After reading the article "Is Abstinence Education the Best Education?" in the class readings, I am even more against abstinence only education. Yes you should teach self-respect. Yes you should teach moral responsibility. No, you cannot expect everyone to follow an abstinence only policy. The article mention that we live in a highly sexualized environment, which is completely true. Watch 10 minutes of T.V. and you can not deny it. It is for that reason that we can't expect students to refrain from sex as they are exposed to it on a daily basis. One part of the reading that really put me against the abstinence only view is the following excerpt:
What about all the teens who will remain
sexually active despite abstinence education?
Shouldn't they becounseled to use condoms?
Obviously, if a person is going to have sex, using a condom will reduce the
chance of pregnancy and AIDS, but not
to an acceptable level. Condoms offer
no protection against many other STDs
and their long-term consequences, such
as infertility. Schools have the mission of
teaching the truth and developing right
values-which means helping students
understand why the various forms of
contraception do not make premarital sex
physically or emotionally safe and how
premature sexual activity will hurt them
now and in the future.
If abstinence education doesn't work then the students need to be taught responsibility and safety, teaching the "truth" didn't work already. I felt that the author skirted around this question. I personally side with "Abstinence, but" education
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