Another great essay

Student
Melissa Favara
English 101 T
22 February 2008
Comprehensive Sex-Education Programs Compared to Abstinence Only Programs
As I sat in the O.B. waiting room at Vancouver Clinic, a young girl, no more than fourteen years of age, slunk deep into her chair, humiliated while her mother criticized her pregnant state ruthlessly. The young girl looked helpless, trying to unattach herself from the situation, as if she wanted to curl up into a ball and hide. Three out of ten teenage girls (31%) become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 – more than 750,000 teen pregnancies a year (“Statistics” 8); as you can see, this young girl is clearly not alone. Teen pregnancies have risen three percent in the last year after a long fourteen-year drop (Kotz 1), and yet the method of sex-education programs in public schools remain the same.
Some health experts believe that the increased rate of teen pregnancies is due to abstinence oriented programs, while others remain confident in an abstinence approach (Kotz 1). An abstinence approach emphasizes the exclusion of any sexual relations before marriage, leaves out all essential sexual and reproductive health education, eliminates information on contraceptive use, or only supplies failure rates surrounding the use of all contraceptives (“Abstinence-only sex education” 1). Sarah Brown, chief executive officer of the nonpartisan National Campaign to prevent unplanned teenage pregnancies, feels that a really good sex-ed program should get teens involved through discussions circling relevant school culture, gang membership, and sex parties (Kotz 2). Brown’s idea of a more comprehensive sex-ed program was backed by a recent analysis released by the nonpartisan National Campaign to prevent unplanned teenage pregnancies. The study revealed that a comprehensive sex-education program delays a teenager’s first sexual experience, improves contraceptive use, and decreases the probability of unplanned teenage pregnancies (Kotz 2). So why do we continue to be the “leading industrialized nation for STDs and teen pregnancies” (Lottes 1) when clearly, we have the answer?
The federal law only permits funds to public schools that teach abstinence as the only way to avoid STDs and unplanned pregnancies, although two thirds of federally supported sex-ed programs provide students with miss information about contraception and abortion risks (Kotz 2). Abstinence-only advocates (conservative congress and religious groups) rally together to achieve a more reinforced abstinence-only program, while studies released by the Mathematica Policy Research have shown no difference in the rate of sexually active teenagers, STD contractions, contraceptive use, or teen pregnancies between abstinence-only taught teens and teens with no prior sex-education (Kotz 1-2). “Abstinence-only programs are ideology driven, and are not a good use of our public-health dollars,” says Marilyn Keefe, director of reproductive health and rights at the nonprofit National Partnership for Women and Families (Kotz 1). Fifteen states have declined federal funds for abstinence programs due to their inability to provide teens with sufficient knowledge on sex-oriented issues (Kotz 2).
When responsible adults do not educate teens, ignorance threatens their health and personal safety (Gaiter, Martel 1). Today teens frequently ask where their cherry is and if it really pops during intercourse; the majority of teenage girls do not know that the hymen, referred to as a cherry, can be broken through sport like activities; a broken hymen does not prove that your virginity has been taken, although many believe otherwise (Gaiter, Martel 1). Male teens believe/imply that their partner is not sexually satisfying unless they bleed during intercourse, implying that pain must be involved in order to reach ecstasy (Gaiter, Martel 1-2). This distorted male teen viewpoint dehumanizes females, implying inadiquacy towards those who wish to have a non-painful experience (Gaiter, Martel 2). Many teens believe that pregnancy cannot take place in a position called doggie style; high school and middle school age girls participate in oral and anal sexual activities as a way to preserve their virginity as well as a way of avoiding STDs and HIV/AIDS (Gaiter, Martel 2). When teens are asked about their probability of contracting STDs and HIV/AIDS, most feel that they are out of harm’s way if it is their first time or if they are in a current relationship and do not feel that they have promiscuous tendencies. If most teenagers share the above viewpoints, then it is easy to see how our education system’s abstinence oriented programs fail to meet our teenager’s needs. If abstinence-only taught programs aren’t sufficient, then what forms of comprehensive programs would better educate our teens?
According to Fabio Piccini, a doctor and Jungian psychotherapist, appropriate sex-education can prevent the spread of STD’s, teen pregnancies, and unnecessary abortions, build resistance towards peer pressures, build awareness between the differences in male and female views of romantic relations, and prevent some sexual problems in adulthood (Piccini). Without proper sex-education, teenagers would be learning about sexual relations through pornography, which gives a false sense of truth (Piccini). Even though teenagers should be getting the majority of their sex-education from parents, parents tend to lack the proper sex-oriented knowledge and are not comfortable with the topic; therefore, sex-education needs to be provided within public schools (Piccini). Sex-education needs to begin early in a child’s life, building knowledge throughout the following years where that knowledge will be entered into the category of common knowledge, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic (Piccini). If our children are brought up fully informed, the fight to lower STDs, HIV/AIDS, and teen pregnancies can succeed.
As parents, we are obligated to offer our teens a sex-education program that will meet all needs, answer all questions, as well as prepare them for adulthood. Our teens need to be fully educated on reproduction, emotional ties brought on by intercourse, opposite sex point of views, sexual relations, contraception, STDs, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, abortion, prevention, resistance to peer pressure, as well as the obvious: abstinence is the only foolproof way to avoid STDs, HIV/AIDS, and pregnancy. Since abstinence-only programs have the same effects as a non-existent program, it is our duty to supply our teens with a more comprehensive sex-ed program that has already been proven successful.














Works Cited
Statistics. Feb. 2007. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. 17 Feb. 2008
http://www.sadd.org/stats.htm#pregnancy.
Kotz,Deborah. “A Debate About Teaching Abstinence.” U.S. News & World Report 142.23
(2007): 28-28. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Clark College, Lewis D. Cannell Lib.17 Feb. 2008. http://www.clark.edu/Library.
Lottes, Ilsa L. “Sexual health policies in other industrialized countries: are there lessons for the
United States? - Statistical Data Included.” Journal of Sex Research (2002): 5. 17 Feb.
2008 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2372/is_1_39/ai_87080446/pg_2.
Gaiter, & Martel, Jatrice. “Let’s Talk About Sex and Health.” Essence 32.2 (2002): 214.
Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Clark College, Lewis D. Cannell Lib. 17 Feb.
2008. http://www.clark.edu/Library.
Piccini, Fabio. Sexual Education in Schools, Sex Education For Teens. Web4Health
Online 12 May 2007. Web4Health. 18 Feb. 2008
http://web4health.info/en/answers/sex-education-achools.htm.
“Abstinence-only sex education.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 20 Feb. 2008 Wickimedia
Foundation. 23 Feb. 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstinence-only_sex_education.