1. Abstinence Education:
The Best Solution for
Teens?
By: Silvia Pearsall
LIB 495
Professor John McAteer

2. Table of Contents:
▪ The Problems With Teen Pregnancy
▪ What Can Be Done?
▪ Sex Education in the US
▪ Abstinence Only VS a Comprehensive Sex Education
▪ Glorification of Teen Pregnancy in the Media
▪ Teen Pregnancy is a National Problem

3. The Problems With Teen Pregnancy
▪ Approximately 400,000 teens aged 15–19 years give birth every year in the
United States
▪ Teen birth rate in the US remains the highest in the developed world
▪ Approximately one half (50.1%) of these teens were not using any method
of birth control when they got pregnant
▪ Of these, nearly one third (31.4%) believed they could not get pregnant at
the time
▪ 21.0% used a highly effective contraceptive method
▪ 24.2% used the moderately effective method of condoms
▪ 5.1% used the least effective methods, such as rhythm and withdrawal.

4. What Can Be Done?
▪ To decrease teen birth rates,
efforts are needed to reduce or
delay the onset of sexual activity,
provide factual information about
the conditions under which
pregnancy can occur, increase
teens' motivation and negotiation
skills for pregnancy prevention,
improve access to contraceptives,
and encourage use of more
effective contraceptive methods.

5. Sex Education in the US:
Per the graph: 23 States have
mandated Sex Education.
Some States with Mandated Sex
Education do not have to be
medically accurate.
California and Louisiana are the
only two states to forbid the
promotion of religion in sex
education classes.

7. Abstinence Only VS Comprehensive Sex
Education

8. The two states with the highest rates of teen pregnancies are
Mississippi and New Mexico. Neither state requires that sex
education be taught in schools. Mississippi law stipulates that
when sexual education is taught, that abstinence be the main
method of contraception proscribed by educators, whereas New
Mexico has no rules about reproductive health criteria at all.
The state with the lowest rate of teen pregnancies is New Hampshire, which
requires comprehensive sex ed in schools that includes information about
condoms and other forms of birth control in addition to abstinence.

9. Our Society Glorifies Teen Pregnancy in
the Media
If teens do not get formal sexual
education, they are made to rely on the
media for information.
As a society, it is detrimental to the youth
of America to leave this knowledge up to
pop culture and reality TV.

10. Teen Pregnancy is a National Problem
35% of all local school districts in the US have policies that require that
abstinence be taught as the only appropriate option for unmarried people and that
contraception is to be presented as ineffective in preventing pregnancy or not be
covered at all

11. It’s Time For A Change!
Our youth deserve a comprehensive
sex education!