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Abstinence Only Education Essay

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Recommended: Teenage pregnancy socioeconomic factors

Grace Lazar
Professor Jeanne Anderson
English 102-716
15 February 2023
Introduction and Research question Many teenagers in America have gone through health classes and have had some sort of sexual education. Sexual education is required by law in 30 states along with the District of Columbia, however, 19 of those states teach abstinence-only sex ed. While teenage pregnancy is at its lowest rate since 1946, the sexually transmitted infection (STIS) rate has been on the rise. Does teaching teenagers to stay away from sex and be abstinent do more harm than good? Teenagers deserve to know the truth, and not have critical information hidden from them. The problem of abstinence-only education does not only affect the teen, but also the public. …show more content…

Knowledge is power. Without that knowledge, you can become oblivious to the dangers around you. Abstinence-only education is withholding information that could potentially lead to teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). My main purpose in researching this topic is to gain a deeper understanding of both abstinence-only education and sexual education where all methods of birth control are taught. With that information, I would like to help educate others about comprehensive sexual education and why abstinence-only education is not the best choice to teach. The audience I want to reach out the most to are teenagers in high school. For teenagers, high school is a crucial time to learn about relationships, sexual health, and ethical decision-making. High school is a transitional period from teenager to young adult. Teenagers must be growing up with the proper education and knowledge on practicing safe sex. however, Teenagers aren’t the only group I would want my audience to be. reaching out to parents and politicians is equally important to me. Many older adults shame the thought of teenagers having sex and think abstinence is key. While it might be conceptually efficient, it is unrealistic. No matter how much you push abstinence, teenagers will still have sex. I want to use my newly gained information to try to help educate and inform the older generation of how comprehensive sexual education is a lot better for teens than abstinence-only …show more content…

The negative effects outweigh the positive ones. Within my sources, the factor of abstinence not affecting pregnancy or STD rates, and negatively affecting those rates are common. On the other hand, teenagers who had comprehensive sex education have a 50% reduced chance of teen pregnancy than those who had abstinence-only education. Despite there being little evidence that abstinence-only education works, the government continues to fund abstinence-only programs. To me, that seems like a total waste of taxpayers’ money. There are so many better things that money could go

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