The average American generally expects to grow up attending school, go to college to earn a degree, find a job, get married, and then start a family. However, those events often do not happen in that exact order. In 2014 alone, 249,078 babies were born to teenagers who did not get to follow the expected plan for an average American (The Office of Adolescent Health). Instead they attended a secondary school, got pregnant, and then dropped out. One way we can prevent these premature pregnancies and dropouts is by strengthening sexual education programs across the nation, especially in the realm of contraceptives. Most high schools do have a class that addresses the topic of sexual intercourse. However, in these high school courses, are teachers really educating students on the most effective ways to avoid pregnancy if the students are, in fact, sexually active? Most health classes educate kids on abstinence and do not cope with the fact that most teenagers will be sexually active. Not only does the school system's sexual education need to improve, but also the relationship between parents and their children needs to be improved. If the relationship between a parent and his or her child is close, then the conversation about the topic of sexual intercourse will not be as awkward or uncomfortable compared to the same conversation between a parent and child who are not very close. Parents often avoid this conversation because they do not know how to approach the subject with their children. Ultimately, teenagers should be educated about sexual intercourse and contraceptives, whether by a parent or a teacher. If the United States begins educating teenagers in middle school, which they do now, but they need to continue sex education through high school, adequately about sexual intercourse and contraceptives, it will decrease pregnancy and abortion rates. 

Sex education programs should educate students about contraceptives, even if students choose not to use them. Birth control is only given to the students who are sexually active and want to take it. Birth control not only prevents teen pregnancy but also prevents abortions.  According to Daniel J. DeNoon, a senior medical writer and researcher, "4% of teens gave birth in 2008, down from the 1991 peak of 6.2% "(DeNoon). "From 1986 to 2008, the proportion of teen pregnancies ending in abortion dropped by a third, from 46% to 31% " (Daniel J. DeNoon).  DeNoon concludes that the abortion, birth, and pregnancy rates are decreasing because teenagers are using more effective forms of contraception (DeNoon). Birth control decreases abortion rates because birth control prevents pregnancy, and when teenagers are sexually active and become pregnant, then they feel trapped. When teenagers panic and feel trapped, then they make rash decisions and decide to abort the baby. For teenagers to be informed of the most effective contraceptives, they must be receiving adequate sex education. Most schools require sex education for adolescents, but these programs certainly have room for improvement. In these sex education classes, children are taught about hygiene, male and female reproductive systems, females' menstrual cycle, and how adults reproduce. Most schools educate children before they hit puberty, which occurs when the student is around middle school age. Because these children are so young, teachers of these education classes often promote abstinence and that is all. Realistically, by the time these children become teenagers and reach age 19, 7 in 10 teen men and teen women have had sexual intercourse (Facts on American Teens' ... ).  In the sex education courses, teachers do teach children about the use of condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, but most do not teach children about contraceptives: "In 2006-2008, teens age 15-19 had received formal instructions about STIs (93%), HIV (89%), or abstinence (84%). However, about one-third of teens had not received any formal instruction about contraception" (Facts on American Teens' ... ). If schools educated not only on sexual intercourse but also on contraceptives, then the pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates will continue to decrease. 

Educating young adults on contraceptives is the most effective way to decrease pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates, but schools can also utilize other methods to educate children on being a teen parent. For example, Baby Think it Over is a teen pregnancy prevention program that is "designed to simulate some realistic experience of the responsibility and burden involved with infant care" (Somers). The students actually take a baby doll home and act like the doll is his or her child for as many days until the assignment is completed. This baby doll does all the unpredictable activities that a real baby does including crying, sleeping, eating, and urinating whenever.  The point of this assignment is to allow the students to show how much responsibility and work it takes to be a parent. Schools use this strategy to discourage adolescents from having sex.

