I need some assistance with these assignment. sex education in maryland public schools Thank you in advance for the help! In Maryland, the state law requires that all public schools teach sex education making it a mandatory subject in their school curriculum It is, therefore, taught under the administrative code of law and the government majorly funds abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (Department of Education, 2009). The school boards are, however, given the freedom to teach comprehensive programs and can be funded once they show how reliable the programs are.

In relation to sex education, this paper will focus on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that aim at reducing sexual intercourse among teens. The paper focuses on this program because, in the year 2011, Maryland was ranked 26 out of 51 states in terms of numbers of teen pregnancy. It strives to answer the following research question: Do the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs work? Asking the above questions is vital in telling whether the programs work or not. The question is important because research shows that there is a higher public health crisis in the teens that have been attributed to the abstinence programs. High pregnancy rates and diseases have been reported among teens undertaking the program.

Stanger, David, and Hall (2011) state that teens don’t use birth control methods when having sexual intercourse because they don’t undergo comprehensive programs that teach them about contraceptives. It is a matter of concern because of the high number of drop-outs majorly due to unwanted pregnancies. Answering the question is important because it will help to better understand why the programs do not work. Gathering the data will be necessary for determining better ways of enhancing the programs or determining other programs that work. If the issues are resolved, the number of teens dropping out of schools due to pregnancy or disease will reduce. It will also lead to informed teenagers with the ability to make decisions based on the comprehensive information that they have. Dealing with the problem will involve the adoption of other methods such as abstinence-plus or comprehensive methods. However, implementing these methods may not be accepted by the government that supports abstinence-only and from the parents too.