Arkansas currently has the highest teen pregnancy (1) with a rate of 30 out of 1,000 teenagers. Arkansas is also one of the few states that still implement an abstinence-only sex education curriculum. Research now shows that abstinence-only curriculums are ineffective at reducing teen pregnancies (2). The only change they found was that Abstinence curriculums are that they result in less trust in contraceptives. Research shows that the primary reason teen pregnancy has been decreasing is due to increased contraceptives; therefore, the program they are implementing is going against the one that this effective for reducing teen pregnancy. Why are schools wasting time and money on programs that are not beneficial to their students?

It has been shown that the most effective way to reduce teen pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted diseases, is to implement comprehensive sex education while also informing and providing access to contraceptives. I am proposing that we take out the current abstinence-only curriculum and replace it with comprehensive sex education. This new curriculum would also be inclusive to members of the LGBTQ+ community since abstinence-only until marriage programs are hetero-normative. On top of that, the curriculum needs to have content on consent.

Sign this petition if you want to show Arkansas State legislators that you demand Arkansas to do better and prepare our future leaders of America with accurate information. 

1. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/arkansas/ar.htm 

2. Chin, H. B., Sipe, T. A., Elder, R., Mercer, S. L., Chattopadhyay, S. K., Jacob, V., . . . Santelli, J. (2012). The Effectiveness of Group-Based Comprehensive Risk-Reduction and Abstinence Education Interventions to Prevent or Reduce the Risk of Adolescent Pregnancy, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and Sexually Transmitted Infections. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 42(3), 272-294. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2011.11.006