Discussing sexual intercourse between parents and child is very educational and extremely important. Only 70% of male teens and 79% of female teens talk about at least one sex educational topic to their parents or guardian.  (Facts on American Teens' ... ). This conversation is important because it allows the parents to instill their beliefs and values in their children. Because every parent has a different religion, set of moral values, and educational experience, each adolescent's opinion will be also different on the topic. Talking about their values and beliefs allows children to become more educated on what their parents want them to know instead of just the broad subjects that they learn at school. Most parents do not want to have this conversation with their children because of how awkward the subject can be, and ultimately they often do not know how to approach the subject.  Miriam Kaufman, who has her Medical Doctorate, states "discussing sex is also a part of starting open communications with the child" (Miriam Kaufman).  If the conversation is open, the child will be more comfortable with asking questions and talking to parents about other aspects he or she may encounter in life. Kaufman recommends that starting conversation about sex early and continuing that conversation as the child grows up is the best sex education strategy (Miriam Kaufman).  If parents expand sex education conversations over a period of time, then they will be able to avoid one long drawn out "talk" that is uncomfortable for both the child and parent. Kaufman explains that "these conservations are the easiest when they come out of a life experience, like seeing a pregnant women or a baby" (Kaufman).  If a parent brings sexual intercourse up in this way, then the conversation is more natural and will not be as awkward for the child. Sex education should be talked about between the parent and adolescent. This is not only important for the child's education, but this also allows the relationship between teenager and adult to become healthier. 

Not only do schools and parents educate adolescents on sexual education, but peers can also educate each other on sexual education. This specific educational source is controversial because peers might be giving false information to each other, but most adolescents will be more open to talking to their peer groups rather than to their parents or teachers. In a recent study asking young adults about contraceptives, the results indicate that simple peer-led education is more than sufficient to increase awareness of contraceptive devices (Manjunath). Also, "expanding the knowledge base also helps empowering young girls to make their own contraceptive choices" (Manjuanth). With this way, the young girls can choose their way of contraceptives and utilize whatever method is most comfortable and suiting for them. Sometimes the parent will pick what they think is the adequate solution, but it is not always a good fit for the adolescent. The problem with peers educating each other on this subject is that the information give to one child might not also be true or what that child's family believes in. Teenagers often educated themselves on sex education by the Internet, tv shows, or other types of media. After finding out some false information from these sources, then they tend to exaggerate and spread the false information to other teenagers. Then some teenagers will take their advice and could end up getting pregnant because the information about contraceptives might not be true. Peer education can help educate each other, but this way is the least educational because not all of the information communicated will be true. 

Education about sexual intercourse contraceptives is the most effective way to reach out to adolescents so they know what they are putting themselves through if they decide to be sexually active. Contraceptives, which are the most affective way to decrease teen pregnancy and abortion rates, are available if one chooses to take it and are actually good for the individual and society: "Contraception is the use of various devices, drugs, agents, sexual practices, or surgical procedures to prevent conception or impregnation (pregnancy)" (Christian Nordqvist). Contraception helps a woman plan if and when they want to have a baby (Nordqvist).  While first and foremost preventing pregnancy, birth control also comes in many different forms of medicine. This allows the patient to pick the most comfortable and suitable option for them. Birth control can be administered in a shot, pill, patch, and implant along with many other ways and ultimately has many benefits for both women as individuals and society as a whole. According to Planned Parenthood, birth control advances women's economic empowerment. For example, "fully one-third of the wage gains women have made since the 1960s are the results of access to oral contraceptives" (Birth Control Has ...  ). Not only does birth control lead to women's economic empowerment, but it also has been proven to further women's educational opportunities.  "Young women's legal access to the pill before age 21 led to a significant (2.3 percent) increase in the women who were college graduates, and young women with legal pill access were able to both have children and pursue higher education" (Birth Control Has ... ).  This being said, women can get the best of both worlds: be a mother and have a successful career on their own terms. Birth control allows women to plan their pregnancy during a time when they believe they are truly ready and fit to be a mother physically, mentally, and financially. Contraceptives permit women to receive an education in order to get a stable job, so that their children will be raised in a nurturing and healthy environment. Not only does birth control reduce teen pregnancy, but it also decreases the number of unintended pregnancies: "Family planning services available through Medicaid and Title X of the U.S. Public Health Services Act help women prevent 2.2 million unintended pregnancies each year" (Birth Control has ... ).  Another major benefit to taking birth control is that it also prevents death from cancer. According to Planned Parenthood, "oral contraceptive use has consistently been found to be associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer and endometrial cancers" (Birth Control has ... ).  However, the good always comes with the bad. One con about birth control is that it does not protect adolescents from diseases like STDs. The major side effect of birth control is gaining weight. However, there are more benefits of birth control that will help women further their careers while becoming a mother at the same time.

