Abstinence Only Education

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Teen pregnancy is a big problem facing society today. In 2013, there were 26.5 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19. The states with the highest teen pregnant rate are among the following: New Mexico, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana. One thing all of these states have in common is abstinence only education (AOE). Abstinence only is a form of sex education that teaches not having sex outside of marriage. This also excludes any education on birth control and safe sex practices. AOE programs contain inaccurate information that can often times be straight up lies, they use shaming and scare methods to get their point across and are misogynistic. Abstinence only education is damning on youth today who are very impressionable …show more content…
Waxman, it showed that in federally funded abstinent only programs, over 80% of the information is fabricated and heavily uses religion in place of science. In another instance a 2004 investigation by the House Government Reform Committee, they found that of the 13 commonly used abstinence-only curricula taught across the US, only 2 were factually accurate. Some of the false information provided included things like, HIV can be transmitted through sweat and tears, more than 10% of women who have abortions become sterile, and that touching others genitalia can result in pregnancy. In actuality, HIV is transmitted though bodily fluids yes, but not sweat and tears. It is spread through blood, sexual fluids and large quantities of saliva (buckets full). Only abortions preformed unsafely will cause sterilization, and even that is unlikely. The last one is very obvious, but can be sometimes overlooked by teens who literally know nothing of …show more content…
Its purpose it to educate teens and young people about their sexuality in a positive way so that they can make an educated decision on what they want to do. It is meant to teach them the risks of having sex, what safe sex consists of, how to prevent STI's, pregnancies, as well as a general knowledge on the human anatomy. Teens need sex education. I thought for the longest time that females urinated out of their vagina and not their urethra. Sex ed is also very important in teaching consent. In resent studies done in a college, students were asked if a certain scenario meant that someone was consenting to the act of sex. 40% said yes, while another 40% said no. It's damning when consent is being taught ambiguously. Especially when young people are thought that girls who dress “promiscuously” are “asking for it.” Some may not even now that what they are doing is rape, and others may not realize that they are being raped because they are taught that certain things mean you are consenting. Such as clothing, or your own bodies reaction. There are no blured lines when it comes to consent, but teens are not being taught that. In only 13 states is it required that sex education be medically accurate. When you are taking a history class, it isn’t up for discussion whether or not the material is suppose to be historically accurate. Why should it be when it comes to sex
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