Study: Religion and Politics Affect Teen Birthrates More Than Sex Ed.
This from
Inside School Research:
More comprehensive sexuality-education courses are correlated with
slightly lower teenage birth rates—but that connection is not nearly as
powerful as demographic, religious, and political factors in a student's
home state.
Students in states that are more politically and
religiously conservative have significantly higher birth rates than
students in less-conservative states, according to new research published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Researchers from Washington University, St. Louis, and the University
of California, Los Angeles used data from the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to analyze the relationship between the
number of births to girls between ages 15-17 from 1997-2005 and the
components of states' sexuality-education programs from 1996-2004 (the
years that would have influenced the birth rates for '97-'05). The study
focuses on 24 states that participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's School Health Profiles, which document school health practices, for at least three years.
Researchers found that states with more schools teaching sex-ed topics
topics like condom use, HIV-infection prevention, and pregnancy
prevention had slightly lower birth rates on average. For instance, a 1
percent increase in the number of sex-ed topics taught, as captured by a
state's School Health Profile, was associated with .6 fewer births per
thousand.
But researchers also examined states' poverty levels, racial
demographics, violent crime rates, political and religious climates, and
abortion policies, and found a much stronger connection between these
factors and birth rates...
8 comments:
Wonder what other elements of education are affected by religion and politics?
Here we go again. First it was those darn conservatives with their limited intellectual ability which fostered bigotry. Now the conservative church goers are disproportionately contributing to child pregnancy. Those unintelligent, promiscuous, prejudiced conservatives are going to be the down fall of our country. Stand up intellectually gifted, athesistic, birth control using liberals and straighten this country out!
By the way how does one label an entire state's population liberal or conservative? I guess I must be the later since I lack the mental capacity to comprehend such a thing.
I agree with this research. Coming from someone who has recently graduated high school, sex education is not a very effective way of preventing teen pregnancy. Of course the taunting pictures of STD's are gruesome, but after a while that short session is quickly forgotten. I believe that the areas with higher poverty and crime rates are more influential on inappropriate decisions than a sex education class. Students are lectured on abstinence and safe sex constantly throughout life, and making it a part of the curriculum does not reinforce it in a more meaningful manner.
So if environment trumps attempts at education because it is not meaningful, should we just give up on delivering curriculum which runs counter to negative social environments?
I kind of thought that was what teaching and learning was suppose to do; grow and inform the individual beyond his or her current functional and intellectual levels.
Sex education is something that the student's never take seriously. This is coming from someone that just graduated high school two years ago. We were required to take a health class in school that also told us about the precautions and outcomes of having sex. That was always the class period that we made our mind focus on something else. This is not something that student's want to hear about from their teachers. Students should be told all of this at home and the school should not be the ones doing it. I know for me, hearing about the dangers of sex in school never scared me, but from hearing about it at church and with my parents, that was a different story. My religion and what my parent's thought made more of an impact on me from what I heard at school. Hearing it at school is just embarrassing and something that students don't want to go through.
Sex education impacts students differently. Sex education informs students of consequences and provides warnings relating to sex. Students do not always participate when this subject is discussed or taught. I think the source matters. I would prefer to hear from my church or family because of the importance they withhold. It is awkward and uncomfortable to have this discussion in school. Although students do not look forward to this subject matter, it is vital to their education. Not all students are informed of the affects and dangers of sex outside of the school system. I think more comprehensive sexuality-education courses will decrease teenage birth rates like the article says.
@Amy Gossage:
I agree that sex education is not something students want to hear about from their teachers. Unfortunately, not all students receive sex education from their parents or church. It is important that they are educated in the school system to ensure their safety and others as well.
@Hailer McCollum:
Unfortunately, like you said, sex education is not a very effective way of preventing teen pregnancy. I agree with the research as well. We should not give up on educating students on sex education.
Post a Comment