The majority of the globe’s population will not remain abstinent until marriage. Being sexually uninhibited comes with a heavy price that some people pay with their lives. The simple building blocks of one’s existence may also be at risk as well.
A lot of times students in abstinence classes have already lost their virginities and they should be taught how to protect themselves. However, there are also many students who are not sexually active but they need to know how to practice safe sex regardless.
A large percentage of NEIU’s student population majors in education. These future educators will be faced with laws and issues concerning sex education in their schools and classrooms. The question remains as to whether one’s personal beliefs will affect the way sex education is taught in the classroom.
The result of the latest boom in abstinence-only sex education is a reflection of our conservative government the last six years. A Washingtonpost.com article reports that the Bush administration, with backing from the Republican Congress, is investing heavily in a ‘just-say-no’ strategy for teenagers and sex.
Our government should fund sexual education that illustrates the risks of early sexual activity because all the abstinence-only education in the world cannot prevent the rising cases of HIV/AIDS in our country.
Rethinking Schools Online published an article discussing abstinence-only education. Laurie Schwab Zabin, a professor and researcher of adolescent sexual behavior, said that all the evidence points to the fact that programs that are comprehensive in their coverage, interactive in their approach, and that provide access to services reduce teen pregnancy and contribute to wiser sex behavior.
Sex education programs should be awareness seminars for students. Decisions on someone’s sexual health should not be dictated, and they should not be placed in compromising positions that conflict with their personal interests and beliefs.
Pledge cards are used by abstinence programs to hold students to a vow of chastity until marriage. These cards are sincere in thought but impractical in reality.
The same Rethinking Schools Online article cited research done at Columbia University that found that “abstinence-only” programs that called upon teens to sign pledges vowing to remain virgins until they marry worked for some students.
However, the study also found that those who broke their pledges were one-third less likely to use contraceptives when they engaged in sexual activity than those who did not sign pledges. Students who sign a pledge may indeed be sincere, but we have to remember they are kids. Pledging to commit to anything is an adult decision.