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US Sex Education in Spotlight After Palin's Daughter's Teen Pregnancy Revelation
Experts have opined that revelations that the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin is pregnant highlight the difficulties of getting American teens to just say "No."
News that Bristol Palin was expecting her first child thrust the issue of teenage pregnancy into the spotlight and exposed the schism between advocates of "abstinence only" and comprehensive sex education programs.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin expressed opposition to explicit sex education in schools when asked if she supported abstinence only programs in 2006.
US lawmakers have provided hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade to states wishing to promote "abstinence only" education in schools despite widespread skepticism over its effectiveness.
According to figures from Population Action International published in 2007, there were 44 births per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 19 in the United States between 2000 and 2005.
That is in stark contrast to Britain -- which is reported to have the highest rate in Europe -- with 27 births per 1,000 women.
Karen Hardee, vice-president of research for Population Action International told AFP that statistics cast doubt on "abstinence only" education.
"I always say that abstinence is effective if you can get people to abstain," Hardee said. "But there’s so much data to show that it’s not an effective tool in terms of reducing sexual activitity amongst teens."
The Washington-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy said in a statement three out of 10 girls in the United States become pregnant by age 20, with more than 729,000 teen pregnancies each year. About eight out of 10 teen pregnancies are unplanned, the campaign said.
News that Bristol Palin was expecting her first child thrust the issue of teenage pregnancy into the spotlight and exposed the schism between advocates of "abstinence only" and comprehensive sex education programs.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin expressed opposition to explicit sex education in schools when asked if she supported abstinence only programs in 2006.
US lawmakers have provided hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade to states wishing to promote "abstinence only" education in schools despite widespread skepticism over its effectiveness.
According to figures from Population Action International published in 2007, there were 44 births per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 19 in the United States between 2000 and 2005.
That is in stark contrast to Britain -- which is reported to have the highest rate in Europe -- with 27 births per 1,000 women.
Karen Hardee, vice-president of research for Population Action International told AFP that statistics cast doubt on "abstinence only" education.
"I always say that abstinence is effective if you can get people to abstain," Hardee said. "But there’s so much data to show that it’s not an effective tool in terms of reducing sexual activitity amongst teens."
The Washington-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy said in a statement three out of 10 girls in the United States become pregnant by age 20, with more than 729,000 teen pregnancies each year. About eight out of 10 teen pregnancies are unplanned, the campaign said.
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