'Abstinence-only' teaching flawed
Lakiesha Seay
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Opinions
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"Don't have sex until marriage." That was the message that was pounded into my head during what was supposed to be a class about sex education. The only education that I received, however, was about how if I had sex before marriage, I was going to catch a disease and die. At least that is what I heard.
Whatever happened to the concept of actually educating people about sex as part of the curriculum in sex education, anyway? Sex education isn't supposed to just be about abstinence.
There should be a mixture of education about abstinence, along with information about sexually transmitted infections (STI) and ways to prevent them. There also should be information about the different kinds of birth control.
From what I've gathered, advocates of abstinence believe that teaching comprehensive sex education teaches people to have low morals and values and that only sex in a married setting is healthy.
Seemingly, those who endorse abstinence-only sex education think free information about how to make informed choices regarding sex leads to immorality, as well as unhealthy and unlawful practices.
So, free information about how to make informed choices related to sex education leads to immorality? What does that mean? Does it mean the government is trying to suppress information that is available, because it doesn't like what people might do otherwise ? If so, I consider that an unlawful practice myself.
The federal government champions the abstinence-only approach, and funds only those schools and programs that teach abstinence-only education, according to MSNBC, which also reports that the federal government spends about $176 million annually on abstinence programs for students in middle school and high school.
In my opinion, though, by providing funding to schools that solely teach abstinence-only sex education, the federal government is trying to impose its morals on students. These would be, in my view, the morals of the same group of people who are unconstitutionally wiretapping telephones and sending soldiers to fight and be killed in a war that some believe can't be won.
Whatever happened to the concept of actually educating people about sex as part of the curriculum in sex education, anyway? Sex education isn't supposed to just be about abstinence.
There should be a mixture of education about abstinence, along with information about sexually transmitted infections (STI) and ways to prevent them. There also should be information about the different kinds of birth control.
From what I've gathered, advocates of abstinence believe that teaching comprehensive sex education teaches people to have low morals and values and that only sex in a married setting is healthy.
Seemingly, those who endorse abstinence-only sex education think free information about how to make informed choices regarding sex leads to immorality, as well as unhealthy and unlawful practices.
So, free information about how to make informed choices related to sex education leads to immorality? What does that mean? Does it mean the government is trying to suppress information that is available, because it doesn't like what people might do otherwise ? If so, I consider that an unlawful practice myself.
The federal government champions the abstinence-only approach, and funds only those schools and programs that teach abstinence-only education, according to MSNBC, which also reports that the federal government spends about $176 million annually on abstinence programs for students in middle school and high school.
In my opinion, though, by providing funding to schools that solely teach abstinence-only sex education, the federal government is trying to impose its morals on students. These would be, in my view, the morals of the same group of people who are unconstitutionally wiretapping telephones and sending soldiers to fight and be killed in a war that some believe can't be won.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 9
anonymous
posted 11/29/07 @ 9:34 AM CST
Oh whatever..............HEY, here's an idea!! Let the government give up on its drug abstinance programs too, and we'll show our kids how to smoke crack and shoot up and give them syringes, pipes, and rolling papers at the end of their sex ed classes, "just in case" they decide they need them. (Continued…)
You're a lost cause...
posted 11/29/07 @ 1:51 PM CST
If you need someone to demonstrate "Sex 101" lessons in the class, you're a lost cause... My solution? Who cares. People aren't listening - and if they catch a disease as a result of their own decision - it's their problem and their fault. (Continued…)
jess
miss ms.
posted 12/03/07 @ 10:29 AM CST
This article touches the elephant in the room. I want to make a remark to 'anonymous': the "drug abstinence" programs you are referring to are called D. (Continued…)
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