Section
Introduction
One of the problems that is pressing in today’s society is the rising incidence of pregnancy out of marriage, which is caused by a lack of knowledge regarding sexual health and reproduction. This kind of pregnancy is not only costly, but it also is the paves the way for other problems such as the infection of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), a myriad of psychological and mental problems, and unsatisfied married and parenting lives because of the effects of the partnership and children out of wedlock. Therefore, there is a need for an education among the general population so that the incidence of pregnancies outside marriage is drastically reduced.
One of the ways in which the public can be made aware of this issue is by educating them about abstinence, or by refraining from having any sexual intercourse outside of marriage so as to prevent unwanted children. Like any other issue, abstinence-only education has its pros and cons that influence its effectiveness in solving this problem. This paper aims to weigh in whether abstinence-only education is effective in reducing unwanted pregnancies, and then a personal opinion regarding this topic will be discussed later.
Abstinence-Only Education: Effective
There are many studies that were conducted regarding the effectiveness of abstinence-only education in reducing unwanted pregnancies, and some of them concluded that the approach is indeed significant in reducing the rate of pregnancies out of marriage.
A 2012 study by Lindberg and Zimmet aimed to study the effect of teaching abstinence and birth control methods to juvenile individuals regarding the healthiness of their sexual behaviors compared to those who were not taught at all. Data from 4591 males and females aged 15-24 revealed that young people who have received sex education had their first sexual intercourse at a later age. In addition, they were also more likely to use contraception or condoms during sexual intercourse, and are less likely to have a partner whose age differs significantly from him or her. Generally, the study showed that education regarding birth control and abstinence was associated with healthier sexual behaviors such as a later age of trying sexual intercourse, as well as the use of contraceptives and condoms in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The researchers concluded that sex education does not only teach young people when to have sex, but it also encourages them to have a healthier attitude and behavior about sex in general.
In addition to this study, an analysis of other studies regarding abstinence programs was conducted by Kim and Rector in 2010. By reviewing sixteen studies, they concluded that teaching abstinence is an important part of teaching sexual education among teens.
Abstinence-Only Education: Not Effective
Even though it is shown that teaching abstinence can reduce the rate of sexual intercourse among young people and by extension unwanted pregnancies, many studies have failed to show the advantages of abstinence-only education as opposed to other forms of sex education. In fact, most of them concluded that educating people to abstain from sex until after marriage is ineffective compared to other teaching methods regarding sex.
One such study that arrived at this conclusion was conducted in 2011 by Hall and Hall. In this research, the correlation between the rising trend in teenage pregnancy and teaching teenagers in 18 states of the United States of America to practice abstinence only was determined. It was found out that both factors were positively correlated, i.e., the more emphasis is placed on teaching abstinence, the greater the rates of teenage pregnancy are. The results still stay the same even when accounting for factors that can influence the data at hand. The researchers then concluded that abstinence alone is not effective in reducing pregnancy rate and therefore it should be supplemented with other programs such as teaching birth control and the risk of STDs. This conclusion was supported by the study made by Perrin and DeJoy (2003), who analyzed the history of abstinence-only education and generalized that abstinence-only programs have no significant effects. Therefore, the government should focus on programs that actually work in reducing pregnancy rates.
These two studies show that among the sex education methods, abstinence-only is considered the least effective. Therefore, it should be done away with in favor of more effective ones.
Personal Opinions
After reading the studies, my belief that abstinence alone cannot reduce unwanted pregnancy rates is greatly strengthened. Perhaps the one that I find the most convincing was that of Hall and Hall, because they employed statistical methods to arrive at the result as well isolating any possible confounding factors at hand. However, I agree that abstinence should also be taught in schools. It is just that the reason why they should abstain from sex before marriage should be made explicit so as not to make them curious about the fact, which would lead into them committing the act.
Conclusion
Unwanted pregnancies, especially among the juvenile population, are one of the main problems of society nowadays. One proposed solution to that is abstinence-only education, which involves teaching people to stay away from sex until after marriage. There are many benefits and disadvantages to this plan of action, but many studies show that abstinence only is not effective in reducing pregnancy rates. This fact can be kept in mind when deciding a curriculum program that involves teaching sex education to the general population.
References
Hall, K. S., & Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S. PLoS One. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024658
Kim, C., & Rector, R. (19 Feb., 2010). “Evidence on the Effectiveness of Abstinence Education: An Update”. Heritage.org. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/02/evidence-on-the-effectiveness-of-abstinence-education-an-update
Lindberg, L. D., & Zimmet, I. M. (2012). Consequences of Sex Education on Teen and Young Adult Sexual Behaviors and Outcomes. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51(4), 332-338. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.12.028
Perrin, K., & DeJoy, S. B. (2003). Abstinence-Only Education: How We Got Here and Where We're Going. Journal of Public Health Policy, 24(3), 445-459. doi: 10.2307/3343387
