Are "abstinence-only" programs scaring young people from having sex?

Brut America

"Its goals are to shame young people out of having sex."  Teaching students not to have sex before marriage is allowed in 37 U.S. states. Here's how abstinence-only education works ...

Transcript

00:00Don't have sex because you will get pregnant and die.

00:15Abstinence-only until marriage programs, sometimes called sexual risk avoidance programs,

00:21teach that abstinence is the only morally correct option for sexual expression for young people.

00:27Its goals are to shame young people out of having sex

00:30and trick them by giving them false, judgmental, and harmful information.

00:36Don't have sex in the missionary position. Don't have sex standing up.

00:40Just don't do it. Promise.

00:41What else is happening? Losing its ability to bond.

00:59This is what happens when we have multiple partners before we get married.

01:04We give up our ability to bond.

01:05Some folks experience watching really shamey videos.

01:11Some folks have their facilitator, you know, have a chewed up piece of gum

01:16and share that that's what girls mostly, because it's very sexist, experience.

01:23You know, it's a metaphor, like, oh, if you're a chewed up piece of gum,

01:26no one's going to want you, and that's what happens to you

01:28when you have sex and when you're not a virgin anymore.

01:31Um, it is very based in religion and in maintaining virginity.

01:47The first federal abstinence only program was enacted via the Adolescent Family Life Act

01:53in the Reagan administration, and that program really tried to prevent pregnancy

01:59through promoting chastity and self-discipline.

02:02Wise policies such as welfare reform, drug education, and support for abstinence and

02:07adoption have made a difference in the character of our country.

02:10Because only 18 states require sex ed to be medically accurate,

02:14some facilitators and teachers flat out share lies about sex ed because it's not illegal not to.

02:29So,

02:40young people who pledge abstinence are less likely to use contraceptives when they do have sex.

02:46Abstinence only education does not delay young people having sex.

02:51And states that have abstinence only curriculum

02:55have higher rates of unintended pregnancy and STIs.

02:59So, research has repeatedly shown, time and time again,

03:03that abstinence only curriculum does not work.

03:14So,

03:22according to the Guttmacher Institute, abstinence only programs typically are heteronormative and

03:27frame LGBTQ folks as deviant, or that something's wrong with them.

03:32Stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ plus students increase their risk of STIs,

03:39substance use disorder, suicide, and experiencing violence.

03:57Comprehensive sex education should be medically accurate,

04:01positive, evidence-based, non-judgmental, and age-appropriate.

04:06Comprehensive sex ed includes so much.

04:09It includes pleasure, healthy relationships and communication,

04:13consent, online safety, porn literacy, mental health, condoms, contraception, birth control,

04:21gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, abortion, sex and disability,

04:28and so much more.

04:29Comprehensive sex ed has been shown to increase young people's knowledge of STIs

04:34and lead to safer sex practices.

04:36Sex education should not be a one-and-done class.

04:39It should begin in early childhood and continue throughout a person's lifespan.

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