A lot of adolescents want to take the birth control, but do not know to receive the medication because they are either uninformed or nervous to ask. This is why birth control should be taught in high schools across the country. However, if it becomes available to teenagers at school, who will pay for it?  "Overall 63% of Americans said they supported the new federal requirement that private health insurance plans cover the cost of birth control" (Erik Eckholm). If the government helps fund the accessibility of birth control in schools, not only will it decrease teen pregnancy rates and abortions, but it also decrease the amount of people on welfare. Most adolescents who become pregnant are below the poverty level and need assistance. Patrick Welsh teaches English at T.C. Williams High School, which is a school that provides birth control for students, in Alexandria, Virginia. Welsh writes about his experience with this and says that before there was a clinic at the school where one could receive birth control, there were fifty pregnancies that year.  The year after the school made contraceptives available then there was only thirty-five pregnancies, and then the year after that, there were only twenty pregnancies (Patrick Welsh).  As one can see, the number of pregnancies has been dropping in this school because they make contraceptives available to their students. David Welsh states a "common argument against dispensing birth control to teens is that it will encourage more teens to have sex," which is why many parents do not want their teenager to take it (Welsh). However, this is a myth: "The South, which has the highest percentage of schools (55%) that require abstinence be taught as the only means of preventing pregnancy, has the highest rate of teen births." (Welsh). It truly is better to be safe then sorry in this situation. This is a true testament that shows that contraceptives and birth control are the most effective option when one is sexually active. Another reason why most people do not want to make it accessible in high schools is because the cost of making contraceptives available increases everyone's taxes.   "According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, teen childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers at least $10.9 billion and cost taxpayers in Virginia $215 million" (Welsh). This will cause everyone's taxes to rise; however, it is definitely worth it. It is worth not putting another child below the poverty line; it is worth giving a young woman a chance to be educated and have a career.

All of these benefits will help the overall goal of decreasing pregnancy rates, birth rates, and abortion rates. Education is so important in today's world. If one wants to have a well-paid job, then one will usually need to go to college. Birth control makes this an option for young women who are sexually active, which most adolescents are. Birth control gives a chance to those young women who think they do not have one. Education on contraceptives especially informs teens what to do if they have a weak moment and engage in sexual intercourse. Educating adolescents on contraceptives provides them with knowledge so they know they have options to choose from if one is or decides to become sexually active. One thing that parents and guardians should try to understand is that birth control is not bad for a child if that child is sexually active and if it is the safest method to keep their child in school. How will a parent know if their child is sexually active? That is why it is important for parents and teenagers to talk to each other and keep open communication with each other on this subject. Most children do not want to tell their parents if they are sexually active, but telling them is the best option for both the parent and the teen. If birth control is accessible, then the student can just go to school and get the medicine. However, in some schools, the parents have to sign a form of consent that allows their child to take the birth control. This is why it is important for teens and parents to have this conversation.  School systems, parents, and peers are making a difference when educating adolescents on sexual intercourse. The teen pregnancy rates have never been this low. This is only because education on contraceptives is now being taught to kids and contraceptives are actually available now. 

