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Abstinence-centered sex ed?

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 75% of New Hampshire schools offer sex education curricula that cover 16 recommended topics, including HIV and STD transmission, contraception, pregnancy prevention, and healthy relationships.

Some contend that New Hampshire youth would be better served by a change to an abstinence-centered curriculum. Abstinence-centered sex education programs teach that avoiding sexual activity until marriage is the best choice for young people. Supporters of this approach argue that it helps discourage premarital sex and therefore reduces the chances of pregnancy and STD infection, contending that broader curricula implicitly sanction immoral and risky sexual behavior.

Critics of the approach counter that abstinence-only programs leave young people dangerously uninformed about sex, leading to higher teen pregnancy and STD rates. They argue that prioritizing abstinence over other contraceptive methods is unrealistic and/or imposes religious values that are more appropriately the realm of parents or community leaders.

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