Three States Take a Stand for Safe Sex Education

Abstinence-only proponents have once again come up with a clever way to mislead the public and particularly the less educated in many states. The administration has provided funding in the amount of $1 billion dollars to United States schools for the purpose of teaching a new form of sex education, one that does not include education regarding the use of condoms. Schools that accept funding are required to teach that abstinence is the only form of birth control and often provide evidence that condoms do not work in an attempt to scare teens away from sex altogether.

This attempt to stop children and young adults from having sex until they are married is a bad idea, since irrespective of the education policy the average age at which young adults begin having sex is 15. The proper use of birth control must be taught to prevent the spread of disease as well as un-wanted pregnancies. Three states, California, Maine, and Pennsylvania refuse funding from the government in order to continue teaching sex education as they see fit.

Proper sex education is needed to inform young adults that there are other options besides abstinence, since that is the option that teens are least likely to choose. Teachers in the three non-funded states teach students how to purchase condoms, how to put on a condom, and how to use a condom as well and other forms of contraceptive. Safe sex teaching should be funded through the government for all schools, regardless of what is included in the curriculum.

Why the administration believes that teaching strictly abstinence is going to stop young people from having sex is a complete delusion, since statistics have proven that idea wrong time and time again. Young adults should be exposed to all information available to insure that when the time comes, they can be prepared to practice sex safe instead of having unsafe sex because of a lack of information. Funding to schools should not be based on the political content of what the teachers teach, but rather on the usefulness of the information given.

Proper sex education will not only protect young adults but will in the end likely result in savings to the government and tax payers. Statistics have shown the rise in teen pregnancy is in direct correlation to the rise of young adults on public state assistance. Statistics are also widely available that support the fact that treatment for sexually transmitted diseases are greater than providing free condoms, or showing young adults where they can purchase low cost condoms in private.

The restricted funding to states that refuse to teach abstinence-only sex education has effectively cost those states a great deal of money; California alone spends over $7 million a year to teach proper sex education. While they save state money in other areas, such as public state assistance for teen pregnancies, they are forced to find funding in other ways, most often affecting taxes, cutting cost in other areas that are important, and allowing private organizations, that strangely enough the administration does not support, to provide as much help as needed.