Abstinence, Research Paper Example

Abstract

The paper covers most important aspects of abstinence as a way to reduce teen pregnancy rates and avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Factual background is included. Brief reasons and benefits of teenage abstinence are discussed. Major terms that are used in abstinence education are explained. Types of sexual abstinence education programs and their results are also discussed.

Introduction

In modern world, where information is accessible at the push of the button and nothing seems to be hidden from the public view, we are constantly exposed to public attention and are subjects of someone’s opinion. And even intimate issues like having sex or not are open to criticism and discussion. But this intrusion has a very serious background. This background includes high teenage pregnancy rates, teenage abortion, and spread of sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV). There are several ways to prevent this and one of them is abstinence, and current paper concentrates on abstinence as the most reliable way to avoid negative consequences of sexual intercourse.

Background

Every year millions of dollars are spent on programs that promote abstinence. Thousands of people work hard to provide factual base and encourage teenagers to abstain from sexual intercourse until certain time, say, age of 18 or marriage. The reasons for so much money being spent can be divided into two groups – statistical ones and societal (and biological) ones.

Statistics devoted to teen pregnancy and having sexual contact are available from U.S. Census Bureau (2007). For example, one of the latest reports (Births to Teenage Mothers and Unmarried Women and Births with Low Birth Weight—States and Island Areas: 2000 to 2006) about teenage birth rate shows trends of slow decrease – 11.8 to 10.4 percents of total births. However, even these decreasing rates are alarmingly high. Moreover, it is too early to declare that this decrease is steady and positive and it is even less attributable to government programs promoting abstinence.

The report “Persons Who Have Ever Had Sexual Contact by Selected Characteristics” (Census Bureau) was published in 2002 and it shows approximate rates of males and females that have had sex by certain age. According to this survey, 61.6 percent of males aged from 15 to 19 have had sexual contact, and only 23 percent of them have had one opposite-sex partner in their lifetime; others had more. Also, 62.2 percent of females aged from 15 to 19 have had sexual contact, and 27.2 percent of them have had one opposite-sex partner in their lifetime. Notably, as much as 91.1 percent of both males and females between the age of 20 and 24 have had sexual contact. These numbers show that majority of teenagers have sexual intercourse when they are under 19, and these numbers increase.

Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, the co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers, in her article “And Baby Makes Two” (2008) emphasized the difficulties that modern girls encounter when choosing (or not) abstinence as their behavioral principle. She claimed that now abstaining from having sex is more difficult than, say, one hundred years ago. Nowadays, the gap between two classic milestones of growing up widened. “Girls reach puberty at younger ages than girls did in the past, but they reach social maturity—the completion of schooling, entry into the workforce, and marriage—at much older ages. Biological change occurs slowly, but social change has been much faster” (Whitehead, 2008, p.8) Average age when women get married is now about twenty six, and it is even higher for college graduates.

In the past, sexual abstinence meant abstaining from sexual contacts for several years between graduation of the high school and one’s wedding day (Whitehead, 2008, p.8). Taking into consideration speculations above, in modern world it means abstaining from sexual intercourse for ten years or more. Consequently, it is much harder to do now. Young people tend to think of the marriage as of the last event in the chain of those meaning adulthood. Taking into account such point of view, one should not be surprised at the fact that vast majority of people who marry in their late twenties are not virgins.

Alternatives

There is an alternative to total abstinence education that may also prevent unintended pregnancy and spread of sexually transmitted diseases. It is a so-called comprehensive sex education. It has its drawbacks, as well as total abstinence. In the whole, this concept means extensive knowledge of contraception as a way to prevent pregnancy and STD (sexually transmitted diseases). Its limitation is an assumption that teenage girls who know everything about contraception and have access to it will use it in case they have sex. Indeed, this is arguable, because some girls think that a child is a perfect person to love, even better than boyfriend (Whitehead, 2008, p.8). Although they may be right to certain extent, this position is not covered by either abstinence or comprehensive sex programs. What must be changed about comprehensive sex education programs must be taken into consideration in abstinence programs.

What Is Abstinence?

