Ethical and effective sex education to prevent teenage pregnancy

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Thesis (M.A.L.S.)--Georgetown University, 2009.; Includes bibliographical references. Children born to teens are at risk for a myriad of health and education challenges in addition to being at risk for bearing children at young ages themselves. Teen mothers are likely to have low school performance and struggle financially while teen fathers are at high risk for substance abuse and legal problems. When developing sex education programs to prevent teen pregnancy, it is important to consider the rights of parents and adolescents in addition to the values that underlie them. Therefore, this thesis analyzes policy pertaining to sex education in the United States and proposes a new set of ethical and effective policy guidelines to reduce teen pregnancy.; This thesis uses quantitative and qualitative research including extensive reading on both abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education programs and the findings of those who have evaluated them. Sources include books and journal articles by leading experts, legislative documents, and newspaper articles. It goes beyond efficacy evaluations, to analyze in a comparative manner, the ethical value of several programs that operate from an abstinence-only perspective or comprehensive approach.; The research indicated that programs funded by the current legislation are not effective in protecting students from the consequences of sexual activity. Several experts argue that the current programs actually have great potential to harm and manipulate students, which raises ethical issues. Therefore, new legislation should be established to ensure that more effective and ethical programs are implemented for America's youth.
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