Three million teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease and one in three women will become pregnant before their twenties. Teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases and becoming pregnant at an alarming rate, leaving government, schools and parents scratching their heads. America is the country with the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the world. Many are wondering what can be done to stop this. There is an ongoing debate about whether abstinence-only education is doing high school students in America any good. Abstinence education teaches adolescents to abstain from all sexual acts until marriage. It does not provide information about pregnancy or the different types of contraceptives available to prevent pregnancy. On the other hand, safe sex education exists. Safe sex education teaches teens the facts they need to know about sexual intercourse, recognizes the potential consequences or risks of sexual behavior, and helps them make better decisions to protect themselves and their bodies. BackgroundThere are some important differences between safe sex education and abstinence-only. Abstinence only education is about “just saying no.” They teach to abstain from all sexual acts until marriage. Safe sex education takes a very different approach. It teaches all about sex, the consequences of sex, contraceptives, different sexually transmitted diseases, ways to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and other issues regarding the body of teenagers. There is a debate against these different sex education programs because some think that abstinence education has no effect on adolescents, while some believe that safe sex education encourages adolescents to engage in sexual behaviors. Over 750,000 girls became pregnant... middle of paper... Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Network. March 31, 2015. “Facts about the sexual and reproductive health of American adolescents.” Guttmacher Institute: Home Page. 2009. Network. March 31, 2015. “The Story of Federal Abstinence-Only Funding.” Lawyers for young people. July 2008. Web. March 9, 2015..Michaels, Samantha. "Clarification: Abstinence-only programs may work for some." Medill Reports. February 3, 2010. Web. March 6, 2015. Roleff, Tamara L. Sex. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2002. "SADD Statistics" Print. Welcome to SADD. January 2014. Web. 8 March 2015. .Watkins, Christine. Teenage sex. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2005. Print.