Birth control access as an alternative to abstinence-only teenage pregnancy prevention

Teen Birth Control

Unwanted pregnancy among American teenagers is a significant societal problem. In addition to changing the lives of teenagers in profound ways that require making alternate plans and arrangements for their future, it contributes to the numbers of children born into bad parenting situations. It increases high school dropout rates and very often perpetuates poverty and lack of opportunity, especially for teenage girls.

Throughout the former presidential administration of George W. Bush, most of the available federal funds for combating teenage pregnancy emphasized the abstinence-only approach. Unfortunately, research into the subject has established that abstinence-only programs are completely ineffective over the long-term. Politically conservative influences have strongly opposed any effort to provide birth control to teenagers, especially without their parents' involvement. If the problem of teenage pregnancy is to be reduced effectively, a much more realistic approach is necessary. In that regard, one of the most crucial elements must be the acknowledgement that the majority of American teenagers do become sexually active before the age of adulthood.

Research Questions

1. Would providing birth control to teenagers reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy more effectively than abstinence-only approaches.

i. Would providing birth control and information about avoiding unwanted pregnancy to teenagers be more effective if it were done confidentially?

ii. Would providing information about avoiding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) within a framework that acknowledged teenage sexual activity patterns be more effective than any previous approach based on abstinence-only approaches.

Hypotheses

1. Providing birth control to teenagers would be a much more effective method of reducing unwanted teenage pregnancy than any abstinence-only methods.

2. Providing birth control to teenagers confidentially would be much more effective at reducing unwanted teenage pregnancy than doing so while requiring parental consent or notification.

3. Both unwanted teenage pregnancy and STD transmission would be more effectively controlled by an approach that recognizes the reality that many teenagers will become sexually active before adulthood that by any program that seeks to reduce teenage sexual activity itself.

Discussion of the Conversation Surrounding the Topic

One of the most fundamental problems with any approach to controlling unwanted teenage pregnancy is that conservative influences on government policy have succeeded in promoting the concept of abstinence instead of responsible sexual behavior. Meanwhile, empirical research has established that abstinence-only programs work only in the very short-term and that participants in groups such as Promise Keepers (etc.) exhibit the identical rates of premarital sexual conduct over the long-term. Because abstinence-only attempts to reduce teenage pregnancy rely exclusively on discouraging sexual behavior, when participants revert to sexual activity, they are no better informed or educated about topics such as responsible birth control than they would have been without any sexual education at all.

Purpose of Research Project

The purpose of this research project is to identify and recommend a more effective approach to minimizing unwanted teenage pregnancy and STD transmission than those typically relied upon by government-funded programs.

Preliminary Perspective/Opinion of the Researcher

The preliminary perspective and opinion of the researcher is that all three hypotheses will be confirmed: providing birth control to teenagers will reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy more effectively than abstinence-only approaches; providing birth control and information about avoiding unwanted pregnancy to teenagers will be more effective when done confidentially; and providing information about avoiding STDs within a framework that acknowledged teenage sexual activity patterns will be more effective than any previous approach based on the abstinence-only concept.

Prospective Audience for Research Results

The intended audience for the research results includes educators responsible for advocating for effective ways to reduce unwanted teenage pregnancy as well as parents who do not yet appreciate the importance of accepting the reality of teenage sexual patterns and of respecting the privacy and autonomy of teenagers.

Research Plan

The research plan for this project will consist primarily of two main components:

1. A literature review of relevant sources of information on the relative effectiveness of various approaches to reducing unwanted teenage pregnancy and STD transmission.

2. A series of anonymous questionnaires/surveys distributed to high school students soliciting their beliefs, opinions, and personal experiences with sexuality and birth control issues and concerns.

Research Project Timeline

The anticipated timeline for this research project is that the initial literature review and the creation of the series of surveys will proceed simultaneously. The literature review will continue during the questionnaire/survey distribution, collection, and analysis phase. Finally, the project will present the results of the literature review and of the questionnaires/surveys in a comprehensive analysis designed to provide definitive answers to the primary research question and sub-questions.

Tentative List of References for Literature Review

"Comprehensive Sex Education is More Effective at Stopping the Spread of HIV

Infection." American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 21, 2009, from:

http://www.apa.org/releases/sexeducation.html.

Editors. "Sex and Pregnancy among Teens." The Guttmacher Institute. (2006). Retrieved

October 21, 2009, from:

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_sexEd2006.html

Feldman, Noah. (2005). Divided by God: America's Church -- State Problem and What

We Should Do About it. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.

Forrest, Simon. "Sex Education that Works." (2009). Retrieved October 21, 2009, from:

http://www.avert.org/sex-education.htm.

Gerrig, Richard, and Zimbardo, Philip. (2008). Psychology and Life. Princeton, NJ:

Pearson.

Guttmacher Institute. "Facts on Sex Education in the United States." Guttmacher

Institute. (Dec. 2006). Retrieved October 21, 2009, from:

http://www.guttmacher.org.

Mooney, Chris. (2005). The Republican War on Science. New York: Basic Books.

Rector, Robert E., Pardue, Melissa G., and Martin, Shannan. "What Do Parents Want

Taught in Sex Education Programs?" The Heritage Foundation. (2004). Retrieved

October 21, 2009, from:

http://www.heritage.org/research/abstinence/bg1722.cfm.

Sullivan, Amy. "How to End the War Over Sex" Time; Vol. 173, No. 12 (2009): 40-43.

Witmer, Denise. "Sex Education in Schools." Parenting Teens - Parents of Teenagers

Find Help Raising Teens. Retrieved October 21, 2009, from:

http://parentingteens.about.com/od/teensexuality/a/sex_education.htm.