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Matelyn Ellis

Dr. Bonnie Whitener

English 101

04 October 2019

Abstinence-based Sex Education in America

Many schools in America have some sort of a sexual education class or course available

to middle school and high school age kids. Depending on where they live or what school they go

to might correlate with what kind of sexual education they receive. They could take the class and

leave knowing what it is and make knowledge-based decisions on how they choose to use it or

not. On the other hand, someone could leave that class not understanding and possibly fearing

sex and all it comes with. Both sides of abstinence-based sex education have concerns about

adolescent knowledge on sexual situations. One side believes sex should stay behind closed

doors and just give a very vague overlay of what it is and why not to do it. The other side

believes they shouldn’t make sex seem scary and sweep it under the rug and rather inform

teenagers and kids on what it is, how it can be as safe as possible, and what possible

consequences could come along with it.

There are definitely pro’s and con’s to both types of education. They obviously shouldn’t

say that sex is so okay that you can go and use and engage in it all the time at such a young age,

but they should tell you what to do and what could happen if you decide to do so. I personally

think there should be a more informational approach to sexual education rather than the kind that

scares kids into or out of it. I also see where some school systems are coming from when they

prefer to be more abstinence-based with their sexual education classes. It can also depend on
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what kind of school you go to. If it’s a religious school or private school I can see why they

would want to shelter or keep the kids from a more open-minded way of sexual education.

As of right now, twenty-four states require sexual education, thirty-seven states require

an abstinence-based education with twenty-six of those states immensely stressing abstinence,

and eighteen states require a sexual education with forms contraception provided. In the past

recent years, teen pregnancy and birth rates have dropped dramatically. Saying this, sexually

transmitted diseases in teenagers have risen substantially in the last few years. This statistic is

one of the main reasons school systems have been pushing abstinence on adolescent kids. It is

believed that teaching abstinence will delay teenagers time of their first sexual experience and

maybe even reduces the number of sexual partners they have in their lifetime as a whole. With

all of this information, it seems like there are instances where sexual education works or it

doesn’t regardless of if it is abstinence-based or not.

Abstinence-only education also often fails to prevent teenagers from having sex or

engaging in sexual acts. The majority of schools teaching and preaching abstinence also teach as

if everyone is waiting for marriage, going to stay monogamous, and the kids will all only have

heterosexual relationships. Living in the day and age that we do, we know that these situations

are not always true. Americans are also tending to marry later in life or never marrying, so

teaching people to wait to engage in sex until marriage is beginning to become redundant and

outdated.

Abstinence-only education also tends to scare kids and makes it seem terrifyingly impure.

I doesn’t scare kids out of having sex, it just leaves them uneducated in consequences in things

like sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Instead of suffocating kids of
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useful knowledge, they should give and educate teenagers the means of stopping or preventing

all the possible consequences. Abstinence is the only one-hundred percent effective form of birth

control and will entirely prevent sexually transmitted diseases, but we do not live in a perfect

world where that will be the case for everyone. Saying that, no one should be shamed for

wanting to engage in sexual acts and rather be informed on the safest way possible to go through

with it.

Neither opinion on the matter is necessarily right or wrong they are just different.

Compromises can be made on how to fully teach the class without scaring anyone and also

informing teenagers. I think the class can be taught with open-mindedness about everything

including abstinence, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, and anything the

teenagers have questions on. I think it could be half class and instruction and the other half could

be questions and concerns the kids may have. The class could also be optional like an elective.

This approach could help with sifting through the immature teenagers who don’t care about it

and give the kids who do care the opportunity to learn everything they need and want to know.