Argumentative Essay On Abstinence-Only Education

Abstinence is not an effective method of birth control. According to a study from Advocates for Youth, 95% of Americans have had premarital sex and teens who pledged to wait until marriage and 60% broke their promise after six years. In addition, the study also found that people who pledged virginity were more likely to engage in oral or anal sex than non-pledging virgin teens and less likely to use condoms once they become sexually active. Also, people who pledged were much less likely than non-pledgers to use contraception the first time they had sex and were less likely to know their STI status. Abstinence only education provides a false sense of security the first time people are having sex. They may think that they are safe when having sex for the first time not using contraception, but they are not. For example, condoms are effective 98% of the time. If students are led to believe that they are less effective, they won’t use protection during the first time they engage in sexual activity, leading to a higher risk of contracting an STD or becoming pregnant.

Why should we be teaching students in school what they can and can’t do within the law? According to Advocates for Youth, the number of Americans who are unmarried and single has been growing steadily in recent years. In 2005, 41 percent of all U.S. residents age 18 and older being single. It is unethical for schools should not be promoting a lifestyle or forcing a belief on students. Abstinence-only education does not delay sexual initiation. A federally funded investigation in 2007 showed that in abstinence-only education programs, students were no more likely than those not in the programs to “delay sexual initiation, to have fewer sexual partners, or to abstain entirely from sex”. Many other studies have had the same