As B. Pruitt claimed, absence of clear definition of the word ‘abstinence’ in context of sexual behavior is a common sight among health educators (Pruitt, 2007). So let’s define this term as we are going to use it and discuss it. According to Sarah Beshers, an author of the article , federal government defines abstinence as “voluntarily choosing not to engage in sexual activity until marriage. Sexual activity refers to any type of genital contact or sexual stimulation between two persons including, but not limited to, sexual intercourse.” (Beshers, 2007) There are several terms connected to the abstinence and close to it: ‘abstinence-only education,’ ‘abstinence education,’ ‘abstinence-only-until-marriage education,’ ‘abstinence-based education,’ and ‘abstinence-plus education.’ (Beshers, 2007). All of them have different meanings. Most important are terms that differ abstinence and abstinence-plus education. While abstinence education means educating children about advantages of total absence of sexual contacts, abstinence-plus education means informing them about contraception, too. The latter means that teenagers decide whether they would prefer to have sex or to abstain.

In the same paper Bashers deemed it logical to define clearly what we mean when propose different kinds of abstinence. For instance, “total abstinence” implies “no participation in any kind of sexual activity, with or without a partner” (Beshers, 2007). There also are alternatives to strict defiance of one’s sexuality – it is “abstinence with self-pleasuring” when sexual activity is limited to masturbation. If the abstinence is to be limited to the avoidance of the three most risky sexual activities (vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, and oral sex) educators could talk about “risky sexual behavior abstinence” or “risky sexual behavior abstinence with partner-pleasuring.” (Beshers, 2007)

More explicit and precise terms may diversify the language and make it clear what behaviors are the most expected from youth. Some teenagers may think that only vaginal intercourse may be dangerous; so, despite the fact that the issues aforementioned are very delicate the approach must be firm. These terms are helpful when it comes to dialogues between teens and their parents when they talk about sexual decision making and setting limits for teen relationships.

Though abstinence may be applied to different behaviors, it has sense only in context of total abstinence, especially for educational programs. Teaching that something is dangerous and then giving freedom to choose whether to do it or not is educationally wrong, as many authors think. If so, total abstinence may not be seen as an abstract term. Indeed, it must be thoroughly researched from different points of view.

The idea that abstinence protects the sanctity of marriage and strengthens families is good and even trustworthy. Undoubtedly, consistent abstinence prevents pregnancy. But is that really that easy and clear? Just like most of social issues, abstinence has numerous interpretations and factors that influence its effectiveness. As Allan Brooks noted in his article “’Abstinence-only’ – a GS Analysis,” its influence on marriages is controversial – sometimes sexual experience before marriage can lead to more stable relationships (2006, p.447). Those who had no sexual experience may feel disappointment after marriage as their partners may fail to meet their sexual impulses. This can lead to extra-marital affairs or divorce (Brooks, 2006, p.447).

Well, that is certainly not the way things always happen, but such probability should be taken into account. And with “raging hormones” of adolescents sexual intercourse may occur outside of marriage when both of spouses are young. Does it mean that abstinence as a politics and behavior pattern is wrong? No, it does not. It just leads us to the thought that it curricula must include diverse information and be as accurate and encouraging as possible.

Why Abstain?

There are some undeniable benefits of teen abstinence. Some of them are rather obvious – such as 100% not having children and avoidance of sexually transmitted diseases. The latter is rather important, as about a million of teens and young people are reported to suffer from chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis. Adults and teens find some different benefits of abstinence, but in general they are alike.

A good reason to choose abstinence for teens is emotional and physical immaturity and unpreparedness to emotional aspects of sexual contacts. Also, inability of most males aged between 15 and 19 to provide the family makes it reasonable to wait until the right person comes. Though some may think that it is easy and pleasant to be a parent, it is not true. Young people can have fun without sexual involvement, just like all people. Indeed, sex is not the only way to have fun and when teenagers realize this they can abstain from sexual activities much more easily. In the high school and college young people can concentrate on sports and academics, not sex. And, in the long run, any teenager’s parent would be happy to know that his or her child is conscious enough to abstain from sexual intercourse.

For religious people, either young adults or their parents, sexual contacts before marriage are anything but desirable thing. In this case voluntarily and willfully choosing to abstain enhances faith and confidence of young people.

