There_Are_Other_Ways_Than_Abstinence_Until_Marriage_for_Teens.

Everything today, from soda-pop commercials to magazines at the grocery store, oozes sexuality. It’s an impossible influence to avoid, and young people need to be taught by both parents and teachers. There are very few Americans that remain abstinent until marriage and most go on to sexual activity intercourse as adolescents. Abstinence from sexual intercourse is an important strategy for preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unintended pregnancy among adolescents and young adult. According to A Review of U.S. Policies and Programs, many Abstinence and Abstinence-Only Education programs are being taught in many school systems from high school to college (74-75). However, controversy arises when report finds abstinence-only programs demonstrate little evidence of why adolescents should delay initiation of sexual intercourse. They provide missing information to adolescents and hold information needed for adolescents to make informed choices. These programs also neglect real health needs for contraceptive methods and STI testing among sexually experienced adolescent, putting them at higher risk for unintended pregnancy and STIs, including HIV. Abstinence is a very healthy choice for teenagers, but it is not the only message to teen. Sex education for teenagers needs to give teenagers all the facts, all the medically accurate information they need to protect themselves and that is called Comprehensive Sex Education. “Abstinence only until marriage vs. comprehensive sex education may be simply the latest pairing of antagonistic ideologies in the ‘culture wars’ that have racked post-Vietnam America. Yet the lives of many young people worldwide may hinge on the outcome,” says Steve Sternberg of USA Today in his article, “Sex Education Stirs Controversy (2002).” The comprehensive sex education approach fully supports abstinence, but recognizes that adolescents are going to have sex. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 6.6% of American children begin their sex lives before the age of 13, and more than 60% by the time they reach graduation. Another study reports that at least one in four teen girls in the United States has an STD (Sternberg, 2002). However, supporters of abstinence only education firmly believe that teaching young adults about contraception and prevention will only promote premarital sex. “Not only do students learn how to obtain condoms, but they also practice putting them on cucumbers or penile models. Masturbation, body massages, bathing together, and fantasizing are listed as "ways to be close" in one curriculum” (The Physicians Consortium, 2002), these guidelines call for teaching five- through eight-year-olds about masturbation and accepting cohabitation and homosexuality. Upper elementary and junior high grades have classes on these subjects, as well as lessons on sexual fantasies, contraception, and abortion. For high school students, SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) recommends adding discussion on using erotic photographs and literature, body massages, bathing/showering together, and oral, vaginal, and anal intercourse (The Physicians Consortium, 2002). Nearly all of the fifty-page guidelines are devoted to these topics, while only one-half of a page is dedicated to abstinence. Believers in comprehensive sex education completely disagree; Congress and state governments have wasted more than $1.5 billion on dangerous abstinence-only programs that deny young people vital information about birth control and responsible decision making. “Teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems,” accorded from Alford (2007). Instead of the governments wasting billions of dollars on just abstinence programs, they should have funded the money evenly for others successful programs on reducing the risk STIs and HIV such as comprehensive sex education or fund it to professional psychologist whom can develop better methods and theories to help teach children have a more positive knowledge about physical developments. Many have come up with theories such as Urie Bronfenbrenner theory; the Ecological Systems Theory: Microsystems, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and Chronosystem. Each of these systems contains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully shape development and provide awareness as to the how children develop; we will be better equipped to provide them with the proper necessities to develop into successful and productive adults. Works cited Santelli, J, Ott, M, Lyon, M, & Roger, D. (n.d.). Abstinence and abstinence-only education: a review of U.S. policies and programs [Volume 38, Issue 1, Pages 72-81]. Sternberg , Steve. (2002, July). “Sex Education Stirs Controversy.” Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/child/2002-07-11-sex-ed-controversy.htm The Physicians Consortium, "Sexual Messages in Government-Promoted Programs and Today's Youth Culture," (2002, April). Retrieved from http://www.physconsortium.com/pdfs/sexual_messages_in_government_04_00_02.pdf Alford, Sue . (2007, July). Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs: ineffective, unethical, and poor public health. Retrieved from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/index.php'option=com_content&task=view&id=597&Itemid=177