What should public schools teach our children about sex? It can be a complex question, especially when dealing with morals, social norms, pop culture, hormones and health. When students sit down for their sex education, should teachers embrace an abstinence-only policy?
Abstinence and abstinence-only education are two very different things. Abstinence is the best way to keep teens safe from sexually transmitted disease and unplanned pregnancy and can certainly reduce the economic and social costs of these negative outcomes. However, the data show that abstinence-only education doesn’t necessarily result in abstinence.
The past decade of evidence has demonstrated conclusively that abstinence-only programs don't work. According to a nationally representative study of teens, 88 percent of adolescents who took virginity pledges within “abstinence-only until marriage” programs reported engaging in sexual intercourse before marriage. Furthermore, young adults who are taught an abstinence-only curriculum are less likely to have the knowledge and skills needed to keep themselves safe when they do initiate sexual activity.
Therefore, the way to save taxpayers money by reducing the number of unplanned teen pregnancies and the rate of STIs is to teach a comprehensive sexual education curriculum. This will allow teens to learn about the many benefits of abstinence, while also providing them the knowledge and skills necessary to keep themselves safe from disease and unintended pregnancy whenever they do decide to become sexually active.
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