Despite what parents and teachers would like to think, their students are far from safe.

Teenagers are very much at risk from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) simply because the only sex education that they ever get at school is both insufficient and flawed.

At Gunn and other schools, sex education places too much focus on abstinence. A recent study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit foundation, discovered that 80 percent of the decline in teen pregnancy rates was due to increased use of contraception among sexually active youth—only 20 percent was due to teens practicing abstinence.

A survey conducted by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America found that approximately 97 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19—a total of one million American teenagers—become pregnant each year. Despite the clear implications of these figures, almost all of our focus is placed on abstinence, while safe sex receives almost no attention.

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, teen mothers are less likely to graduate from high school and are more likely to have to rely on welfare. Their children often have health and developmental problems, and are also frequently poor, abused and neglected.

Teenage pregnancy poses a severe financial burden to society, estimated at seven billion annually in lost revenues.

A simple solution to this problem would be to give safe sex the same attention we give to abstinence. Schools and health institutions could sponsor shows dealing with the advantages of having contraception. The Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) could also have fliers detailing where to go to find condoms and other contraceptive devices. Instead of hiding student options, the school—through it and its related program—should instead publicize safe sex as well as abstinence.

“Balanced and realistic” sexuality education programs that encourage students to postpone sex until they are older, but also promote safer sex practices for those who choose to become sexually active, have been proven effective at delaying first intercourse and increasing use of contraception among sexually active youth.

Researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 9.1 million cases of eight sexually transmitted diseases occurred in people aged 15 to 19. Abstinence is clearly is not having an impact on teenagers, for they make up a quarter of the sexually active population. Although it is the only guaranteed way to avoid STDs and pregnancy, it obviously fails to delay the onset of teenage sexual activity and thus fails to protect them.

A recent survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics found that more than half of American teens age 15 to 19 have engaged in oral sex. This number increased to nearly 70 percent for those who are 18 and 19. However, only nine percent of the teens reported using condoms during oral sex. Studies have shown that gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes and the human papillomavirus can all be transmitted in this manner.

Abstinence only works when people do not engage in any form of sex. Although oral sex is a safer alternative because it can reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, it completely flouts the abstinence policy that schools advocate.

Both abstinence and contraception clearly have their benefits. However, we are currently blindly restricting our youth to an abstinence-only program and ignoring all the consequences of our illogical persistence. Instead of rigidly adhering to obsolete traditional values, and sacrificing our teenagers, we should be smart and endorse both safe sex and abstinence as a combined method to better protect them.