For just a moment, I want you to think back to when you were an awkward teenager. Maybe it actually wasn't that long ago, and now you're mad at me for bringing it up again. I want you to think about one of the most awkward topics you discussed in either middle or high school—did your teacher have to sternly tell the class not to laugh? If you can't recall any such awkward lesson, you may be like a large percentage of young people who never received sex education during school.

It's hard to believe that in the year 2016, only 24 out of 50 states require public schools to teach sex education to its students, although avoiding discussion of sex and sexuality has proven to be a failure in preventing sexual activity among teens. Out of these 24 states, only 13 require the information to be medically accurate, meaning that public schools are at liberty to manipulate and omit any information they deem necessary. Nineteen states require that public schools with sex ed programs teach abstinence-only as the only 100 percent foolproof method for preventing pregnancy and STIs rather than birth control and contraceptives, a harmful practice that leaves young people unprepared and uneducated about their own body and sexuality. Abstinence-only education efforts "ignore youth’s basic human right and the fundamental public health principle of accurate, balanced sex education. Abstinence-only programs are geared to prevent teens – and sometimes all unmarried people – from engaging in any sexual activity." Only 18 states require public schools to provide students with information about contraceptives, a key component to preventing pregnancies and STI transmission.

In my home state of Ohio, abstinence-only is heavily stressed in public schools. While the health teacher might have mentioned contraceptives such as condoms and the pill, the focus was put on abstinence as the only 100 percent effective method to preventing unplanned pregnancies and STI transmission. For teenage students who had already received a botched sex education from MTV, "Superbad" and the Internet, hearing the baseball coach or whomever mumble about the importance of waiting until marriage did nothing to prevent us from acting upon whatever desires were already in our heads. Although I had heard rumors of the infamous "condom on the banana" demonstration, my particular grade-level never experienced the painfully awkward right of passage. When I asked a friend from the grade above me, she also said that she missed out on any contraceptive information until a boy showed her what a condom looked like in 8th grade choir class. The more friends I asked, the clearer it became that my school offered no sex ed information to its students.

About 55 students graduated my senior year of high school, whittled down from the roughly 80 who began the year with dreams of receiving their diploma and leaving those fluorescent halls behind for good. Although I don't have hard numbers, I can say that there were plenty of young girls in my class and in surrounding classes that did not receive their diplomas because of an unplanned pregnancy. It seemed as if every time I logged into Facebook or Instagram, another one of my peers was expecting. Expecting a baby, but not expecting to graduate.

"I don't get it," my mom would always say to me. "It's like they don't know that there are a million different types of birth control."

Although I would nod my head in total agreement, I now look back and wonder if many of these people did not, in fact, know about the "millions" of different types of birth control at their disposal. If a child's parents don't have an honest conversation with them about sex, and the public schools stress abstinence-only, how can the child be expected to inherently know the best methods to having safe sex? Although a majority of Americans believe that young people should have honest, accurate information on birth control and STI prevention, lawmakers continue to enforce policies that glaze over the accurate details of sexuality in favor of unwavering "just don't have sex" policies.

While the arguments in favor of abstinence-only education claim that openly discussing sexuality with teenagers will promote their interest in the exploration of the topic, the opposite has actually proven to be true. In a fact sheet published by NARAL Pro-Choice America titled "Teen Pregnancy: A Preventable Epidemic", abstinence programs are debunked: "In 2007, a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concluded that students in “abstinence-only” programs are no more likely to abstain from sex, delay initiation of sex, or have fewer sexual partners." The fact sheet states plainly, "Sex education and condom availability do not increase sexual activity among teens." Yes, you read that correctly. Condom availability will not encourage teens to have more sex.

So why do public schools continue to run these unsuccessful programs? Is it laziness? Religion? Sexuality was taboo in my tiny high school, and the administration had no problem with keeping it that way. Personal business was hardly personal, and sex details were the juiciest and most sought after by gossipers. Although teen pregnancy was rampant in my high school, it was not a topic that was professionally addressed by the faculty or administration. As girl after girl got pregnant and dropped out, the school remained silent, opting for the dusty abstinence-only programs that kept allowing for ill-informed and unprepared students to slip through the cracks and into the almost inevitable poverty associated with unplanned teen pregnancies.

