The state of Utah, in which
I reside, staunchly promotes abstinence only education. Recently, a Bill was
introduced, H.B 215, that would enact provisions related to reproductive health
education. The Bill emphasized providing evidence based, age appropriate,
information that have been shown to be effective in changing negative behaviors that contribute
to teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Last year,
a similar Bill was introduced but was not passed, which seems to be the fate of
H.B 215, as the last action taken on March 9, 2017 was to file it in ‘bills not
passed.’
I thought of Abstinence only
Education within the context of types of inaccurate information (i.e. Honest Mistakes, Out-of-Date Information,
Disinformation, biased information, misleading information, bullshit and
withholding or removing information) and considered how this type of curricula
falls into many of the previously listed categories of inaccurate information.
First, let’s start with some
facts.
The United States takes first place amongst other developed nations as
far as the rates of both teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are
concerned. Studies have found that an increasing emphasis on abstinence only
education is positively correlated with teen pregnancy and birth rates, indicating that the enforcement of abstinence only education increases teen pregnancy.
In poorer
states there was also a correlation between high teen pregnancy rates and a
higher degree of religiosity. Unlike abstinence only education, comprehensive
sex education has been proven to be effective in the following areas:
- It can help delay onset of sexual activity in
youth
- Reduce the frequency of sexual activity
- Reduce the number of sexual partners
- Increase condom and contraceptive use
A common argument that is made by conservatives that are against
comprehensive education is that it will both increase the likelihood of teens
becoming more sexually active and increase sexual activity altogether.
Basically, “If you teach teens the benefits of birth control and condoms, they
will have sex will-nilly.” As I stated above, this has not been shown to be the
case. Teens who received comprehensive sex education were 50% less likely to
experience pregnancy than those who received abstinence only education.
So, how does Abstinence Only education tie into the various types of
inaccurate information?
For starters, abstinence only education is characterized by the
withholding of information. These types of curricula also “distort information
about the effectiveness of contraceptives, misrepresent the risks of abortion,
blur religion and science, treat stereotypes about girls and boys as scientific
fact, and contain basic scientific errors." These programs are inaccurate,
ineffective, and can cause harm. One study, conducted in 2004 by the U.S. House
of Representative’s Committee on Government Reform highlighted specific lessons
from 11 of the 13 most popular federally funded abstinence only education
programs that convey misinformation. Along with the descriptions of some of the
points that were highlighted in this study, I include what I believe to be the
appropriate category of inaccurate information:
One program taught students that HIV/AIDS can
be transmitted through tears and sweat. Now, depending on the program and who is actually teaching the program,
I think this falls into 3 categories. 1- Disinformation. The information is
intentionally misleading and instills fear in students who don’t know any
better. 2-Information that is known to be misleading. A lot of people who teach
abstinence only education genuinely believe that it is the best, and only,
option. They may know that tears and sweat don’t transmit HIV/AIDS, but they
could be willing to pass on the information because they think the lie is
ultimately outweighed by the desired goal of abstinence. 3- Bullshit. The
individual or program may not care what’s true or false and are only looking to
capitalize on the willingness of others to believe the rhetoric.
One issue that is common in the majority of
abstinence only curricula is that they assume that all students share the same
beliefs (Christian). As an example, “all life begins as soon as a sperm and an
egg unite.” Again, this could fall into multiple
categories, but for the sake of brevity, let’s stick with one: the Biased
Information category.
Some programs discourage condom use by
distorting information about their efficacy, despite the FDA and CDC
discounting their various ‘statistics’. This could potentially fall under the category of ‘out-of-date’
information. It’s quite possible that condoms weren’t as effective as they are now. I don’t have any evidence of that though, so don’t quote
me. This can also be considered Information that is known to be misleading, as
quite often teachers and program creators/directors will be aware of the actual
statistics on condoms effectiveness but are more afraid of the ill-conceived
notion that condom use will only encourage and increase sexual activity to care
about conveying the correct information. I’d also consider Bullshit as another
category, but that’s because when I hear a statistic like, “condoms are only
69% effective”, I think “Bullshit”. Also, could they have come up with a more
ironic number for that statistic?
Ultimately, I think one could reasonably argue that abstinence only
education, in some way or another, falls under all of the inaccurate types of
information. With that said though, I do think that I could potentially make an
argument that at this point in time, with all of the resources available to the
vast majority of the general population, abstinence only education cannot be
considered an honest mistake. But that’s a post for another time.
As an aside, I’ve provided a link to an opinion piece in an article from
Deseret
News (a popular news source in Utah) that, I think, illustrates the type of
passive-aggressive, white-washing rhetoric of conservative Mormons.
Questions:
1. In what other ways do you think abstinence only education is misleading and inaccurate? What inaccurate information categories would the fall under?
2. What experiences do you recall from your own sexual education in school? Or your children's?
3. Why do you think abstinence only education is still so popular in schools when many studies have shown that 80% of Americans actually support teaching comprehensive sex education in high schools and middle and junior high schools?
References:
Comprehensive Sex
Education: Research and Results. Advocates
for Youth. September 2009. http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/1487
Erickson, Jenet. The heart
of the sex-education debate. Deseret New.February
5,2017. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865672607/The-heart-of-the-sex-education-debate.html
Haring, Curtis. Flagged Bill-HB-215-
Reproductive Health Education and Services Amendments-Rep. Brian King. Utah Political Capitol. January 31,2017.
H.B. 215 Reproductive Health Education and
Services. 2017 General Session. Utah.
Stanger-Hall, K. F., &
Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We
Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S. PLoS
ONE, 6(10), e24658. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024658
U.S. House of
Representatives, Committee on Government Reform. The Content of Federally
Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs, prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman.
Washington, DC: The House, 2004.
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