The importance of sexual education among middle and high school students is essential, not only to reduce teen pregnancy, but sexually transmitted diseases as well. My classmate, Eloisa, presents us with her blog entry titled “Teaching Abstinence “Plus”?” where she gives us some insight into the recently introduced sexual education program in Texas, whose purpose is to reduce pregnancy rates among teens by implementing a combination of techniques, including: abstinence and contraception use, whereas before the curriculum consisted of abstinence-only lecture. She makes reference to several outside sources which provide valuable information -such as statistics relating to teen pregnancy- and also gives her personal opinion on the matter. While Eloisa thoroughly summarizes the new curriculum, her opinion seems quite ambiguous; she states “Now for me and my two cents its [sic] seems as though teaching about condoms, birth control, and contraception is pushing the boundries [sic],” then later agrees that “the more we talk about [sex/contraception] with preteens and inform them about it, the better.”
It is a difficult issue to tackle, so ambiguity is not uncommon. Among the factors motivating the various responses from communities in Texas, are religion, ethics, and the law. Texas does not require that schools teach sexual education, but when they do, what is taught is strictly regulated. Many schools have yet to adopt and implement the new curriculum, some continuing in their belief of an abstinence-only education despite clear evidence of its futility. Hesitation to educate students on contraception use and their rate of effectiveness leads many to believe schools are condoning sexual activity rather than teaching to refrain from it. Continuing to teach sexual education in fear will ultimately lead to an increase in teen pregnancy rates, it might even place Texas number one on the national leaderboard.
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