Undeniable benefit of sexual abstinence is good reputation of the person. Though it may sound unpersuasively, it is very important in teen ages to have stable reputation and good friends as it influences a constantly changing character. Not being pursued for sexual reasons and having no occasional sexual contacts inevitably results in self-respect. In the whole, sexual activities are emotionally demanding and for many young people it is too early to participate in it. Consequences of broken relationships that involve sexual contacts may include feeling used, hurt, and depressed. Instability of teenager’s character coupled with such feelings may result in unpredictable nervous breakdown.

Linda Klepacki in her article “Abstinence Education: A Selection of Research” (2008) researched longitudinal results of teenage abstinence and summarized several researches. Her work contains work of Finger, et.al: women who were virgins at age 18 were, by middle adulthood (between ages 36 and 43), more likely than their peers to be debt-free and less likely to have used welfare benefits or to have experienced health problems. Both men and women who were virgins at age 18 attained more education than their peers and were half as likely to become divorced by middle adulthood” (as cited in Klepacki, 2009)

In the same article Klepacki mentions another authors (Hallford, et. al.) that showed in their study that young people who “drank, smoked, and/or engaged in sexual activity had significantly increased odds of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts” (as cited in Klepacki, 2009) in comparison to those who refrained from such risk behaviors. All these facts lead us to the thought that if a person wants to succeed in the life and shape his or her character, abstinence is one of the things that may lead to healthy land happy life.

As a conclusion of this part of the paper it is worth mentioning that abstinence does not mean total giving up one’s sexuality. Puberty leaves teenagers no choice but to seek information about their bodies. The target is to give this information and help teenagers to deal with their sexuality responsibly. Even those who have had sex by certain age may choose to wait until they become more mature and then have sexual contacts. It should be a conscious choice and then it will be beneficial.

Website TeenHelp.com claims that now than a half of teens choose abstinence (2009). Also, seventy three percent of teenagers expressed an idea that it is not embarrassing for a teen to be a virgin. Fifty eight percent say that teens should not have sex, whatever precautions they may take (Teen Help, 2009). More impressively, sixty seven percent of teens who have had sex wish they had abstained until they were older (Teen Help, 2009).

Taking into consideration speculations above, one may result that abstinence is a good and reliable way to protect oneself from diseases, stresses and pregnancy.

How to Abstain?

For many teens it is difficult to abstain from sexual contacts because of their friends or other social circumstances. Thus, one of the main targets of official programs that work to decrease teen pregnancy rates must be education about behavioral patterns that one should follow in his or her life to avoid sex and feel comfortable about it. Actually, being abstinent sometimes becomes a real challenge. The decision to abstain may come as a result of emotional efforts, but the outcome of this decision takes much more. Sometimes those who chose to remain sexually passive and wait for older age or marriage are unprepared to have safe sex in case they fail to keep their word.

Teen Help proposes several tips for those who decided to remain abstinent. First of all, it is essential to remember why you want to delay the moment of the first sexual contact. This decision must be cut and dried, and something like bracelet or ring may serve as a reminder of this decision.

Other aspect of abstinence education must be situations where the young person must make a sexual decision. Such situations must be described or at least listed. The main goal is to make teenagers think about possible situations and find decisions that will be undeniable in such situations. Of course, it is much easier to abstain if you avoid any situations that provoke sexual behavior such as romantic kissing or being alone with the person you have affection to. And of course it is a good idea to let the friends or at least boyfriend (girlfriend) what your position is. This will reduce disappointment and help you to find people who share your life position.

It may also be useful to steer clear of alcohol. Total control of your thoughts and sober analysis of situation reduce the risk of being seduced or involved into sexual situation.

Abstinence requires young people to think of their relationships in other way and expunge sexual contacts from them. Though it may be difficult for those who had sex before deciding to be abstinent, it makes teenagers think of relationships in other way. Talking, walking and sharing common interests may be much more interesting in teen age than sexual activities. And not only does the interest matter, but also learning to appreciate emotional similarity and learn to value human relationships. After all, the person that loves you will never force you to have sex and hurt you in this way.

