Abstinence Education Argument Paper

Sex education programs are one of the most important classes high schoolers receive. Many organizations push the idea of only teaching teenagers to abstain from sex until marriage instead of teaching them the essential information they need to stay safe. By giving high schoolers a full education they know how to have safe, protected sex when the time comes. The argument ‘Abstinence Education Programs Are Not Effective’ by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. SIECUS, argues that abstinence programs are ineffective and put young people at risk. The formulated argument effectively combines ethos, logos and strong premises to persuade the reader.
Premises
The primary strength of the argument lies in the author’s well-supported premises. One of the author’s premises states, “Research proves abstinence programs are not beneficial” (SIECUS, 2014), followed by evidence from a research study. The researchers spent six years following teens who were in four of the country’s most promising abstinence education programs. The study discovered none of the teens from the four programs had a beneficial impact their sexual behavior (SIECUS, 2014). The premise contains strong evidence from the most promising abstinence education programs and yet the results were not promising. The author consistently uses pieces of strong evidence to validate her argument. The author also continues to include a report from the

Expanding upon pathos allows a reader to find a connection within the article. A story about someone who the abstinence-only-until-marriage program failed could allow a parent to see what could happen to their child. By incorporating pathos in the whole article, emotions blend with the facts to create a rounded argument. The article skillfully combined ethos and logos but failed to combine pathos, which would have made the argument more powerful.