Abstinence education has done more damage than it should have been allowed to and has funded far too long. Teen pregnancy alone accounts for more than $9 million per year in costs to U.S. taxpayers (Hoffman SD. By the Numbers—The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; 2006) and billions of dollars have been put into a program that has been proven not to have any great influence on teens sexual behaviors apart from reduced use of contraceptives. Too much effort has been put into teaching nothing, and it’s time we put that effort into teaching something.
Abstinence education is doing more damage than it should have ever been allowed to and American taxpayers have spent far too much money funding it. Teen pregnancy alone accounts for more than $9 million per year in costs to U.S. taxpayers (Hoffman SD. By the Numbers—The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; 2006) and billions of dollars have been put into a program that has been proven not to have any great influence on the sexual behaviors of adolescents, apart from a reduced use of contraceptives. Too much effort has been put into an education system that goes out of its way to teach nothing, and it’s time we put that effort into an education system that teaches something.
The line-by-line revision is really well done, Keef. There are just a few logical missteps that need to be corrected. You need to do a bit more linking of ideas for the reader. Here's an example of how to fix it:
ReplyDeleteAbstinence education is doing more damage than it should have ever been allowed to and American taxpayers have spent far too much money funding it. Data has shown that teen pregnancy has actually increased since abstinence education has become a preferred method of sex education. Billions of dollars have been put into a program that has been proven not to have any great influence on the sexual behaviors of adolescents, apart from a reduced use of contraceptives. Not only is it expensive to fund abstinence education -- one Minnesota school district recently spent upwards of $130,000 to introduce its new rubric -- but the results are just as costly. Teen pregnancy alone accounts for more than $9 million per year in costs to U.S. taxpayers (Hoffman SD. By the Numbers—The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; 2006). Too much capital has been put into an education system that goes out of its way to teach nothing. It’s time we put those resources into an education system that teaches something.