Change In Ethics

Government

In order to prevent teenage pregnancies according to the New York Times, “the federal government spends $176 million annually on such programs. But a landmark study recently failed to demonstrate that they have any effect on delaying sexual activity among teenagers, and some studies suggest that they may actually increase pregnancy rates.” The consequences found from another study about the correlation between hugging and adolescent sex resulted in the government mandating a law on what they perceive as inappropriate behavior. Since the programs they have began instilling were ineffective, the government has began making a law that in public lower and middle schools “no hugging” is allowed. By not allowing the children to hug, the government feels that they will be able to control the stimulation of the children.

The government also feels that there is a need to stop the ‘teen sex crisis’. However, the media often misleads the public with confusing and inaccurate statistics and stories. According to the New York Times, “Today, fewer than half of all high school students have had sex: 47.8 percent as of 2007, according to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, down from 54.1 percent in 1991.” Additionally, influences like Bristol Palin, Jamie-Lynn Spears and the movie Juno create an idealization that the life of a teenage parent is "glamorous".

Education

The public education systems by Bush's laws teach the aforementioned “abstinence only” classes, which enforce only the negative qualities of premarital sex and skip over the uses of birth control. This form of eduction is less about education and more about indoctrination. According to the New York Times, In 2004 a survey sponsored by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, 65 percent of parents of high school students said that federal money “should be used to fund more comprehensive sex education programs that include information on how to obtain and use condoms and other contraceptives.”

As an Industrial Nation...

Among Industrialized Nations, America perceives itself to be progressive, civilized and advanced. In many areas this is true but not concerning a real dialog among many families pertaining to sexuality. Adults preach that abstinence is the answer, if they say anything at all. Many leave their children to find information from the media or from their friends. England has taken a more mature approach. According to London’s Daily Telegraphic, “one in three secondary schools in England now has a sexual health clinic to give condoms, pregnancy tests and even morning-after pills to children as young as 11.”