A few years ago I did a Masters paper on American sex education. Data out of Texas was shocking. Texas' 'preferred' lesson plan is abstinence-only. Texas holds the record for the most MULTIPLE teen pregnancies. Think of the short time window that a person is a teen and now cram two or more kids in that window while STILL not knowing where babies come from. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/21/texas-teenage-pregnancy-abortion/
Texas textbooks have to be approved by a school board (think conservative parents) and have historically downplayed the effectiveness of contraceptives in an attempt to discourage teens from having sex, but actually end up encouraging teens to not use them at all since they're 'not effective'. A change was passed in 2020 that went into effect this past August, so the ripple effects are yet to be seen. the article even quotes the influence of these boards - "Textbook companies look to Texas to set their standards for the rest of the country because we are such a large textbook purchaser,” Dr. Rayne said. “So it’s not just a Texas issue. We have to consider the way the Texas State Board of Education policy is impacting education on a national level.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/us/texas-sex-education.html
This ignorance also affects the STD rates among teens. For my paper found a study that stated 2/3 of students not only engaged in sex, but also regularly engaged in oral & anal. That paper worked off the premise that the teens were looking to avoid pregnancy but ended up not only contracting STDs at a high frequency but also contracting them multiple times (lesson never learned).
An then the lovely cherry on top is that Texas ranks among the lowest per capita for insured citizens. So, not only have they been aggressively shutting down affordable locations such as Planned Parenthood, they also don't offer many affordable options leaving new mothers or infected individuals with hospital and treatment bills.
ninelilypetals t1_j2dkuec wrote
Reply to A significant proportion of Texas adolescents reported experiencing dating violence, and this group also reported higher noncontraception use versus those not experiencing dating violence. by Respawan
A few years ago I did a Masters paper on American sex education. Data out of Texas was shocking. Texas' 'preferred' lesson plan is abstinence-only. Texas holds the record for the most MULTIPLE teen pregnancies. Think of the short time window that a person is a teen and now cram two or more kids in that window while STILL not knowing where babies come from. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/02/21/texas-teenage-pregnancy-abortion/
Texas textbooks have to be approved by a school board (think conservative parents) and have historically downplayed the effectiveness of contraceptives in an attempt to discourage teens from having sex, but actually end up encouraging teens to not use them at all since they're 'not effective'. A change was passed in 2020 that went into effect this past August, so the ripple effects are yet to be seen. the article even quotes the influence of these boards - "Textbook companies look to Texas to set their standards for the rest of the country because we are such a large textbook purchaser,” Dr. Rayne said. “So it’s not just a Texas issue. We have to consider the way the Texas State Board of Education policy is impacting education on a national level.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/us/texas-sex-education.html
This ignorance also affects the STD rates among teens. For my paper found a study that stated 2/3 of students not only engaged in sex, but also regularly engaged in oral & anal. That paper worked off the premise that the teens were looking to avoid pregnancy but ended up not only contracting STDs at a high frequency but also contracting them multiple times (lesson never learned).
https://tfn.org/sex-ed/Factsheet_ByTheNumbers_LH_2019.pdf
https://www.keranews.org/2022-04-30/texas-got-a-sex-ed-update-but-students-and-educators-say-theres-still-a-lot-missing
An then the lovely cherry on top is that Texas ranks among the lowest per capita for insured citizens. So, not only have they been aggressively shutting down affordable locations such as Planned Parenthood, they also don't offer many affordable options leaving new mothers or infected individuals with hospital and treatment bills.
https://www.governing.com/now/texas-falls-behind-national-health-insurance-coverage-rate
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Texas is not a safe place to raise a child.