Dear President Obama,
It was really awesome a year ago when you decided to cut funding of abstinence-only sex education and instead put that money toward teen-pregnancy prevention. It was definitely a progressive step in integrating the values of waiting till you’re older to have children and the values of teenagers are going to fuck no matter what.
But recently you decided to backtrack and put a whopping $250 million into abstinence-only education.
What exactly is abstinence-only education? Defined by the board of health, it is “teach[ing] that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems.”
In other words, children and teenagers are not given any actual information on sex. Just a stern look accompanied with ‘Don’t fucking do it, okay!?’ Also, its a load of bull. Hey it’s great if you don’t want to bone until you’re married, really, it’s completely okay and respectable. But it’s not everyone’s moral beliefs/cup of tea. The straight up reality is TEENAGERS ARE GOING TO HAVE SEX. It is not that hard to figure out tab A to slot B. The internet itself provides endless resources for how to have sex (and unfortunately not enough resources on how to be smart about it).
By not teaching children about exactly how STDs spread, what condoms are, different forms of birth control (and how some are more safe or more harmful), and how pregnancy actually works, all it is doing is creating a mess of lies and misconceptions. When I was in comprehensive sex-ed in middle school, it did NOT make me want to jump into the sack (as so many pro-abstinence education people believe it does). Learning about the real risks, implications, and necessary precautions that came with sex only made me realize that it was a pretty big deal and I was too young for it.
Knowledge is power, people. By depriving children and teenagers of life-saving information that they so desperately need, you are only creating bigger problems. The more you know, the less likely you are to do something stupid.
In the above linked article, it notes a January 2009 study which found that “religious teens who take virginity pledges are less likely to use condoms or birth control when they become sexually active, and just as likely to have sex before marriage as their peers who didn’t take pledges.”
Why the heck are you pouring money into a system that has no evidence of ever working, Obama? It’s like saying, “well making children eat bananas everyday for lunch will make them forget about sweets and thus end child obesity.”
One good part is, $75 million will be put toward “personal responsibility education” which includes abstinence and contraception teaching. It’s a start, at least.
Yes, children should be encouraged to delay sexual interactions, definitely. But if you haven’t noticed, teenagers aren’t exactly known for doing what they’re told. Preventative measures, people. Do you really want your government restricting life-saving information?
[Resources!]
Planned Parenthood
Sexual Health Network
Go Ask Alice (about safe sex)
