Description

Gloria discusses the effect of abstinence-only sexual education programs.

Transcript

Well, abstinence-only programs are not only inadequate, they are actually dangerous, and here is why–because, you know, knowledge doesn’t prevent all problems. You don’t necessarily always make wise decisions when you have knowledge, but if you don’t have knowledge, you are sunk. And so, what happens with the abstinence-only programs, because they don’t provide a comprehensive and medically accurate look at what human sexuality is. What it’s like to have a relationship, what, what those decisions mean for you in your life about sex and relationships and childbearing, if you don’t have the adequate information about that, what happens with the abstinence-only programs is that young people still have sex, but they don’t protect themselves. They are not as likely to protect themselves, and they are not as likely to simply be able to handle sexuality as a normal, healthy part of human life. We are all sexual beings and we need to learn about sex in that way.