ipl-logo

Argumentative Paper On Abstinence-Only Education

483 Words2 Pages

Argumentative Paper Outline Template: Fill in EACH section.

Introduction

Attention Grabber/Hook: The National Institutes of Health reports that “abstinence-only sex ed is not effective in preventing teen pregnancy and will actually make the problem worse (Roseen).”

Background Information: Abstinence-only education is education that prohibits discussion about birth control for reproductive purposes, unless used for hormonal regulation.

Thesis (with at least 3 thesis divisions and counterclaim): Abstinence-only education is a bad way to teach adolescents about safe sex and emergency contraception, doesn’t increase knowledge about infections and diseases, and won’t reduce the number of adolescents having sex.

Body

Thesis Division #1

1. Topic …show more content…

Support and Evidence for Thesis Division #2 (including research!):

Concluding sentence/Transition to Thesis Division #3:

Thesis Division #3

Topic Sentence: Teenagers are curious, teaching them about safe sex will make them less interested about sex.

Support and Evidence for Thesis Division #3 (including research!):
The percentage of young females who were being taught about birth control methods has decreased 10% in recent years, and it has decreased 5% in young males (Andrews). In a program called “Sex Can Wait” participants from the high school reported that right after the sessions, sexual activity had decreased, but not in the 18th-month follow up (Kim).

Concluding sentence/Transition to Counterclaim:

Counterclaim

Topic Sentence: Some people believe that teaching abstinence-only education would prevent sex in adolescents and would have no negative consequences.

Support and Evidence for Counterclaim (including research!): However, abstinence-only education wouldn’t teach youth about safe sex and emergency contraception, it doesn’t increase knowledge about infections and diseases, and it won’t reduce the number of adolescents having sex.

Concluding …show more content…

"Even as Birth Rates Fall, Teens Say they are Getting Less Sex.." Kaiser Health News, 29 Apr, 2016,
SIRS Issues Researcher, 11 April, 2017. http://sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=0000384129&type=ART

Kim, Christine. "Evidence on the Effectiveness of Abstinence Education: An Update." The Heritage Foundation. The
Heritage Foundation, 19 Feb. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2017. http://www.heritage.org/education/report/evidence-the-effectiveness-abstinence-education-update

Paquette, Danielle. "Fewer Teens having Sex, Research shows." Washington Post, 23 Jul, 2015, pp. A.2, SIRS Issues
Researcher, 11 April, 2017. http://sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=0000373827&type=ART

Roseen, Hanna. "Abstinence-Only Sex-Ed Fails Nation's Youth." University Wire, 25 Feb, 2016, SIRS Issues Researcher,
10 April, 2017. http://sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=384147&type=ART

Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F., and David W. Hall. "Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need
Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S." PLoS ONE. Public Library of Science, 14 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Apr.
2017.

Show More
Related
360 Words | 2 Pages

Emma Elliott, a writer for the Concerned Women for America organization, compiled a pamphlet in 2005 in support of an abstinence-only based sexual education system. Elliott establishes her argument in a unique countering organization. She presents a popular claim about sexual education and then refutes it with a reason supporting abstinence. In general, she includes eight mainstream beliefs. The first one is rather general where she refutes that “Abstinence education doesn't work”, and she continues to say that is does and backs up her argument with multiple studies, such as the program “Best Friends” caused 80% less possibility of sexual activity.

Read More
2442 Words | 10 Pages

Sex is a major part of most people's lives. It is important for us to teach teens how to approach this topic in the proper manner. Children are taught using either the abstinence or preventative method. It is undetermined which one is better, but in this paper there will be a comparison between two states, one who teaches a preventative method, California, and one who teaches with the abstinence only method, West Virginia. STDs are an important topic.

Read More
1467 Words | 6 Pages

Professor Ross Government 2306 8 February 2015 Is Abstinence-only education the correct approach for Texas? Owning one of the highest rates of teen pregnancies in the Union, Texas has an abstinence only approach in sexual education to try to reduce pregnancies? In addition to this, Texas ranks first as being the top spender in sexual education, but can’t get solidified results out of its spending. Texas doesn’t teach anything about contraception, how the Texas Department of State Health Services has said that the mission of the program is to delay sexual actions among teenagers until they are old enough, and the use of abstinence only education to protect children from explicit content only to find out in their own way leads to curiosity

Read More
1047 Words | 5 Pages

Cqpress. Cqpress, 26 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 July 2017.

Read More
1311 Words | 6 Pages

In a study it was found that “pledgers in that statistical universe had a 51 percent rate of being HPV positive, whereas only 33 percent of non predgers were found to be HPV positive” (UMass Amherst). Pledgers of abstinence almost had twice the rate of non-pledged, people that the other side would think of them being more at risk for an STDs. This high rate shows that stressing so much the importance of abstinence can cause a derail in the information on how to practice safe sex in addition to raising the STD rates. Abstinence failing can also be seen in “Mississippi… state with abstinence-only education mandated in public schools suffers from the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country” (Helmick). High rates of teen pregnancy should be a red flag that something that schools are teaching is not working for their students.

