Sex ed teen pregnancy

Using the most recent national data () from all U.S. states with information on sex education laws or policies (N = 48), we show that. Teens who have sex education are. These efforts ignore the fact that contraception is driving declines in adolescent pregnancy and fail to serve young people's broader sexual.

States that taught comprehensive sex and/or HIV education and covered abstinence along with contraception and condom use (level 1 sex education; also referred to as “abstinence-plus”, tended to have the lowest teen pregnancy rates, while states with abstinence-only sex education laws that stress abstinence until marriage (level 3) were significantly less successful in . Unprotected sex can lead to unintended pregnancies, and becoming a teen parent can transform a teen’s life. Teen parents are more likely to Estimated Reading Time: 3 mins. The estimated effects of mandatory sex education are robust to some but not all of our specifications designed to tease out causality. Taken together, changes in national laws relating to sexual health are unable to explain the significant declines in teenage pregnancy rates, which have been observed in many developed countries in recent years.

As mentioned, in Tennessee sex-ed is mandatory only if teen pregnancy rates reach a certain level; even then, it has to be abstinence-based, and teachers can be sued by parents for promoting what is termed “gateway sexual activity.”. Unprotected sex can lead to unintended pregnancies, and becoming a teen parent can transform a teen’s life. Teen parents are more likely to drop out of high school to take care of their child. relationship, if any, exists between teen pregnancy rates and the CSE offered to students. CSE is a valu-able component of sex education curricula. In order to advocate for its inclusion in all curricula, it would be beneficial to know if CSE is negatively correlated with teen pregnancy, especially since the U.S.’s teen.

Try out PMC Labs and tell us what you think. Learn More. The United States ranks first among developed nations in rates of both teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. In an effort to reduce these rates, the U. However, a public controversy remains over whether this investment has been successful and whether these programs should be continued.