Sex Sells, So Why Doesn’t Sex Education?

Sex is everywhere — in advertisements, on social media, and throughout all forms of entertainment. Yet even as popular culture is continually infused with sex, the movement dedicated to denying teens access to scientifically proven information about sex is growing. At a GOP convention in Maine last weekend, Republicans voiced their intent to ban sex education. The desire to restrict, reform, or remove parts of sex education from schools has become a popular theme of the GOP in other conservative states too, including Florida and Texas. The only kind of sex education delegates and governors in these states approve of is abstinence-only sex education, which is designed to teach people to choose not to have sex until they are married and emphasizes the negative aspects of sex and of not waiting to have it.

Given how sex is presented in attractive ways in the media, it is not realistic to expect everyone to wait until they are married to have it. I want to be clear here: I am not insulting the choice to wait, nor am I saying that religious beliefs regarding abstinence until marriage are wrong. I am saying that when we treat sex as taboo in a context in which it also appears almost everywhere, it’s not helpful.

Most significantly, abstinence-only education just doesn’t work to reduce teen pregnancy rates. In fact, according to one 2017 article in the Journal of Adolescent Health, teen pregnancy rates are not lower in places that rely on abstinence-only education, nor are rates of STDs. Abstinence-only sex education programs are usually ineffective in delaying when young people start engaging in sexual activity. Ignoring this reality results in young people simply not having the knowledge necessary to protect themselves and others when they do engage in sex.

If reducing unintended pregnancies and STDs, and keeping young people healthy are the goals of any kind of sex education, then Guttmacher Institute has reported that a comprehensive sex education approach achieves these goals more effectively than abstinence-only. This organization reports that comprehensive sex education actually delays when teens first engage in sexual behavior, and when they finally do engage in it, they are safer and use better judgment. It’s just counterproductive to refuse to educate people with medically accurate information.

The science is abundant and clear: Comprehensive sex education is the best option for helping young people make better, safe decisions and good choices, reducing the rates of unintended pregnancies, and reducing the rates of STDs. Abstinence-only sex education isn’t only ineffective, but it can also result in damaging health outcomes. It is astounding that some states are promoting or requiring abstinence-only education when experts know it doesn’t work. Treating sex as taboo isn’t helping anyone.