Dealing with sexually active teenagers is a matter that requires serious intervention. Many school-based programs are designed to delay the initiation of teenagers to sexual activities. According to (Atkins, Danielle " Bradford 2) schools have a significant role to play in offering relevant information to the teenagers that are essential in making wise decisions towards leaving a healthy lifestyle. There are generally two types of sexuality education: the comprehensive and abstinence-only approaches. According to Skull and colleagues, there is no clear scientific proof and mutual understanding over the best method that minimizes the risks involved in sex among the youths especially of the unintended pregnancies and the contraction of the sexually transmitted diseases (5). The abstinence-only education programs aim to minimize adverse effects associated with sex among the teens by refraining from all the sexual activities until marriage. The comprehensive sex education programs encourage learners to abstain while offering more information on the ability of the contraceptives to prevent diseases and unplanned pregnancies (Skull et al.3). However, there is no scientific proof on the best approach in teaching the sexuality education hence the heated debates on the philosophical method to be employed in schools.
Comprehensive sex education
According to Eisenberg et al. (352), the comprehensive sex education programs teach abstinence as one of the most elegant methods of avoiding contracting any forms of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy. More so, the programs emphasize the need to use condoms and other contraceptives to minimize the chances of contracting the STI's and unplanned pregnancy. The comprehensive sexual education covers a variety of issues related to sexuality such as the physical, emotional and social aspects. Eisenberg and colleagues explain that the comprehensive sexual programs support all the teachers and the parents' efforts in the provision of accurate, honest and assuring information to the teenagers about sex thus helping eradicate inaccurate and negative information found in the media and the peers (354). The comprehensive sexual programs aim to empower the teens in making responsible choices that protect their wellbeing, health and support their academic achievement. The comprehensive sex education is the most effective approach in reducing the risks associated with teen’s pregnancy, and it decreases the likelihood of engaging in sexual intercourse (Eisenberg et al.358). Therefore, the comprehensive sexual education programs are the most effective approaches because they decrease the sexual activities while encouraging more use of family planning methods amongst sexually active youths thus minimizing the unplanned pregnancies and STD’s.
Abstinence-only sex education
Practically all the youths are in the process of attending the school before they begin the risk-taking sexual activities. According to Stranger- Hall, Kathrin " David (1) programs promoting abstinence are many in the U.S. The government favors the abstinence-only initiatives in teaching sex education through some programs such as Community-Based Abstinence Education and the AFLA (Stranger-Hall et al. 1). The abstinence-only programs aim to delay sexual activities among the teenagers until marriage. Through the government, funding laws and regulations, the abstinence-only approaches cannot include any other information such as safe sexual behaviors. The abstinence-only programs argue that the sexual education initiatives that teach safe sex acts that include the usage of condoms and other contraceptives send mixed messages to the teenagers hence promoting sexual activities. According to the research by (Kirby, 2008), three out of nine abstinence-only, sex policies yielded beneficial outcomes of delaying sex acts among youths, decreasing the regularity of sexual activities and decreasing the sexual partners among the teenagers. Therefore, in the above research, the other six policies did not produce any positive results on the reproductive health behaviors of the teenagers.
Comprehensive and abstinence-only approaches
Evidence 1
According to (Stranger- Hall, 2) the U. S ranks number one in the cases of teen pregnancy and with the people suffering from the sexually transmitted diseases. To minimize the chances of these risks several programs teaching abstinence-only have been funded for several decades in America. Stranger-Hall et al. (2) evaluate the success of the abstinence-only program by the government to analyze its validity in minimizing the birth rates and the teenage pregnancy. The research utilizes the most recent data of the year 2005 in the U.S cities that contain useful information concerning the sex education policies (Stranger-Hall et al.2). The report aims to analyze the correlation between formal abstinence education with the teenage pregnancy and the birth incidences. More so, the research investigates other elements, which are likely to affect the results of the study such as the economic status of the teens, the Medicaid waivers that can offer contraceptives, the ethnic group of the students, and the educational attainment.
