Cases of teenage pregnancies are increasing very fast. And the issue whether to include a comprehensive sex education in school has always been an argument among educators and parents for a long time now. They are uncertain whether to teach birth control instructions to teenagers or just coach them how to say no to sex.
Reduce Teen Pregnancy
Fortunately, there is a new research study suggesting that comprehensive sex education may lead to less teenage pregnancies. Also, parents should not fear because there is no indication that teaching kids about sex will boost sexually transmitted diseases or increase sexual intercourse levels.
To support this, Pamela Kohler, the study lead author and program manager working at Seattle’s University of Washington, said that “Aside from teaching abstinence, it’s not harmful to teach teenagers about birth control.”
Study Results
Upon examining the results of the national survey focused on 15-19 year old heterosexual teens (2002), Kohler and her colleagues found that two-thirds of the teens received comprehensive instruction with birth control discussion, 1 in 4 received abstinence-only education, while 9% received no education about sex at all (especially the poor or those living in rural areas).