Films such as Juno, which tells the story of a teenage pregnancy resulting from boredom, reveal an alarming fact: teenage pregnancy in the United States has risen to one of the country’s most rampant problems. This issue stems from many factors, but lack of instruction in contraception and disease prevention is by far one of the most prominent causes. The flawed practice of instructing students by using abstinence-until-marriage-only curricula without safe-sex instruction as well results in horribly unprepared and uneducated teenagers. I believe that due to the extremely inconclusive nature of abstinence-only education, the federal government should not rely only upon such programs; rather, the government should utilize the comprehensive sex education curricula so as to avoid leaving teenagers ignorant of the consequences of sexual activity.
Sex education, commonly referred to as sex-ed, instructs teens about all things concerning sex, from puberty to dating advice; the program often includes abstinence as part of the curriculum but not as the fundamental basis of the entire program. On the other hand, abstinence-only or abstinence-until-marriage curricula fervently refuse to discuss any means of birth control other than abstaining from sexual activity until marriage. These curricula neglect to teach students about proper condom usage or other such fundamental topics, leaving the students without vital information. As a result, a breeding ground for transmission of disease through unprotected sex and teenage pregnancy outside of marriage has erupted amongst the nation’s youth, the future generations of our country. An even more disturbing fact –abstinence-only instruction is only banned from curricula in sixteen states. This translates to roughly one third of the country, even in the best of circumstances. The government does not send two thirds of our army into battle unarmed and unprepared; why should they send two thirds of us, the future, up against such enemies as AIDS and HPV without sufficient knowledge?
In contrast, sex education follows the age-old adage, “Always be prepared!” The program does so by informing teenagers about pregnancy, puberty, contraceptive use, and sexually transmitted diseases. Sex-ed does not waste time preaching to deaf ears about the “rising incidence of STDs, emotional and psychological injuries, and out of wedlock childbearing” that result from sexual activity. Instead, sex education programs take necessary time to educate students on a vast array of topics, such as the numerous contraceptives available and their proper usage. Sex education programs prepare students for sexual activities and the possible resulting consequences while the abstinence-only programs merely scare students into ignoring their insistent, hormone-riddled, bodies. The abstinence-only programs rarely allow students to receive information concerning birth control or condoms and merely instruct teens to wait until marriage to become sexually active.
In tenth grade, I enrolled in the standard health class. In this class, I did not learn much about why I should not have sex or how to protect myself were I to decide to become sexually active; instead, I learned just enough about STDs and contraceptives to suit the curriculum’s scare tactics. Though I cannot speak for my peers, I know from my own experience that scare tactics do not work. They leave me fearful, which in turn makes my reasoning and logic sloppy and inconclusive. Thankfully, I am not cursed with parents embarrassed about “The Talk,” so I have had enough instruction about sex and contraception and pregnancy to make clear decisions. But I know many teenagers do not have a reliable source of information concerning the topic. I see the girls five, six, eight months into pregnancy in the hallways, walking towards their next classes. Surely everyone has at some point. They embody the epidemic of teenage pregnancy alongside the much larger population of teenagers suffering from STDs such as Chlamydia, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, or even AIDS. These diseases as well as teenage pregnancy embody the true enemies of today’s youth. Young people, in many cases, remain utterly vulnerable because they do not have the one true useful weapon: knowledge. Knowledge of the consequences of sex –all of the consequences –is the most valuable defense any teenager has against pregnancy or disease. In making sex an uncomfortable subject –one for behind closed doors only after marriage –and in teaching ideals that force teens to ignore insistent impulses, the government has left us defenseless and unprepared against disease and pregnancy. I believe that in refusing us this one little favor, the government has done today’s youth a great injustice.
No comments:
Post a Comment