Abstinence Programs and Their Results

“The best sex education begins with abstinence as a starting point, both encouraging it for young people who are not ready for sex and supporting those who choose it for whatever reason.”(Stryker, 1997)

Abstinence programs are very popular with politicians and public figures. In 2006, in Kansas it was decided that “such programs are the best way to lower teen pregnancy rates and prevent sexually transmitted diseases” (Perez Tobias, Eagle, 2006). The board member Kathy Martin expressed a conviction that “abstinence until marriage is the best thing for young people physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually” (as cited in Perez Tobias, Eagle, 2006). They also think that the message of “just say no” benefits must be sent by all schools and parents.

And Kansas is not alone in such attempts to provide abstinence-only education. As most current report of Guttmacher Institute (Nov. 10, 2009) shows, abstinence education is stressed over contraception in 22 states and covered in 12 states in context of sex education. This is notable, as there are no states that stress contraception over abstinence. Abstinence is stressed over contraception in 25 states and covered in 12 states in context of HIV/STD education, and situation with contraception is the same. However, in vast majority of states opt-out is permitted if parents are against sex education.

During the 2001-2006, Congress has spent about $900 million on abstinence-only education programs (Perez Tobias, Eagle, 2006). In such programs birth control like condom use topics must be limited to failure rates.

The problem of teen pregnancy was brought to agenda in 1960s. And in the 1990s it became clear that it was time to take stock of what had been done. In 1997, Stryker in his article “Abstinence or Else; the Just-Say-No Approach in Sex Ed Lacks One Detail: Evidence That It Works” noted that school sex education should be “factored in the mix with raging hormones and influences from peers, parents, churches and a media barrage of pro-sex messages” (Stryker, 1997). Though much was told about what curricular schools actually need, little evidence was found that these programs actually work or the decline in teen pregnancy rates can be attributed to these programs.

Moreover, according to Pruitt, who gathered data within 5 years, the abstinence-promoting campaigns were simply futile (2007). He discovered that, for example, students’ “intention to have sex before marriage” increased slightly after abstinence course. Changes in variables “what others think about abstinence or me” and “what I think about abstinence” were positive, but too small to be spoken about – only three percent. And all other variables showed insignificant changes (up to 0.6 percent). It does not mean that we are incapable of promoting abstinence, it just means that we employ wrong ways.

Conclusion

Abstinence, as it means avoidance of any sexual contacts, provides 100% protection against unintended pregnancy, gives no possibility to get sexually transmitted disease, saves money, nerves and contributes to character stability of teenaged people. Its benefits are undeniable, though it requires strong will and preparedness to protect one’s decision. The problem of high teen birth rates made abstinence programs mandated in high-school education, so now there are a lot of educational programs established to promote abstinence. They lack effectiveness according to many authors, but are met with compliance by parents, because these issues seem too delicate for many. But, in fact, when we want our dear and near to be emotionally and sexually healthy, why don’t we talk to him or her and not promote, but propose abstinence? What must be done is educating not only teens, but their parents, too, to make the results worth fighting.

Works Cited

Beshers, S. (2007). Abstinence-What?: A Critical Look at the Language of Educational Approaches to Adolescent Sexual Risk Reduction. Journal of School Health, 77(9), p. 637+

Brooks, A. L. (2006) “’Abstinence-only’ – a GS Analysis” ETC, October, 446-448.

Klepacki, L. (2008). “Abstinence Education: A Selection of Research” August, 2008. Retrieved Nov. 15, 2009 from <http://www.citizenlink.org/FOSI/abstinence/education/A000008273.cfm>

Perez Tobias, S., Eagle, W.. (Apr 09, 2006). Kansas Considers Mandating Abstinence-only Sex Education. The (KS).

Pruitt, B.E. (2007). An Abstinence Education Research Agenda: What I Really Learned. American Journal of Health Education, 38(6), p.314+

U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved Nov. 15, 2009 <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0092.pdf> <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0087.pdf>

Stryker, J. (June 16, 1997) “Abstinence or Else! the Just-Say-No Approach in Sex Ed Lacks One Detail: Evidence That It Works.” The Nation, 264(23), p. 19+

Whitehead, B. D. (2008, October 10) “And Baby Makes Two.” Commonweal, p.8 “Benefits of Teen Abstinence” TeenHelp.com Retrieved Nov. 15, 2009 from <http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-sexuality/teen-abstinence.html>

“State Policies in Brief: Sex and STI/HIV Education.” Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved Nov. 15, 2009 from <http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_SE.pdf>