Information used in the analyses is obtained from the education commission of the States in which only 48 states implemented the sex education policies and laws in the year 2007 (Stranger-Hall et al. 6). The abstinence education data was categorized into four ranks ranging from the level putting more emphasis on abstinence to that with least stress (no provision of abstinence education, abstinence covered, abstinence upheld and abstinence emphasized) (Stranger-Hall et al.10). The ordinal values 0-3 were assigned to the levels, with three stressing more on avoiding sex until marriage. At level two (abstinence is supported) and information on contraceptives is not prohibited. At level one abstinence is covered as part of comprehensive sex education which also encourages offering useful and accurate information concerning the use of contraceptives and protection against any kinds of STDs. Level 0, do not to teach abstinence at all to the teens (Stranger-Hall et al. 10).
According to Stranger-Hall et al. (13), the 48 states in the U.S excluding Wyoming and the North Dakota, nine states were in level 0, 11 states upheld the comprehensive education, seven states advocated the level 2 education and 21 states in 2005 stressed the abstinence-only approach to sexual education. The research utilized the correlational approach in assessing whether the abstinence-only policies and laws are effective in minimizing teen’s pregnancy. According to Stranger-Hall et al. (14) correlation can be a result of a causative agent or an outcome of other underlying factors. Stranger- Hall et al. (20) show that the household income rates influence the rates at which teens engage in the sexual acts. The research confirms that higher birth rates occur among teens from, the poorer states with lower rates among rich states’ teens. Stranger-Hall et al. (24) explain that the high rates of births among teens in the poor states are caused by the high levels of religiosity hence lower levels of abortion. The Medicaid waivers reduce the rates of the pregnancy among teens. However, in this case, Medicaid does not provide useful information concerning the positive relationship between abstinence education and the teens’ pregnancy levels. According to Stranger-Hall et al. (26), there exists a positive relationship on teen pregnancies, birth rates and the degree of abstinent-only education across the states. In the states where laws and policies emphasizing abstinence were stronger the levels of births and pregnancy rates among teens were very high. Cities covering the comprehensive sex education had the least teen pregnancy rates because they encouraged abstinence as well as the use of family planning methods. Therefore, from the above research, the comprehensive sex education is the most effective approach in minimizing the cases of pregnancy among teens as well as STDs.
Evidence 2
According to Kohler, Lisa, Manhart " William (345), the impacts of abstinence-only sexual education approach is minimal. Safe sex education does not accelerate or induce risky sexual behaviors among teens (Kohler et al.345). Kohler and her colleagues utilized the data from the NSFG to determine whether the type of formal sexual education among teens influence the risks associated with teen pregnancy and contraction of STDs (345). More so, the research aimed at verifying whether teens’ information about contraceptives increases their chances of engaging in sexual behaviors before marriage. Trained personnel collected data involved in the study in Jan 2002 to March 2003, whereby various methods of data collection were employed including different types of interviewing processes (Kohler et al. 345). Information gathered through the interviews involved general knowledge, attitudes, demography and the beliefs of people regarding family planning methods, previously treated STDs and self-reported sexual activities. The sample used in the research includes a total population of 12,571 people all around the United States. The 2,271 teens of the cohort 15-19 years were asked several more questions concerning pregnancy, STDs and sexual education (Kohler et al. 345). Two separate set of questions were used in accessing the youths who had received some sex education in school, church or the community. The teens provided answers to questions that aimed at assessing whether they received any type of information concerning the importance of saying no to sex and the other matter concerning the use of any form of birth control methods. According to Kohler et al. (346), youths who reported to have learned to say no to sex together with the use of family planning methods were classified as received the comprehensive sexual education. While the teens reported having studied how to say no to sex were ranked as the groups in the abstinence-only education programs.
Assessing the impact of the formal sex education programs utilizing the national representative data confirms that the abstinence-only programs did not have any significant effect in delaying the initiation time in the sexual indulgence among the teens (Kohler et al. 347. More so, the research confirms that the abstinence-only program had little impact on minimizing the risks involved in sexual activities such as the contraction of the STDs and teen's unplanned pregnancies. According to Kohler et al. (349), comprehensive sexual education had significant effects in reducing teens’ unplanned pregnancies relative to the abstinence-only sex education program. More so, the teens are less likely to engage in sexual activities when they receive the comprehensive sexual education compared to those who have never received any sexual education. However, factors such as age, residence and the income of a particular family also affect the ability of a teen to receive the formal sexual education (Kohler et al.350). The teens from low-income families are at high risk of contracting STDs and unplanned pregnancies because they have minimal chances of accessing the sexual education programs.
