The Harmful Inaccuracies of Abstinence-Only Education For many reasons, including both moral and financial, “Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage” sexual education programs are taught all across America. These are programs that emphasize abstaining from sex until marriage, and generally tell students that this is the most effective way to avoid pregnancy and diseases. These programs often do not teach about other forms of contraception, with the belief that abstinence should be enough. Unfortunately, these programs are still taught despite the mounting evidence showing that not only are they ineffective, but actively harmful to the student’s health. This evidence includes high rates of teen pregnancy and STDs across America, cases of misinformation
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In fact, evidence is mounting showing that these programs frequently do more harm than good, and are actually completely ineffective against the issues they are meant to prevent: teen pregnancy and the spread of STDs. In addition to this, these programs often ignore LGBT students, and harm victims of sexual assault. To begin with, Abstinence-Only programs frequently teach medically inaccurate information. For example, here’s a quote from the 2002 “Why kNOw” Abstinence Education Program Teacher 's Manual: “The condom has a 14% failure rate in preventing pregnancy” (Rodriguez). This is in fact not the real failure rate, which is 2%, but the user error rate, meaning that it’s the failure rate if you include people who use it incorrectly. If proper contraception use was something taught in sex education programs, this number would logically be much smaller, but unfortunately this is actually not allowed to be taught in abstinence-only programs (Santelli 1786). In fact the only thing allowed to be taught about any contraceptives in abstinence only programs is failure rates, which are typically skewed the same way as the “14%” condom failure rate. In addition to this, these programs frequently teach stereotypes about men and women as facts, which according to Amy Shwartz, writer for the Journal of Public Health and Policy, says helps to “advance gender stereotypes that promote sexual inequality and sexual violence” (137). This frequently includes promoting the harmful myth that men don’t have the same level of self-control that women have, and so it is entirely up to the woman to say no to sex even against constant pressure. This takes away the sense of shared responsibility, and, perhaps more importantly, the idea that both parties need to be make sure the other consents to whatever they are doing. For example, a typical abstinence-only video may show a boy pressuring a girl to
In fact, evidence is mounting showing that these programs frequently do more harm than good, and are actually completely ineffective against the issues they are meant to prevent: teen pregnancy and the spread of STDs. In addition to this, these programs often ignore LGBT students, and harm victims of sexual assault. To begin with, Abstinence-Only programs frequently teach medically inaccurate information. For example, here’s a quote from the 2002 “Why kNOw” Abstinence Education Program Teacher 's Manual: “The condom has a 14% failure rate in preventing pregnancy” (Rodriguez). This is in fact not the real failure rate, which is 2%, but the user error rate, meaning that it’s the failure rate if you include people who use it incorrectly. If proper contraception use was something taught in sex education programs, this number would logically be much smaller, but unfortunately this is actually not allowed to be taught in abstinence-only programs (Santelli 1786). In fact the only thing allowed to be taught about any contraceptives in abstinence only programs is failure rates, which are typically skewed the same way as the “14%” condom failure rate. In addition to this, these programs frequently teach stereotypes about men and women as facts, which according to Amy Shwartz, writer for the Journal of Public Health and Policy, says helps to “advance gender stereotypes that promote sexual inequality and sexual violence” (137). This frequently includes promoting the harmful myth that men don’t have the same level of self-control that women have, and so it is entirely up to the woman to say no to sex even against constant pressure. This takes away the sense of shared responsibility, and, perhaps more importantly, the idea that both parties need to be make sure the other consents to whatever they are doing. For example, a typical abstinence-only video may show a boy pressuring a girl to