Neglecting to teach students about sex doesn't seem like such a serious offense, right? I mean, shouldn't it be parents' jobs to teach their children about sex? It is a very personal subject. This argument falters when I think about my hometown, a place stricken by poverty, opioid-addiction, and plenty of young parents. When I remember some of the students who sat alongside me growing up, I think of their home situations and how many of their parents were too absent, too busy working, too addicted, or too incompetent to provide their children with a comprehensive and accurate sex education. Thus, I fully believe that public school systems should serve as the net that catches students from possibly broken or incapable homes to provide them with the information and tools necessary to practice safe-sex.

But what is the worst that could happen if children in the U.S. continue receiving this standard of sex education? Although teen pregnancy rates have been on the decline for the past several years, the United States "continues to have one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the western industrialized world."

To be absolutely clear, teen pregnancy itself is not the problem—there are many teen parents who raise brilliant, healthy children and go on to live happy, productive lives. The consequences of teen pregnancy, however, are extremely problematic. According to NARAL, "Eighty-two percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned and more than a quarter of those end in abortion." Ironically, many of the Republican lawmakers who vehemently oppose abortion also favor abstinence-only sex ed programs. NARAL also writes, "Teen mothers are less likely to complete school, less likely go to college, more likely to have large families, and more likely to stay single – increasing the likelihood that their children will live in poverty."

When I think about the girls who became pregnant during high school, I recall the comments that people made about the situation. Almost all the attention was placed on the girl for getting pregnant, and almost none was placed on whoever got the girl pregnant. Nobody ever asked if the couple was offered condoms, or even knew how to use them properly. Nobody bothered to ask if the girl was using birth control, but was misusing it because of poor information and access. Almost always, the girl would miss an extended period of time from school, forced to catch up or stay longer because of an unplanned and preventable pregnancy.

I know plenty of young mothers who are phenomenal parents. I know young mothers who managed to get their diploma and even move on to college. I am in awe of these ambitious ladies at their ability to focus on their goals while providing total care for an entirely dependent human being. However, for many other young mothers, this path to self-determination is blocked by a multitude of financial and social barriers that eventually become insurmountable. All too often, I have seen these girls leave their dreams behind because they did not have the support system that other women have, or because they didn't have the money to sustain their education as well as their parenthood. Women and girls who are just beginning their lives should not be forced to compromise on their own hopes and dreams. Parenthood is a beautiful thing, but can be enjoyed when the time is right. With a more comprehensive sex education, unplanned pregnancies can be better prevented, giving young women the option to wait until they are best prepared to raise a child. In fact, "Research indicates that comprehensive approaches to sex education help young people withstand the pressures of having sex before they are ready and to have healthy, responsible relationships."

I applaud my mother for doing her very best to educate me about sex and sexuality during my teenage years. No parent has a perfect "talk" ready for their children, which is why educators should be there to fill the gaps when needed. This isn't a program to tell parents that they aren't doing well enough, it's a program to ensure that young people can be in better control of their own sex lives to prevent completely preventable crises.

In his 2017 budget proposal, President Obama cut all funding for abstinence-only programs in public schools. Republican lawmakers are very likely to challenge Obama's budget proposal on many aspects, and this topic will be no exception. Obama's choice to cut off all abstinence-only funding shows that our country recognizes the issue, and now we need to act. It's time that schools stop turning a blind-eye to their students' sexuality by deferring to abstinence as the only way to think about sex. Once our educators and lawmakers start acknowledging the benefits of teaching students about contraceptives, the rates of teen pregnancy and STI transmission will drop accordingly. It's time we take all of the blame off of the teenagers who find themselves expecting and scared, and place some of it on the programs that fail to address the obvious methods for family planning.

Today, I'm 20 years old and I can say that the majority of my sex education came from the dubious Internet and my peers. I never learned how to put a condom on a banana, and I never learned about the pill or emergency contraception. If I had a question about sex, I consulted Google rather than my health teacher (and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one). I understand that sex is an uncomfortable topic for many people to talk about, but by stigmatizing and demonizing sex and sexuality, we are blocking a wealth of helpful information from entering young minds where it can be the most beneficial. How can we expect young parents to teach their children about safe sex when they were never taught about it to begin with?

If we say goodbye to abstinence-only education, we'll be saying goodbye to generations of myth and misinformation and welcoming the era of honest information. Avoiding a topic won't make the problem go away, so why do it with sex ed?