Abstinence

By Nathan Hansen
Contributing Writer

The North Dakota Senate has decided that abstinence-only is the kind of sex education that prepares our youth for the real world of sex and romance, following in the footsteps of Texas and Arkansas, and flying in the face of over one hundred years of psychological and sociological research that shows that sexuality is a basic human need.

From Freud to Maslow and a half-dozen other psychologists and sociologists, we know pretty definitively that sex and sexuality are a basic human need. Some people have a lower sexuality, some people have a higher sexuality, but in the end everyone needs sex in some form or another in order to live happy, healthy, productive lives.

We don’t teach people not to eat, drink water or that they do not need or deserve clothing, shelter or mental stimulation, so why are we teaching our youth that sex, sexuality, etc. is essentially bad, gross and yucky if you do not wait until marriage?

Texas and Arkansas both have had abstinence-only education for decades. The education is both harmful and ridiculous. There are countless examples of racist and sexual stereotypes used in abstinence-only education that blame women for sexuality and teach woman to be submissive to men in relationships; this isn’t education at all.

Not to mention that Texas and Arkansas both have incredibly high rates of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection rates, domestic violence and failed marriages. Sex is a basic human need, and if you don’t know about condoms and birth control, when you do have sex, you are much more likely to have an unwanted teenage pregnancy or catch a disease.

And if you try to follow the rules, you are much more likely to rush into marriage so you can “morally” fulfill your need for sex and sexuality, which usually ends badly. It is just utterly ridiculous that this is being mandated as “education.”

I have no problem with abstinence being mentioned in school. Some people have low or non-existent sex drives and with the hyped sexuality of the media it is important for them to know that they do not have to be sexually active and how to successfully articulate and defend your ideals and morals.

But basic safety like how to use a condom, how to detect sexually transmitted infections and protect yourself from infections is important, as is other vital knowledge that parents don’t have unless they themselves are sexual health experts.

One last question I have about this abstinence-only curriculum is how do they teach high school psychology and sociology classes in order to keep with the mandates of the State Senate?  Do they just not teach the human sexuality portions of the class?

Maybe they can revise history to erase important research and work done on human sexuality by scientists and researchers. That way we can ignore the fact that people who actually studied human sexuality and relationships know way more about the subject than the abstinence-only fanatics?

That’s how we educate in America; we change facts to suit the opinions of conservative political and religious leaders. And we wonder why we are lagging behind the entire developed world in education in every aspect.

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