How To Write A Research Paper On Abstinence-Only Education

Many years ago the public school system was tasked with teaching the nation’s youth how to address their developing bodies and desires, and abstinence only education programs were born. Though decades have passed and times have changed, the way the United State’s chooses to approach the sexual education of young people has not. Authority figures have been shouting, “Abstain! Abstain! Abstain!” at teenagers to no avail for far to long. The time for change is now.

Abstinence only education programs do more harm than good for the nation’s youth. These sex (or lack there of) education programs aim to teach adolescents to avoid unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) by simply abstaining from all sexual interactions with a firm “Just say no!” attitude. People in favor of this approach argue that if teens are taught not to have sex then there is no reason to teach them how to have safe sexual encounters. It is believed by some that the act of teaching
A more realistic approach to reducing unplanned pregnancies and STDs in the teenage population would be to teach them safe sexual practices, and that abstinence is in fact a choice and not a requirement. Teaching teens about safe sex would give them the confidence they need to make good decisions regarding their sex lives. A confident teen will have less trouble standing up for him/her self and saying “No. I am not okay with that.” Where as an uneducated teen will be more likely to bend to his/her partner’s desires, even if it is something he/she is not comfortable doing. This can lead the teen to rationalize things they would otherwise not be okay with, with the misguided thought that his/her partner must know what he/she is doing. After all, someone has to.