In a society where the number of adolescents engaging in sexual activity is constantly increasing, it is important to be open-minded about to the education and care provided to these adolescents in matters of sex education. Two options for these teens are abstinence-only education and allowing contraceptives to minors. Each of these methods provokes negative reactions due to ethical reasoning. Parents don't want to hear about their children learning about and having access to contraceptives, while critics of "abstinence-only" education say it is not effective in itself. Among those who do not believe that abstinence alone is effective, many support the introduction of broader education that views abstinence as a way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. (STIs), but also includes information on contraceptives and condoms (Alford, 2007, para. 1). In two separate polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation, National Public Radio and Harvard University, as well as the National Women's Law Center and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, each found similar results: 85 percent of Americans thought that Schools should teach a comprehensive curriculum on sex education. In addition to the 93% of Americans who want young people to wait until marriage to engage in sexual activity, 99% want programs to include information about STIs and HIV. 83% want students to learn how to put on a condom (Alford, 2007, para. 9). Drawing on information and statistics that decry the effectiveness of abstinence-only education, the author believes that students and adolescents should have better access to contraceptives. As stated in the Fourteenth Amendment, an adolescent has the right to access contraceptives. Additionally, adolescents contract ...... middle of paper ...... norm in sexual behavior. According to this standard, adolescents who do not follow these same cultures and religions are forced to conform to education. In reality, the median age for sexual activity is 17 and the average age for marriage is 25.8 for women and 27.4 for men (Alford, 2007, para. 16) . Another important counterargument is the possibility that access to contraceptives makes adolescents more likely to engage in sexual behavior. Although this theory can easily be confirmed, there is no medical evidence to suggest an increase in sexual behavior among adolescents (Lu, 2010, para. 17). -abstinence-only-until-marriage-ineffective-unethical-and-poor-public-health programshttp://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/family/lawstudents/2010schwab1_lu.authcheckdam.pdf