Sexual Education in Schools

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Recommended: teenage pregnancy prevention as a society

SEXUAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

With approximately 750,000 U.S. teens becoming pregnant between the ages of 15 to 19 (Guttmacher, 2011) they need to be informed how to prevent pregnancy. The rate of teenage pregnancy has been on the rise and continues to be one of the highest in the developed world (Guttmacher, 2011) since 2006. To reduce the risk, the Mid-Prairie School District should implement a mandatory comprehensive sexual education course to inform teenagers on how to protect themselves from pregnancy and other diseases. With the school district implementing this course we will be able to educate teens on how to protect their health and prevent them from becoming pregnant because it will affect them for the rest of their life. Not all schools have this form of education some only have abstinence-only programs and it is causing some of the pregnancies in our country, like those in the Mid-Prairie School District.

Comprehensive sexual education is the accurate, factual and developmentally appropriate information and training on human sexuality. (Teenwise Minnesota) This education is presented to both male and female students during middle school and high school. During these classes the information that is provided is teaching respectful, responsible, non-exploitive and non-violent behavior. (Teenwise Minnesota) By providing this information the students are receiving the most effective and safest methods for sexual activity. Teaching while students are entering their teenage years is going to be most effective because not only will it help them in the present but also for the rest of their lives.

In the United States from 2005 to 2006 the national teen birth rate increased three percent from the previous year and si...

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...Institute, Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and Reproductive Health, (2011). Retrieved May 11, 2011, from

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html

Hedman, A. S., Larsen, D., Bohenblust, S. (2008). Relationship Between Comprehensive Sex Education and Teen Pregnancy In MN. American Journal of Health Studies, 23, Article 4. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from

http://web.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=12&sid=64008c7f-378c-4967-9b6d-1cb43c457e9e%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=hch&AN=38213170

March of Dimes: Teen Pregnancy (2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011, from

http://www.marchofdimes.com/medicalresources_teenpregnancy.html

Teenwise Minnesota. Definition of Comprehensive Sexuality Education that Guides MSERRP reviews (n.d) Retrieved May 27, 2011, from

http://www.moappp.org/resources/mserrp/compsexed_definition.html

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