Abstinence Only Sex Education JAQUILA GRADY

INTASC Standards, Description and Rational  Standard # 8 Instructional Strategies  The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.  Name of Artifact: Contemporary Issues PowerPoint  Date: November 13, 2013  Course: EDUC 101  Brief Description: For this assignment, I created a presentation to show the pros and cons of teaching abstinence only education.  Rationale: To document my understanding of Standard# 8 Instructional Strategies, I selected to include two questions at the end of my presentation that will cause my students to think more deeply about the benefits and drawbacks of abstinence only education.

Background  Sex Education started in the United States in the 1950s.  Initially Sex Education was led by The American Social Health Administration, the country’s leading disease public health organization.  They started by passing out pamphlets  Their focus was biology of reproduction, identification of the organs, body parts used for reproduction, sperm and semen production and menstruation  Teaching sex education was opposed by mostly religious conservative groups such as: The Christian Crusade, The John Birch Society, and Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum that believed teaching abstinence only was more effective in preventing premarital sex.  Abstinence only refers to abstaining from sexual activity until marriage  The groups opposed sex education classed because they felt it posed a threat to students’ morality and that exposure to sex education led to GREATER rates of sexuality among teens.  The American Social Health Administration only opposed abstinence only programs because it talked negatively about contraceptives.

Pros to Abstinence Only Education  If taught AND followed correctly Abstinence Only Education…..  Prevents un-planned pregnancies  1 in 13 GIRLS become pregnant each year  Adolescent pregnancies result in decreased educational opportunities for mothers  Increased likelihood of the family living in poverty Prevents STDs and STIs in children and teens  According to the Center for Disease control and Prevention children are at greater risk for STIs because of having multiple and higher risk sexual partners, and the immaturity of the cervix.

Continued Pros  Better Psychological well-being  Suicide is the 3 rd leading cause of death for adolescence paralleling the rise in STIs among this group.  STIs is recognized as a cause for depression  Lower suicide rates among teens  Adolescent sexual activity has been acknowledged as an independent risk factor for developing lower self esteem, major depression, and attempting suicide.

Cons to Abstinence Only Education  Doesn’t equip children with info and skills needed to behave safely and responsibly when they decide to have sex  Studies have shown how difficult it is to abstain from sex over time

Continued Cons  Teens who participate in abstinence only programs are less likely to use contraceptives if the engage in sex pre – martially  Points out only the negative issues in using contraceptives  When children or adolescence do become sexually active they have heard only bad things about contraceptives and are less likely to use them.

Question  How do you think the media effects the effectiveness of Abstinence Only programs.  Think about commercials, billboards that you see promoting sex verses the ones you see promoting abstinence.

Question  How do mixed messages prove or dis prove abstinence  Parents may say one thing and school says another.  Parents may say one thing but model another.  What do peers say?

Reference  American College of Pediatricians. "Abstinence-Only Education Is Effective." Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Abstinence Education." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Nov  Laura Larsen, ed. Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Sourcebook. 4th ed. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2009  Lisa Marr Sexually Transmitted Diseases: A Physician Tells You What You Need to Know. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress,  Conscience "Are We Taking the Pleasure Out of Sex? What a Comprehensive Sexuality Education Program Should Look Like," March 2009.