A bill regarding sex education in Texas schools, SB 521, is currently progressing through the Texas legislature. The supporters of this bill want students in Texas to have to opt-in to sex education with a signed parental note no less than two weeks prior to the sex education class. The bill also wants to ban material or instructors affiliated in any way with establishments that perform abortions, for instance, Planned Parenthood or the relative of someone who works at Planned Parenthood. Overwhelmingly, Texan students are being taught abstinence only education, that’s 94% of the state (the other 2% are taught nothing at all and only 4% get practical sex education), and it’s not working. Is limiting the possible instructors and class materials really going to benefit young adults in Texas?







According to The Office of Adolescent Health in the US Department of Health and Human Services, Texas ranks above the national average in each of the following categories:

Teenage pregnancy: 46.9 births per 1,000 females compared to the national average of 31.3

Teen repeat pregnancy: 21% compared to the national average of 18%

High school students who did not use any method to prevent pregnancy during last sexual intercourse: 20% compared to the national average of 13%

High school students who did not use any form of birth control before or during last sexual intercourse: 20% compared to the national average of 13%

High school students who have been physically abused by their partners: 12% compared to the national average of 9%

Texas also ranked below national average in the following categories:

High school students who used a condom during sexual intercourse: 54% compared to the national average of 60%

High school students who used birth control pills before sexual intercourse: 11% compared to the national average of 18%

Looking at these statistics it becomes clear that the system in place is ineffective. This bill will fail students even further. There are too many contingencies where students will miss out on vital information ( that is if their school is providing sex education beyond abstinence only programs). There are too many “what if?”s if this bill is passed. What if a teacher doesn’t hand out the permission slip in time? What is the student loses it? What if the permission slip is worded in such a way that the parents are unsure what education they are permitting? What if the student would just rather not learn about STIs, pregnancy and the basics sex and never brings the note home at all? There are too many loopholes in this bill. By forcing parents to opt their children in, this bill is implying sex education is secondary or even tertiary to other information adolescents are taught in school. Sex education is necessary and should be mandatory. There are no notes sent home to allow a student to learn about history, why sex education? History, Math, and English are all important, but not learning about them will not cause a student to have an accidental pregnancy or contract AIDS. Home instruction should be supplementary. If parents want to impress upon their children to wait before marriage or that abortions are not a good option, there is no reason those can’t be done congruently with in school sex education. Often Texas education even lines up with those ideals.

Promoting an abstinence only system of sex education is causing the problems it wants to prevent; teen pregnancy and the increased spread of STIs due to lack of practical safe sex knowledge. According to a comprehensive report on Texas State sexual education by David Wiley, “materials used in Texas schools regularly contain factual errors and perpetuate lies and distortions about condoms and STDs.” While abstinence is in fact the only 100% way to avoid pregnancy and STIs, and should be presented as a valid, even preferred, option, it should not be promoted as the end all-be all of safe sex. By legally disallowing anyone associated with abortions, not just abortion providers, this bill will continue the flawed sex education system in Texas and prevent possible future improvements. Working or formerly working at medical office that provides abortions or associating with someone who does, does not mean a person will promote abortions. Often persons who work at places like Planned Parenthood are knowledgeable about teen pregnancy rates, STI transmission and other important information. Stopping them from entering schools or even just informational material produced by them is not a good solution for limiting teen sexual activity, just for limiting knowledge about safe sex.

Furthermore, this bill creates a legal bias against abortion providers while simultaneously opening the door wider for non-medially associated third party groups. According to an article on sex and HIV education published by the Guttmacher Institute only eight states require that sex education is non biased, and two prohibit the program from promoting religion. Texas, being a predominantly Christian state, unfortunately sees some religious bias sneak into it’s sex education programs. The strategies used by school officials and third party organizations hired by the schools utilize shame, scare tactics, and outrageous “sex” simulations to promote abstinence only and dub premarital sex a taboo act. Programs with catchy slogans such as “Worth the Wait” tell young adults that their value as a partner decreases if they don’t “save themselves” for their spouse, or that their wedding bed “will feel very crowded.” None of these methods are based in fact and are highly biased. Often the LGBT student population is ignored in these lectures entirely. Will these third party groups be allowed to continue to skew teens views of sex if this bill is passed?

The argument is not whether abstinence is good or not. Abstinence will always be the only absolute method of preventing pregnancy and transmission of STIs. Neither is the argument whether abortions are moral or immoral. Making education on such a pivotal topic something students and parents need to opt in for is negligent and will leave more adolescents with second hand information from friends, potentially incorrect information from sexual partners or perhaps even no information at all if their family doesn’t discuss sex. Parents have always had the option to exclude their children from sexual education at school, there is no reason to make it something they need to give written consent for, it will only cause more kids to fall through the cracks.

Sources:

Office of Adolescent Health- Statistics on Adolescent Reproduction

Federal study on effects of sexual abstinence programs

Dallas News- Editorial on Bills SB 521 and SB 310

Article on Texas Sex education- Non virgins are chewed gum

Guttmacher Institute- Sex and HIV education

Texas Freedom Network- Report- "Just Say Don't Know"

Time Magazine article- "How to Bring An End to the War Over Sex Ed"

YouTube video by Peer Sex Educator Laci Green- A is for Abstinence