Abstinence Only Programs

The Bush Administration's advocacy of abstinence-only sex education programs is a failure when it comes to preventing teen pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among teens. One of the biggest reasons such programs fail is because of social attitudes toward sexuality and adolescent tendencies toward sexual exploration. As Kmietowicz (2002, p. 1354) explains, "The move away from traditional family values points to a socio-sexual transformation where sexual imagery permeates all aspects of life and teenagers are under greater pressure to experiment with sex." This analysis will discuss why a comprehensive sex education program is needed in public schools and why abstinence-only programs are a failure in preventing teen pregnancy and transmission of STDs.

According to Kmietowicz (2002, p. 1354), despite abstinence-only advocacy by the federal government since welfare reform in the mid-1990s, the U.S. still exhibits one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy among developed nations with 52 out of every 1000 girls between ages 15 and 19 giving birth. Despite such rates, advocates of abstinence-only sex education refuse to advocate comprehensive sex education programs including the dissemination by public schools of condoms. They view this as condoning sexual activity before marriage among adolescents.

Because of views that comprehensive sex education advocates sexual activity among adolescents, Ameri

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that teaches comprehensive sex education, "Teen and preteen boys said birth control access is vital to preventing teen pregnancy, and adolescents who used condoms at first intercourse are far more likely to continue using condoms than those who did not," (D.C., 2001, p. 9). There are other programs that demonstrate that comprehensive sex education programs are far more effective in lowering teen pregnancy rates and the spread of STDs than is abstinence-only sex education. A major factorial study was conducted on 1,110 high school students in grades 9-12 in Los Angeles, California. Researchers administered a sexual behavior and knowledge survey implemented one year before the same students completed a follow-up survey, after implementation of a condom availability and education program in their high school, (Schuster and Bell, 1998). Researchers found no significant change in the number of teens engaging in sexual intercourse, which demonstrates condom dissemination and education do not lead to increased rates of sexual activity among tends. However, when the two surveys were compared, researchers did find a significant difference in the use of condoms, (Schuster and Bell, 1998). As Schuster and Bell (1998, p. 67) report, "T

Category: Psychology - A