The effectiveness of Abstinence Programs
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The effectiveness of Abstinence Programs
Early sexual activity among teenagers is something that has attracted the attention of the nation as its effects can be seen in terms of early teen pregnancies, increase in sexually transmitted diseases, indulgence in behaviors such as smoking and alcoholism and emotional and psychological problems. This led to the formation of abstinence programs of which some of them have been incorporated into the school’s curriculum. Sexual education is majorly divided into two categories; comprehensive sex education and abstinence-only programs. Comprehensive sex education involves providing information that is evidence-based, medically correct including the use of contraceptives and condoms while educating on normal reproductive development. Abstinence education programs on the other hand advocate for abstinence as the only way of preventing pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases/infections. These programs educate on the effects of early sexual activity, personalities and responsibilities, children born out of wedlock and how to withstand peer pressure. This paper will analyze the different programs such as comprehensive risk, teenage pregnancy rates, and other school programs that serve a similar purpose. It will also analyze how effective these programs have been in reducing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted programs.
Abstinence education programs have proven effective in reducing early sexual activity. Supporters of abstinence education claim that exposing teenagers to these programs reduce the probability of them engaging in their first sexual activity. This, in turn, delays the chances of them getting early pregnancies and other diseases. One such program is the Virginity pledge program where teens between grade 7 and 12 pledge to remain virgins until marriage (Rector, 2019). A study that was done to determine the effectiveness of this program showed that teenagers who participated in this program were at a lower risk of engaging in early sexual activities. However, despite such programs, teen pregnancies are still frequent and often affect the teen parents, their education and social-economic life and even the emotional and psychological health. In her article, “Preventing Teen Pregnancy: The Impact of Dolls, Abstinence, and Sex Education” (Langford, 2015), gives statistics which show that in 2015, the USA recorded a total 220,000 teen pregnancies. This was narrowed down to 2 pregnancies in every 100 girls. This can be explained by the fact that abstinence education programs only claim that abstinence is the only way that youths and adolescents can protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. They do emphasize on the failures of medical measures such as the use of condoms and contraceptives. Teenagers end up having limited or no information on things that could save their lives. They are also pre-exposed to dangers of contracting deadly diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which is responsible for causing cervical cancer. Moreover, teenage pregnancies result in most students stopping their education to take care of their children. Cases of these pregnancies in areas that are of a lower social-economic class further result in challenges in bringing up the child and creates a continuum of the cycle of poverty in such places.
Abstinence-only education programs cannot be entirely relied on in reducing sexual activities in teenagers, hence the need for comprehensive risk reduction of STD and HIV programs. Given that the abstinence programs fail to educate on alternatives to protecting themselves in sexual activities, comprehensive programs need to be incorporated as well to ensure that teenagers do not make decisions out of ignorance. Studies have shown that as teenagers grow older, there are higher chances of them engaging in sexual activities. They, therefore, need complete information on the dangers of it as well as alternatives in protecting themselves. Comprehensive risk programs can also take place in school programs as well as in community organized programs. Setting up of these programs resulted from the observation that adolescents were more vulnerable to acquiring diseases like AIDS. Therefore, education alone was not enough to guarantee their protection. This prompted the start of these programs that teach on the risks involved and methods of protecting themselves. The programs have so far proved to be more effective in behavior change among teenagers with regard to sexual activity. These behavior changes include a reduction in the frequency of engagement in sexual activities, number of partners, reducing sexual activity and the rate of unprotected sexual activity (Lindberg, Maddow-Zimet, & Boonstra, 2016). Besides that, the use of contraceptives has also gone high reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies. In a study that was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive risk programs, it was found that schools that had implemented comprehensive risk programs recorded lower rates of teenage pregnancies as compared to schools that relied on abstinence programs alone.
