STDs are preventable. Public domain pictures
When one of our school nurses, Ms. Fireman accepted the role of teaching Academy’s freshman health class last year, her goal was to “to create a curriculum that was consistent with what most progressive schools are teaching, which translates to giving the kids the most current information on topics that effect high school teens.”
She based her teaching on providing her students with a well-rounded and thorough education on touchy subjects like venereal diseases (STDs), mental health issues, nutrition, drugs and different forms of protection, along with learning CPR and first aid. Since she knew that many health classes could be repetitive, she focused on creating a course that would keep students engaged while also learning.
While Ohio schools are required to provide a similar health education program covering many of the same topics, some guidelines are dangerously out of date. Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 3313.6011 is one of them.
ORC 3313.6011 or the “Instruction on venereal diseases emphasizing abstinence” reflects the hardline push for “abstinence-only-until-marriage” (AOUM) education from many conservative lawmakers. AOUM education emphasizes or only teaches abstinence as a contraceptive, glossing over other means like the birth control pill and how to properly use condoms.
The problem with AOUM education is that it doesn’t work to prevent teen pregnancies. According to a report in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the number of teens who reported receiving education only about abstinence has increased around 20% from 1995 to 2011-2013 while the number of teens who reported learning how to use other birth control methods fell by around 30%.
Despite this, the same report states, “many adolescents who intend to be abstinent fail to do so, and that when abstainers do initiate intercourse, many fail to use condoms and contraception to protect themselves,” and the CDC reported in 2012 that “no conclusions could be drawn on the effectiveness of group-based abstinence education.”
Ms. Fireman’s believes: “that kids are going to learn about, experiment, and make good and bad choices so why can’t we give them all the information so they can make better choices in the future. I don’t see it as “giving them ideas” I see it as making them informed about issues and consequences that may arise based on choices they make.”
The only result of abstinence-only education is less-informed students. While teens shouldn’t be promoted to engage in certain activities, they should be allowed to make well-informed decisions on their own, not kept in the dark where they can stumble upon consequences that they aren’t prepared for.
