Amy Phillips Bursch, Media Relations Manager
Sometimes, the only logical reaction to a story is “WHAT?”
Tennessee just enacted one
of the strictest abstinence education laws in the nation. In fact, the law
bans teachers from talking about “gateway sexual activity” without defining
what, exactly, “gateway sexual activity” is, leading opponents of the law to
brand it the “no
holding-hands bill.”
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| "Gateway sexual activity"? (Katie Tegtmeyer/Foter) |
And you guessed it: Tennessee
has one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation. Clearly, Tennessee
teenagers are doing a lot of hand-holding. Or something.
I’m not here to pick on Tennessee – it’s not
the only state that tries to tackle teen pregnancy with the “Just
Say No” approach. The problem is, teens AREN’T saying no. Teens –
including Tennessee ones – have sex. According to the Guttmacher Institute,
70% of American teenagers have had intercourse by their 19th birthday,
beginning at age 17 on average.
Population Connection supports fact-based, unbiased
comprehensive sex education. Why? Because it works. One recent
study found that teenagers who were taught both about contraception and the benefits
of abstinence delayed having sex, protected themselves when they did and
had the healthiest partnerships. Students who received only abstinence
education also delayed having sex, but when they did, they were less likely to
use contraception. And we all know what
that leads to, which is great when you’re ready, but difficult when you’re not.
