Charlotte+W’s+OpEd+Article



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"Abstinence Only Sex Education and The Conservative View on Teenage Sexuality: Why They Suck"
an Editorial By Charlotte W.

"Don't have sex- because you WILL get pregnant and die!", says the pudgy gym teacher in the popular film, Mean Girls.

This gym teacher uses an ineffective method to his class- Abstinence Only Sex Education. And now you tell me, "But thaaaat's just a movie!". You're right, it is a movie- however, many schools throughout the United States use the "Abstinence Only" method to "educate" their students about human sexuality. Maybe it is not in the same context as Coach Carr's wacky statement, but nonetheless, the schools still focus only on abstinence, rather than using protection. These programs use scare tactics, and "facts", for example:

Okay, I would like proof of this. I have met plenty of intelligent teenagers who were not quite virgins. Not only were these teenagers intelligent, but they were on the right track to not only graduate high school, but attend a prestigious university. Along with this, I have met plenty of unintelligent teenagers who had never even seen a live naked member of the opposite sex.
 * ** “Teens who abstain from sex during high school years are substantially…  **less likely to drop out of high school.**“**

I would like to inquire as to why the teen would be expelled from school... Does having somewhat of a sex life make one distraught, and so restless to the point where they are worthy of being expelled? This "fact" seems irrelevent- One's sex life has little to nothing to do with expellable (if that is even a word) behavior (i.e. bringing knives to school, mouthing off, vandalism, etc.).
 * “Teens who abstain from sex during high school years are substantially **less likely to be expelled from school.**“

Once again... How? Does little Johnny getting it on at prom night suddenly cause him to lose focus in school, causing him not to graduate in high school, therefore, his parents kick him out of the house and he must live on welfare? Will his best pal, Chastity Chuck, attend a prestigious university and become a billionaire simply because he abstained from sex as a teenager? Or some other scenario of the sort, hm? Seems a little drastic, don't you think?
 * “Teens who abstain from sex are **less likely…** **to live in poverty and welfare dependence as adults.**“

These "facts" (mind you, family focused organizations, you stated this and gave no information on your sources- I kid you not, you can find this on so many websites, with no sources cited), if they are even true at all, were probably collected from students at a continuation school. Having sex as a teenager is a risk, do not get me wrong- but it does NOT damn you to panhandling and welfare. If that were so, there would be a lot more panhandlers, homeless folk, and fat women on welfare running around.

Some of you will argue that teaching about contraceptives will basically tell a teenager that it's okay to have sex outside of marriage- But, reality check, whether you like it or not, people, much less, teenagers, will have sex outside of marriage. It happens. Not everyone has the same moral standards as the Evangelical WASPs, and there is absolutely nothing one can say or do to make everyone have the same moral standards as the Evangelical WASPs. It has been PROVEN (yes, proven) that teenagers who received abstinence only sex education were just as likely to have sexual relations as one who received comprehensive sex education- However, a small percentage of those who received abstinence education delayed their sexual activity up to 18 months in the future. There was also a more disturbing fact added to this- those who received abstinence only education were significantly less likely to use condoms or other forms of protection. This is just detrimental- the main goal of sex education is to decrease teenage pregnancy and protect teens against STD's. Which would one rather have- a few teenagers delaying sex for another year and a half, along with pregnant STD infected teens, or sexually active teens (it would have happened anyways) who protect themselves? For some to agree with abstinence only education after this research is illogical- it is a clear indicator that they intend to push their conservative, "family oriented" beliefs (usually religious ones, which, mind them, not everyone has) upon the school system.

I am not stating that abstinence is a bad thing. By all means, if you want to make a virginity pledge, go ahead- more power to you. However, to preach these ideological beliefs in the school system is unreasonable, and a waste of money (Bush gave $204 million to these programs in the year of 2008 alone- how much money does it take to say "Don't Have Sex"???). If one wants to preach abstinence upon their children so badly, they may exempt themself or THEIR CHILD from these programs, and find a private program or teach their children to their liking. However, when it comes to schools, which contain a wide variety of hormonally crazed teenagers, all from different demographics and backgrounds, the safe thing to do is teach comprehensive sex education.

=DON'T BE SILLY, WRAP YOUR WILLY!media type="file" key="charlottew-muckraker-0910.mp3"=