Amaia,

Your post was very interesting to me as it is an issue that directly affects the youths in our community. This is a perspective that has been brought up at Judge Memorial before with the Chasity guess speaker. However, I agree with your viewpoint that is is unrealistic. I especially agree with the part where you say ” The abstinence is not the problem, the problem is the way it is taught. Abstinence is a limited, but effective strategy until young adults start engaging in sexual activity with little knowledge of safe sex practices and contraceptive methods.” Here is an article that you might enjoy: https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0911-2. I hope to read more from you soon.

Hey Amaia,
I think this is super interesting because you and your new source are both 100% correct, abstinence teachings or beliefs are not an issue in a society where all are entitled to their own beliefs, the issue come from forcing beliefs on others and not providing options. I think this a prevalent misconception about issues in a society where when only one option is presented, people respond by wanting more than one to choose from, even if they end up choosing the original option. This is a common argument used on the Pro-Life, Pro-Choice debates, as the Pro-Choice side just wishes for more options even if they end up choosing life. Great source! I can’t wait to see where this research takes you, especially in Utah!
-erica s.

Amaia,

I am very interested to see where the rest of your research takes you because this is intriguing. I think this is such an important topic that should be discussed more openly in schools, especially high school. I feel like sex education is not talked about nearly enough in order to make a difference. I agree with you when you say that “abstinence is not the problem, the problem is the way it is taught.” Schools should prioritized sex education a lot more in health classes in order for kids and teenagers to know how to be safe.

Thanks for speaking about this!
Kaitlyn

Hey Amaia,
This is a very important topic for teenagers. I agree with “abstinence is not the problem, the problem is the way it is taught.” We teach young people to treat them properly, how to protect themselves, and to respect the religious beliefs and ideas of others.
This article might interest you https://health.tki.org.nz/Teaching-in-HPE/Policy-guidelines/Sexuality-education-a-guide-for-principals-boards-of-trustees-and- teachers / Why-sexuality-education-is-important

Amaia,
Your post was very interesting to read and I agree with you that the “abstinence-based programs are unrealistic in regard to expecting kids to wait until marriage to engage in sexual activity.” We are so caught up on the idea of abstinence that we are never really taught the proper sex education needed. Heres an article you might like: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3194801/

I liked reading about all the different places and how they approach sex education. “They still promote abstinence as a contraception method, however, they teach students about other contraceptives available like birth control, condoms, Plan B, etc.” is something that I have been exposed to at school and I think it’s better than straight abstinence. I really like this topic and am excited to see more.