Emily Kalshoven - Opposing Viewpoint

            People all of over American have their own personal opinions on sex education programs. I personally believe that we should veer away from abstinence-only programs while others believe that abstinence-only programs are the only way to go.

To many, the abstinence-only method in sex education programs may seem to be a very logical method for a school system. Many parents may feel that abstinence is the only appropriate birth control method for a school to teach. If parents take on the responsibility of teaching their children various appropriate contraceptives, an abstinence-only method in sexual health education may serve as a back-up reinforcement for the parents’ teachings. Parents may also feel uncomfortable with their students talking about the intimate matter of sexual relations with teachers they will continue to interact with for the remainder of the year. Parents may feel that this may change the traditional student-teacher relationship that exists in any learning setting.

            Others may push for abstinence-only education in order to preserve the traditional ideal of marriage. From a Christian viewpoint, waiting to have sex until marriage is the norm. Because of this, other methods of contraceptives would not be necessary to teach to youth until they were grown and ready for marriage. Teaching other forms of contraceptives would encourage youth to go against Christian teachings and beliefs by showing them that there are ways around getting pregnant and obtaining a sexually transmitted infection. Teaching abstinence as the only form of birth control and students followed this method, this would prevent American teens from getting pregnant or contracting any STIs in their teen years.

            It may also be more fiscally efficient to teach abstinence-only methods in school. It may be more difficult to find a teacher that would be willing to teach all the different methods of birth control than it would be for a teach to teach the basics of just anatomy and abstinence. It may take more effort for a school to find a teacher willing to teach all the methods and would most likely need to pay the teacher more for their efforts.