Abstinence-only education teaches children to abstain from sex until marriage, but leaves out instruction on birth control. Critics argue that it has not significantly reduced adolescent sexual activity and contributes to problems such as STDs and high rates of teenage pregnancy. Many recommend a two-pronged approach that includes teaching both abstinence and contraceptive methods.
Abstinence-only education refers to sex education programs that teach children, often starting in the fifth or sixth grade and continuing through high school, that abstaining from sex, usually until marriage, is a plan better than being sexually active. These programs tend to leave out any instruction in birth control methods and focus only on why teens shouldn’t be sexually active. While it’s hard to disagree with the idea that adolescents would be better off waiting until they were mature enough to engage in sexual relationships of any kind, it’s hard to dispute the kind of problems abstinence education alone has created. Several abstinence support programs are the only ones funded by the US government in the school setting, and the results of those programs suggest that success is minimal and that there are harmful factors associated with this method of instruction.
It can’t be argued that when a teenager complies with abstinence-only recommendations for education, they certainly won’t risk becoming pregnant or contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Even in programs that teach birth control, abstinence education is available, and adolescents are encouraged to abstain. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that since abstinence-only education programs began in schools in the 1990s, they have significantly reduced adolescent sexual activity. Additionally, critics of the program in schools also point to misrepresentations about birth control failure rates to protect against unwanted pregnancies or STDs.
A 2007 US Congressional study of abstinence-only education did not find that participation in these programs significantly reduced the number of teens having sex. In a controlled study, children who participated in the program and children who did not both had the same rate of sexual activity (within a few percentage points). About half of the participants and non-participants were sexually active at age 16. In each group, those babies who had sex were equally likely to use birth control. However, both groups show a worrying trend. Neither group used birth control to a desirable degree, and this affected numerous medical associations.
Many groups criticize the programs, with the main concern being that a failure to teach contraception is contributing to problems in the United States, especially an increase in the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases and especially the AIDS virus, and one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy (about 900,000 pregnancies per year) in a developed country. It should be noted that the pregnancy rate has decreased since abstinence-only programs for education began. The primary critics of this educational plan are as follows: the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Many groups recommend that abstinence alone has its upsides and agree that it should be part of any sex education program. Promoting abstinence and teaching how to say no, abstain, and wait are also excellent. Some groups recommend a two-pronged approach; teach abstinence first, but also teach contraceptive methods. It is clear from studies that abstinence-only education does not prevent all adolescents from having sex, and that many adolescents have sex without the benefit of protection to prevent pregnancy or STDs. The critics mentioned above recommend the two-pronged approach so teens who choose to have sex have more insight into how to make sex safer.
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