Read More
736 Words | 3 Pages

A federally funded investigation in 2007 showed that in abstinence-only education programs, students were no more likely than those not in the programs to “delay sexual initiation, to have fewer sexual partners, or to abstain entirely from sex”. Many other studies have had the same

Read More
1455 Words | 6 Pages

The goal of each of the three studies I reviewed was to “evaluate the current sex-education approach in the United States and to identify the most effect educational approach to reduce the high U.S. teen pregnancy rates” (Stanger-Hall, 2011, p. 2). Within the articles, the studies proved that abstinence-only education does not reduce the risk of teen pregnancy in America. Abstinence-only education is actually linked to increased teen pregnancy rates throughout all three

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

Among the most developed countries, America has the worst sex education programs. The abstinence-centered programs used are insufficient and can be detrimental to youth’s psychological health. Unlike abstinence programs, comprehensive sex education programs teach students responsible and healthy sexual behavior along with healthy relationships with parents, peers, and friends. The only type of sex education that is federally funded is abstinence-centered programs. The United State’s current sex education system needs to be more consistent and sufficient for today’s time because it is outdated and can have a harmful effect on youth’s health.

Read More
1088 Words | 5 Pages

Sex education in general is taught in most United States high schools, and the curriculum typically falls under three separate types, only one of which can even be remotely considered a viable education. The first and potentially most damaging is coined “Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage programs” which do what it sounds like they do: advocate waiting to have sex until marriage. They typically have little to no information about what sex actually consists of outside of biological names for various organs, and have no information about contraceptives, the risks of teen pregnancy or topics such as rape or sexual assault. The second type is “Abstinence-Only”, which of course advocates that students wait to have sex, though perhaps not specifically until marriage. However, unlike the “Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage”, it does provide essential information about some topics.

Read More
1792 Words | 8 Pages

The first reason abstinence-only sex education should be abolished in schools is because its excludes a variety of important information and distorts the information it does share. According to “Abstinence Education,” those who disapprove of abstinence-only sex education “feel that the program fails to provide enough facts for young people to make an educated decision about losing their virginity” and doesn’t teach “teens how to protect themselves against disease and unintended pregnancies, by using contraceptives, such as condoms and birth control pills.” Even if abstinence-only programs wanted to share this information, they “are required to withhold information on contraception and condom use, except for information on failure rates.” Additionally, “Abstinence-only curricula have been found to contain scientifically inaccurate information, distorting data on topics such as condom efficacy, and promote gender stereotypes.” Finally, “Abstinence-only policy violate the human rights of adolescents because they withhold

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

A study released in 2004 by Rep. Henry Waxman found that “over eighty percent of abstinence-only curricula supported by the HHS contained false, misleading, or distorted information about abortion, contraception, and gender roles” (Bruggink p.4). According to the abstinence-only curriculum, condoms are only used for protecting against unwanted pregnancy, and do not have good success rates. According to the Center for Disease Control however, that is false. “When used consistently and correctly, male latex condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV” (Workowski). Also, the federal definition of abstinence-only education states that the standard for students amongst sexual activity is to abstain from sex until marriage.

Read More
1229 Words | 5 Pages

Sexual education is a hot topic right now, and the rise in the debate over it is due to the United States having one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in almost all developed nations. The debate stems from the idea that educating teens about safe sex will make them more likely to do it, but that is not the case. Comprehensive sex ed programs do not encourage teens to have sex, but instead teach them the pros and cons of sex in an unbiased manner. Abstinence only programs are ineffective in general, fail to give teens the tools they need to lead sexually healthy, and hurt teens further by encouraging the idea that sex is an obscene and taboo subject.

Read More
695 Words | 3 Pages

Teaching this generation the facts about safe sex and sexual education will lower the rate of teen pregnancy and keep teens safe greatly, as well teach them the physical facts and decimate the flawed myths. ​ ​ If students were taught sexual education teen pregnancy would be lowered. 41% of high school students who are sexually active don’t use condoms. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) if teens were taught sexual education in schools they would learn that condoms are effective 98% of the time in protecting pregnancy.

Read More
1796 Words | 8 Pages

There are many other, more beneficial, methods of sex education, with the most popular one being comprehensive sex education. Many pro-abstinence supporters believe that comprehensive sex education encourages young teenagers to go out and have sex. However, “[r]esearch clearly shows that comprehensive sex education programs do not encourage teens to start having sexual intercourse; do not increase the frequency with which teens have intercourse; and do not increase the number of a teen 's sexual partners” (Frohnapfel-Krueger). Despite most pro-abstinence people’s beliefs, there is significant proof to support that talking about the consequences of sex does not encourage teens to have sex. As well, it is safer for the teens that do have sex to know how to do so safely than to just assume that no teen will have premarital sex.

Read More
947 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction 1. Attention Getter: The provision of sex education in schools has been a controversial subject matter among different education stakeholders ranging from parents to educators. A focus, however, on the prevalence of adolescents’ abortion, pregnancy, and HIV and AIDS rates indicates significantly high rates.

Read More

More about Argumentative Paper On Abstinence-Only Education

Related Topics

Open Document