Sex-Ed Lessons Feature Neither Sex nor Education in American Highschools: A response to the abortion debate
The overturning of Roe V. Wade earlier this Spring from the increasingly unpopular, and still unelected Supreme Court (whose approval rating is 25% as of the writing of this article, the lowest in history), has been by the public, remarkably poorly received. With the approval of 52% and 66% of US adults since 1989, reflecting support for the rights of women to have control over their own bodies and autonomy of themselves, the dissatisfaction of having this ruling overturned is palpable as it goes against the majority of the peoples will. But of course, going against the will of the people is the norm for certain members of the political aisle, and should be expected in a system that prefers minority rule.
Surely, those in favor of banning abortions would wish for there to be fewer pregnancies in the first place, no? No. The answer is no. Here’s why.
If one wishes to minimize the number of abortions, there are two ways to go about it. The first is to ban abortions, the second is to ensure there are no pregnancies. For the second, there are two ways in itself to accomplish this. Firstly, minimize the amount of sex had, and secondly, prevent fertilization in the first place.
The first is what is popular amongst Les Rouges, the theory of abstinence, and the second is what is advocated by Les Bleus, the theory of harm reduction. If one wishes there to be no abortions, then surely they would either ban abortions or ensure everyone has access to the means of preventing one in the first place, correct? The answer in the US at least is a resounding no. Let’s look at some data.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has 16 recommended STI and pregnancy prevention topics for middle and high school sexual education to be adequate. In fact, this CDC report found that of the 44 states surveyed, only 17% of middle schools and 45.5% of high schools covered all subject areas to an adequate level. Combined with the fact that in America, 93.9% of surveyed schools taught abstinence as a viable option for birth control, with less than 60% taught how to obtain or properly use condoms, it’s a hormonal timebomb ticking to rather unfortunate conclusions.
When half of the hormonally fueled 17-year-olds and 61% of 18-year-olds are already sexually active, then the problem becomes more apparent when only 13 states require sex-ed to be medically accurate.
So, let’s talk about the effects of abstinence-only sex-ed, and the lack of positive outcomes that have been scientifically demonstrated ad nauseam.
The first thing one should address is the myth that talking about sex and condom safety increases the likelihood of sexual activity when delays are in fact more likely when children are taught these topics, and reducing their rates of unprotected sex. It has been found that teens who received abstinence-only education did not show delays in the engagement of sexual activity compared to those who received proper sex-ed courses. Going further into the differences between those who received primarily abstinence-only education, versus those that followed more closely the CDC guidelines showed in a nationwide study of 15–19-year-olds that teens given abstinence-only education showed higher rates of teen pregnancy, compared to those who again, received proper sexual education. These same teenagers, always young girls, are 50% more likely to drop out of high school. Let’s not end there though, as this article is fundamentally about abortion, what happens to the children of these teenage girls?
Data from the CDC shows that “the children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and to drop out of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult.”
Now, an important argument made by Les Rouges, is that life starts at conception, and so must be cherished and preserved. That the “life” within that teenage mother deserves the best the world has to offer, and it will be no surprise that the states that push this message are the same ones that have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and the highest rates of poverty.
The following two graphs illustrate this quite well. The CDC found that teen birth rates are much higher in states that have the most abortion restrictions, and these states coincide with those states with the highest levels of poverty. Yes, they are both primarily red states. There was no mystery that would have been the case. Red states have the worst sex-ed and simultaneously the highest rates of teen pregnancy, and these are again, the states with the most restrictive abortion rights. Does it make sense? The reader would be most apt to answer that with the data and citations provided. So, the article now reaches its final stretch.
It is an easy enough task to examine and then critique a system. Still, easier would be an examination with no critique. Though, that will not be where this article ends. An examination into the methods of other nations should provide a clearer frame of reference for what Sex-Ed should look like. American parents have a tendency to see the act of procreation as a taboo, something to be shunned and ashamed of, when it is in fact the method by which all human life has come to exist, including their own kids. It is odd to say the least, that one would ostracize the method that led to one's own inception, though that is a topic for another time. This prudish approach is set aside in the Netherlands at least, where kids start learning about sex and human bodies at age four and continue throughout grade school through high school. The results speak for themselves.
In the US, it is not an uncommon phenomenon for people 15 — 25 to make up half of all new STI cases each year according to data from the CDC. Not surprising considering that nearly 46% of sexually active high schoolers did not use a condom when they last had sex from the same study. The percentage of young people who accounts for new cases of STIs each year is 10% comparatively. The results of increased knowledge of what sex is, and proper contraceptive use led to Dutch peers having a teen birth rate five times lower than their US teenage counterparts. The final piece of data should be most intriguing. One would, with this knowledge of the sexual liberation of the Dutch people, suppose that the abortion rates must be well above those of the US. The answer is not surprising, and in fact, should be adopted by Les Rouges (who claim to want there to be as few abortions as possible), that the Dutch have an abortion range of about 8 per 1000 women in the age range of 15–49, whereas, in the US, it is closer to 13 per 1000 women. So, funnily enough, (if I may be so informal), the Dutch with their lower GDP, greater acceptance of sexual liberty and education, lower rates of STIs, and about a comparable level of teen sexual activity, have an abortion rate that is lower than the US. Any conclusion drawn may be of the reader's own accord.
Yes, Les Rouges do in fact have an inherently contradictory policy lens that wishes there be fewer abortions, but does everything in its power to ensure that the methods to prevent pregnancy in the first place are not implemented. The American people are not opposed to the Dutch methods either, though perhaps not in the same capacity of openness, they (85% of Americans to be exact) do however believe that it is appropriate to teach students how to access and use contraceptives. The following revelation may make you more wide-eyed at the openness many American have to this method of harm-reduction, where an astonishing 70% of Americans oppose the use of federal funds for abstinence-only programs that do not teach students about proper contraceptives access and use. An addendum would be that teaching about contraception, was again, not associated with increases in teen sexual activity, nor increases in STD transmission amongst them.
So, of course, as all good things must come to an end, so too shall this article. To support my work, please do share this article with all whom you think would appreciate the data and cataloging of this important information.
*All relevant citations are hyperlinked*
