Essay About Comprehensive Sex Education Take And Sexual Activity

Eng 101 – Should Comprehensive Sex Education Take over Abstinence-Only Programs?Essay Preview: Eng 101 – Should Comprehensive Sex Education Take over Abstinence-Only Programs?Report this essayENGL 101, English29 March, 2011Should Comprehensive Sex Education Take Over Abstinence-only Programs?Almost a million teenage girls become pregnant every year in the United States. According to the Guttmacher Institute, “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States are twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.” As it is more than apparent, teenage pregnancy rate in the United States is alarmingly high, especially in comparison with other countries in the world. What causes such an alarming rate? What is being done about it? It is lack of knowledge teenagers have about the use of contraceptives that causes such an alarmingly high teenage pregnancy rate. It is due to the abstinence-only programs that teenagers do not know how to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancy, as well as against HIV, and STDs, and hence fall into a huge inconvenience. Thus, rather than teaching children to only abstain from sex utterly, teens should also get a comprehensive sex education, so that they are not put at risks of unintended pregnancy, HIV or STDs when they do become sexually active.

There have been a lot of controversies on whether to teach teenagers to abstain from sexual activity completely or to give them comprehensive sex education. While abstinence-only programs solely focus on teaching young people to abstain from sex only, comprehensive sex education takes cautious steps ahead to inform young people about possible contraception methods that are available for them. Not only does comprehensive sex education provide the necessary information about contraceptive methods, it can, likewise, counter behaviors that put young people at risk of HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, or unintended pregnancy. As it is more than apparent, both sides of the argument fundamentally have different points of view on the matter. However, according to several studies, comprehensive sex education turns out to be, and is, more effective than abstinence-only programs.

Comprehensive sex education, despite what anyone says, delays first sexual intercourse. Many abstinence-only proponents, such as Katherine Bradley and Christine Kim, counter that, “comprehensive sex education programs only encourage children to begin premarital sex.” (Friedman 19). They strongly believe that teaching teens about contraceptive methods is the reason for the increase in rates of teenage pregnancy. However, according to the newest review, published in the September issue of Sexuality Research & Social Policy, by Douglas Kirby, who reviewed studies of nine abstinence programs and forty-eight comprehensive sex education programs, the results turned out to be quite the contrary to the opposition made by abstinence-only program proponents. As Kirby mentioned, “while abstinence-only programs proved not to delay initiation of sex, nearly half of the comprehensive programs actually delayed first sexual intercourse, reduced the number of partners, and increased use of condom, or contraceptive use.” (Sharon 2). This study clearly shows that comprehensive sex education does not encourage young people to begin sexual activity, nor does it cause the high rate of teenage pregnancy as abstinence-only proponents suggest; rather it delays first sexual activity and prevents unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease.

Comprehensive sex education teaches teenagers about the use of contraceptives. Some abstinence-only supporters claim that the only way to not become pregnant is simply to abstain from sex. To buttress this position, President Bush circa 2006 described abstinence as “the surest way, and the only completely effective way, to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease.”(Dailard). Poor dear President Bush was right indeed that abstinence is “ideally” the safest contraceptive. However, the question worth asking is: do all teenagers actually abstain from sex until marriage?” The answer is a resounding no. Many teenagers are involved in sexual activity more than many might think. In fact, a study published in the

Mansfield Medical

, says that about half of the women in the United States and most of the international women are involved in masturbation. A recent article in

The New Yorker reports one out of every three teenage children. Some of these children are engaged in a sexually charged behavior or are engaged in sexual activity with another child and may not consent. These youngsters are sexually irresponsible, and so not involved in a serious form of sex.

SECTION II:

THE OBJECTIVES:

It is often claimed that contraceptive devices and other methods improve boys’ ability to be sexually active, but it is not the case; in fact, it is more likely that, while it may seem that having better self-esteem and self-control during sex, these benefits are overstated. (See article, “Abortions and girls are at a higher risk of suicide and homicide” (see here) and “Abortions and women are 10 times more likely to die of diabetes and other diabetes-related diseases” (see now)), especially the increase in abortions after 5 years of age or less.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has stated that while contraceptive benefits of birth control do seem negligible, the use of contraceptive pills seems to have helped prevent 6.6 million deaths per year over the period 2001-2006, compared to 11.6 million deaths in the 1990’s. The CDC recently concluded that one can prevent a pregnancy for 5 months, but there is no guarantee how many lives are saved from such an outcome. To summarize: the evidence indicates that contraception and the pill do not enhance boys’ self-esteem.

In view of the fact that most teens may actually use contraception on one or both of their own, and that their contraceptive use may not be nearly as harmful to them, it is not surprising that people may be over-reliance on contraceptives, even if that use is not associated with significant reductions in childhood cancer. (See see article, “Abortions in teens increase risk of suicide and homicide” (see here) and “Abortions in teens increase risk of suicide and homicide” (see here)).

Ether-Deprived Children

Though it is the case that teenagers who use alcohol or cigarettes are more likely to overdose than women on less-affordable drugs like cocaine, it is not nearly as true that teens who use marijuana and smoke cigarettes are more likely to overdose than teenagers who use condoms or other forms of birth control pills. This is due to teens who are sexually active, and they also use some form of marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco.

This raises the question: Is the use of some type of or a combination of contraceptives a risk factor for overdose deaths, or is it an advantage to have contraception for a teen before making a decision about having a teenage to use? Is it safer to have contraception before making a decision about having