Moreover, it is important to note that comprehensive risk programs have been effective in changing behaviors of students as they are more aware of the risks and hence understand the responsibilities that come with sexual activity. School intervention programs such as the distribution of condoms and education on how to use them are some of the measures that have been employed by schools to ensure their students do not engage in risky sexual behavior. They also claim that the implementation of such programs does not encourage engagement in sexual activity but rather practically teaches students on responsibility and how to take care of themselves. Comprehensive risk programs have also proven to better in creating awareness on the spread of HIV/AIDS as they are more engaging and do not tend to withhold information. An important feature of comprehensive risk program is that the content can be adjusted to fit to be age-appropriate and suitable for the socio-economic group in question. In addition, comprehensive education teaches on other matters such as sexual expression, gender, healthy sexual and non-sexual relationships, consent and decision making and finally recognizing and moving away from sexual violence. These are important aspects of sexuality that are not talked about in abstinence programs which affect people in many ways.
Another way of ensuring effectiveness in abstinence education programs is tailoring school programs that educate students on sexual activities from an early age. This could be done, (especially for children in lower grades) as an addition to the abstinence programs that have been integrated into the school’s curriculum. Children tend to be curious, and while it may be the role of parents to educate them on sex, the school pays a significant part in it as they tend to spend most of their time there. Most adolescents start school before initiating sexual activities. It becomes crucial that they are educated on the same thing before they start engaging in sex to ensure their social and health safety. The broadness of the content in these programs could vary as they move higher in their grades. When this is used together with abstinence education and comprehensive risk education, children will be more informed and will approach the subject and its consequences with reason and caution.
Additionally, schools that are located in areas that are characterized by poverty have high chances of their teenagers engaging in early sexual activity. This can be attributed to the fact that the levels of exposure in such areas are much lower compared to schools located in areas of high earning. A similar trend is witnessed in teenagers who come from disorganized families such as families with parents who are absent or those who abuse drugs and have to rely on schools to educate on most things about social life. In such families the children are neglected and often have to cater for themselves and their siblings if any, leaving vulnerable to things like sexual predation hence early initiation into sexual activities. Therefore, it is essential for the school to start such programs at an early age to ensure that the probability of engaging in risky sexual behaviors is reduced as well as unwanted pregnancies.
Creators of these programs should know the consequences that come with teens engaging in early sexual activities as well as the dangers of not practicing safe sex. The policies and content that they create should be structured around these aspects such as age, socio-economic background, geographic location, race, and ethnicity. (Eldredge et al., 2016). Abstinence-only education programs serve to educate on the benefits of delaying participation in sexual activities, but it does not teach students on the risks involved when they choose to engage. This leaves teenagers exposed and ignorant, something which can be covered by integrating comprehensive risks education programs. Some of the risks that are discussed in comprehensive risk reduction programs are sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, early pregnancies, high-risk behaviors such as drug and substance abuse and physical and emotional challenges. However, the effect of behavioral abstinence programs cannot be ignored as it continually forms a platform where teens can engage professional and teachers on matters concerning sex.
Some of the abstinence programs that have proved effective in reducing sexual activities include; Teen Aid Family Life education Project, Project Taking Charge, Operation Keepsake and Abstinence by Choice among others (Rector, 2019). These programs have formed the basis of other programs and their effectiveness in the subject. All in all, both abstinence and comprehensive risk education programs are useful in reducing teenage pregnancies and risks of contracting diseases among others by ensuring that teens are delayed in initiating sexual activities.
References
Eldredge, L. K. B., Markham, C. M., Ruiter, R. A., Kok, G., Fernandez, M. E., & Parcel, G. S. (2016). Planning health promotion programs: an intervention mapping approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Globerman, J., Mitra, S., Gogolishvili, D., Rueda, S., Schoffel, L., & Gangbar, K. et al. (2017). HIV/STI prevention interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Open Medicine, 12(1). doi: 10.1515/med-2017-0064
Langford, A. (2015). Preventing Teen Pregnancy: The Impact of Dolls, Abstinence, and Sex Education | National Center for Health Research. Retrieved from http://www.center4research.org/preventing-teen-pregnancy-impact-dolls-abstinence-sex-education/
Lindberg, L. D., Maddow-Zimet, I., & Boonstra, H. (2016). Changes in adolescents’ receipt of sex education, 2006–2013. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(6), 621-627.
Rector, R. (2019). The Effectiveness of Abstinence Education Programs in Reducing Sexual Activity Among Youth. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/education/report/the-effectiveness-abstinence-education-programs-reducing-sexual-activity-among