Evidence 3
Atkins and his colleagues assess the effect of the state laws on sexual education using information gathered from surveilling the risk behaviors among the youths (2). Data used are from different high schools in the year 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010 of the (YRBS) in 39 states (Atkins et al. 1). Several sexual comprehensive measures in the cities and their regulations are assembled in the YRBS systems. Atkins et al. (2), evaluated the connection between state policy and its impact on the contraction of the STDs among teen using the data of the years 2001 to 2005. The research findings confirmed that states that stressed abstinence-only had higher levels of chlamydia and gonorrhea compared to the cities with no mandate on abstinence-only.
The details of the state laws and policies matter in helping prevent the unplanned pregnancies and contraction of the STDs among teens (Atkins et al. 2). The systems can be: a) authorized sex education requiring the instructors to teach the use of contraceptives, b) mandated sex education requiring instructions on abstinence-only, c) authorized sex education with the instructors having the local control over the content (Atkins et al. 31). Most policies aim to design the educational materials that decrease the rate of teenage sexual behaviors rather than increasing them hence minimize the chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and reduce the frequencies of the unplanned pregnancies.
According to Atkins et al. (31), mandating sexuality education policies with the local control of the information taught minimizes the chances of the high school students engaged in the sexual activities three months before the survey. More so, policies that encourage the teaching of the use of contraceptives and other family planning methods also decrease the probability of the youths participating in sexual activities. However, the sex education that requires abstinence content only increased the chances of sex among teens in the earlier three months before the study (Atkins et al.32). Therefore, the research shows that sexuality policies that encourage the use of contraceptives are the most appropriate in minimizing the chances of the youths’ engagement in sexual activities.
Conclusion
Schools offer sexuality education to prevent pregnancy among learners and prevent diseases. In the recent decades, the U.S has been stressing the adoption of the abstinence-only policies in teen sexuality. State laws have great impacts regarding sex education. They greatly influence behavioral changes among the teens and have many consequences on the teen's health. From the above research, sexuality education that includes the contraceptive content is the most effective in minimizing the rates at which the youths engage in sexual activities. More so, it reduces the number of unplanned pregnancies among the teens. The sexuality education stressing on abstinence-only tends to increase the sexual activities hence putting the youths at more risks by minimizing the use of some contraceptives. Policies and laws aim to design the educational materials that decrease the rate of teenage sexual behaviors rather than increasing them hence minimize the chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and reduce the frequencies of the unplanned pregnancies. Therefore, education policies that encourage comprehensive sexual education are the best in reducing risks associated with sexual behaviors among teenagers.
Works Cited
Atkins, Danielle, and W. Bradford. "The effect of state-level sex education policies on youth sexual behaviors." (2013). Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/LENOVO/Downloads/Sex%20Education%20Paper%2010-10-2012.pdf
Eisenberg, Marla E., et al. "Support for comprehensive sexuality education: Perspectives from parents of school-age youth." Journal of Adolescent Health 42.4 (2008): 352-359.
Kirby, Douglas B. "The impact of abstinence and comprehensive sex and STD/HIV education programs on adolescent sexual behavior." Sexuality Research " Social Policy 5.3 (2008): 18.
Kohler, Pamela K., Lisa E. Manhart, and William E. Lafferty. "Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy." Journal of Adolescent Health 42.4 (2008): 344-351.
Scull, Tracy M., Christina V. Malik, and Janis B. Kupersmidt. "A media literacy education approach to teaching adolescents comprehensive sexual health education." The journal of media literacy education 6.1 (2014): 1.
Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F., and David W. Hall. "Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: why we need comprehensive sex education in the US." PloS one 6.10 (2011): e24658.
