comprehensive programs analyzed, did infact delay the the first time students had sex, and when students did engage in sex, they used contraception and STD prevention methods. On the other hand, abstinence programs method of preventing sex, virginity pledges, were found to be ineffective for prevention by Science Direct, previously cited.
III. Conclusion
(Summary) On a final note, abstinence only programs are giving excluding and misleading information to young people about sex. As a result of this, they 're putting student 's health at risk, so these programs need to be eliminated from school curriculum for that