The Birds, The Bees, and Teen Pregnancies

The map above contains statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for teen birth rates, by state, in the U.S. in 2009.

Of the ten states with pregnancy rates of 51-64 births per 1,000 teen girls (the highest in the country), only three of them require Sex Ed at all, according to Guttmacher Institute, sexual health research, and advocacy organization. And of those three, only two require information on contraceptives to be presented to students. There is, however, one requirement that almost all of these states share, and that’s a stress on abstinence until marriage, commonly known as “abstinence-only” sex ed. 

Although some say that abstinence-only curriculums will dissuade teens from participating in sexual activity, there is no data to support this. On the contrary, states with these policies tend to have higher teen birth and STD rates. This is likely due to the fact that many abstinence-only programs talk only about abstinence, and not about how to be sexually active in a healthy and safe way. Thus, many teens engage in sexual activity before being taught how to protect themselves and others. In fact, nearly 80% of teens become sexually active before having any formal sex education according to an article in Time Magazine. According to Guttmacher Institute, only 24 states and the District of Columbia require sex education. This means that students in 26 states could very well be deprived of learning about sex, puberty, sexuality, and reproduction in a safe and accurate setting, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t learning in other ways.

The purpose of the U.S. education system is to prepare students to be useful members of society. And because the average age Americans lose their virginity is around 17 according to Time Magazine, it makes no sense that the federal government is making sure teens know algebra, but not the basics of safe sex. There is a need for a drastic change in the way sex ed is taught in the United States, or multiple public health issues will continue to prevail among our nation’s youth. Everyone should care about the health of teens in America and the solution is feasible, so the question remains, why haven’t these problems already been solved?