by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: March 27, 2009   Last Updated: October 29, 2010

When has 'teaching' abstinence ever worked? All teenagers will end up having sex at some point in their lives, and surely it is society's best interests to have young people who are able to understand what contraceptives are available and how to use them, so that when they decide to have sex they can make an informed decision. Abstinence education is akin to burying your head in the sand it doesn't really address the problem of teenage sex and the associated problems of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Abstinence education is really no education at all.

The chastity movement, which has been so popular in the United States, with young girls pledging to remain virgins until they marry and wearing rings to declare to the world this intention, has never really taken off in the United Kingdom. Religion seems to play a bigger part in America than it does in the U.K. which is perhaps why British schools, excluding faith schools, are less likely to rely on promoting abstinence.

The sex education lessons on offer in most schools in the U.K. has recently been acknowledged as being inadequate, but not because of their failure to promote abstinence per se. Rather there is a sense that sex is being taught as a purely biological act, rather than as an activity which is influenced by emotions and relationships.

The need for a more comprehensive approach to sex education, including the discussion of contraception, has therefore been recognised, which is why the British government have taken steps to make sex education lessons wider in scope and compulsory in all schools. The idea of reducing sex education lessons to preaching the virtue of abstinence is not an option, despite claims in the right-wing press that providing young children with sex education lessons will encourage them to engage in sex at a younger age.

The Netherlands proves this theory wrong, as the average age at which individuals first engage in sex is older than in many other societies, and their sex education lessons include all aspects of sex and relationships and start from a young age.

Most people will have sex at some point, whether they choose to do so as teenagers or adults, and it makes sense to ensure that they are fully informed about how to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Promoting abstinence will not necessarily reduce the likelihood of teenagers choosing to have sex, but it does put them at greater risk of catching STDs and ending up with unwanted pregnancies whenever they eventually do decide to have sex.

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