P.S. I got a 95% on this paper. The prof said that everyone did worse on this one than the last one. I checked my last essay, I got 95% on that one too.
Did you know that 35 percent of American school districts mandate abstinence-only education in their schools (Collins 7)? Most completely ban any discussion on birth control, and if they do allow it, all discussions are brief. Is it morally responsible to teach kids only to wait until they are married to engage in sexual activity and not to equip them with the tools necessary to make responsible decisions about sex in the event that they decide waiting is not right for them? Absolutely not, it is wrong. It is comparable to teaching your child how to ride a bike but not teaching them how to use the appropriate safety gear, such as helmets, elbow and/or knee pads, and just teaching them not to fall down. It is irresponsible to teach abstinence only sex education in schools; it is more effective to teach comprehensive sex education to ensure that kids have the tools to make educated, responsible decisions about sex.
Supporters of abstinence-only programs believe that if kids learn about contraception and birth control that kids are more likely to engage in sexual activity. They think that the kids will view that not as an attempt to protect them, but the adults essentially giving kids permission to have sex before they are married. Some supporters encourage kids to sign virginity pledges so that they can be held accountable to someone to uphold their promise to wait for marriage.
However, they do not take into account that not every kid who is taught to wait will in fact wait. The kids that choose not to wait are at risk of sexually transmitted infections like HIV or AIDS and unplanned pregnancy, due to the fact that they have no idea how to protect themselves. They have no idea where to purchase condoms or what kind to purchase. Buying the wrong size, condoms that are not properly lubricated, or not putting a condom on correctly can cause it to break or slip off, putting the kids at risk to become pregnant or infected with a sexually transmitted infection. What about the kids who sign virginity pledges? “According to Columbia University researchers, virginity pledge programs increase pledge-takers’ risk for STIs and pregnancy. The study concluded that 88 percent of pledge-takers initiated sex prior to marriage even though some delayed sex for a while” (McKeon 1).
Supporters of abstinence-only education throw around statistics about sex like handfuls of confetti at a surprise party. Statistics about condoms like the failure rate of condoms in stopping HIV infection in heterosexual relations, 31 percent (Lee). Abstinence supporters give kids statistics to convince them that abstinence is the best choice by showing them that “safe sex” is not all that safe. “The chances of getting pregnant while using a condom are one in six. And condoms break or slip off nearly 15 percent of the time” (Lee). After hearing all of these statistics, what kid would use protection that seems to reliable enough to depend on? After all of these statistics have been laid out it seems logical to choose abstinence which is 100 percent effective in protecting against STIs and pregnancy.
While abstaining from all sexual activity is the only way to completely prevent sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, condoms are not nearly as faulty as abstinence groups portray them to be. According to Advocates for Youth, a group dedicated to teaching young people about sexual health, if couples use condoms properly and every time 98 percent of the couples using male condoms will not get pregnant and of couples using female condoms 85 percent will not become pregnant. In response the statistic that condoms fail thirty-one percent of the time in protecting from the transmission of HIV, “sexual transmission of HIV occurs when infected semen, vaginal, or other body fluids contact mucosal surfaces, such as the male urethra, the vagina, or cervix” (Alford). If a condom is used properly HIV cannot be spread from person to person. Condoms are far more effective that abstinence-only supporters lead kids to believe. Condoms are effective in not only preventing pregnancy but also in preventing the spread of HIV, if used properly and consistently. Pro-abstinence groups claim that birth control is extremely ineffective to scare kids out of having sex before marriage.
Sometimes abstinence just does not work. Let us take a step back in time to June 2008. The place, you ask is Gloucester, New Jersey. The birth rate had skyrocketed at Gloucester High School, so much so that by the end of the 2007-2008 school year there were 17 pregnant girls roaming the halls, well over quadruple the rate of the previous year (McLeod). You may think to yourself, “17? That’s not a lot from a public high school”, however take into account that Gloucester High only saw 1,200 students that school year and a majority of these girls were younger than 16 (McLeod). “By May, several students had returned multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and on hearing the results, "some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were,” says [Joseph] Sullivan” (McLeod) Sullivan is the principal at Gloucester High. This school has a free daycare program to assist and support young parents while they struggle to finish high school, however, officials and parents would not allow the school to distribute condoms or birth control to the students. The school nurse, Kim Daly, who tired of giving out over 150 pregnancy tests by May, and a local pediatrician decide to support the idea of “prescribing contraceptives regardless of parental consent, a practice at about 15 public high schools in Massachusetts” (McLeod). The nearest women’s health clinic to Gloucester is 20 miles away. The town would not allow this. Mayor Carolyn Kirk had this to say on the matter: “Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children” (McLeod). The parents were shocked and disappointed that their young sons had gotten girls pregnant, or that their young daughters had engaged in sexual activity, only when they learned that the kids were doing it, which was when they found out they were going to be grandparents. How dare these parents say those phrases that everyone has heard at one point, whether in the movies or in life, “your son did this to my daughter” or “your slutty daughter tricked my son into impregnating her” when they do not even offer the kids tools to protect themselves against becoming pregnant? If anything, they did this to their kids but not teaching them how to protect themselves. It was later found out that over half of the girls who became pregnant that year were part of a pregnancy pact. They had come from broken homes and were desperately searching for someone to love them. So, they decided to have babies.
Now I am not saying, by any means, that abstinence should not be taught in schools, it should. Abstinence should be coupled with comprehensive sex education; discussion of condoms, birth control, and other contraceptives, to educate and empower them to take responsibility for their own sexual health. Abstinence-only education is dangerous, in my opinion. A person’s decisions about sex should not be left up to the parents, teachers, or other people. Whether or not kids decide to abstain from sex or not, they still need to learn about contraceptives and abstinence. Every child, at an appropriate age, should be taught about sex, contraceptives, and abstinence. Giving kids the choice to make informed decisions lifts their self-confidence when they make the right choice, and helps them learn, if they make the wrong one. This puts the responsibility in the hands of the kids learning it. It is true that abstinence is the only way to be completely safe from pregnancy and disease, however, abstinence is not always the best or preferable choice for every single person. Parenting is all about setting a good, positive example for your children and giving them the tools to learn how to make their own decisions responsibly. Parents do this for education, hygiene, politics, religion, driving a car, relationships, friendships, and careers. Why not for sex? Parents want their children to be happy and safe; by not teaching kids how to protect themselves sexually they are ensuring that they will not be safe.
If you were a parent and your child got HIV or became pregnant and you made sure that they did not learn about contraceptives or other types of protection, you would, no doubt, feel intense, crushing guilt. Parents can help prevent unplanned pregnancy by teaching their kids how to be safe and responsible when it comes to sex. They need to make sure their kids know where to get protection and how to use it properly. Kids also need to know that while birth control and other contraceptives are very effective, that if they are not ready for the responsibility of having sex, they should not be doing it. If a kid is not mature enough to walk into a store and buy a box of condoms then they are not mature enough to be having sex. For some people, waiting until their wedding night to have sex for the first time is the best choice. Abstinence is the only way that a person can be completely protected from an unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection. In schools, however, people need to learn about sex, safe sex, and abstinence to make the best decision for them.
I'm so excited for next week. My friends from back home; Sarah, Brendan, and Owen are coming up to visit me during the week. Then on Friday I get to go home for Easter and see the baby! I have a rough draft of a rhetorical analysis due on Thursday. I'm going to try to get it done by Tuesday so I don't have to worry about it while my friends are here. 