Introduction
Sexuality has so much more to do with not having sex than it does actually having sex. Those who have had a comprehensive sex education would understand this. Those who are unfortunate to not have had comprehensive sex education would not understand this. Comprehensive sex education is not limited to not only sexual behaviors but encompasses a whole ray of topics. Furthermore, the comprehensive method supports young people by giving them the knowledge and skills they need in order to have healthy sexual lives. Research has revealed that comprehensive sex education has positive results in reducing unprotected sex, teen pregnancies, and STI’s (Starkman and Rajani 2002). So why not comprehensive sex education? This paper will evaluate both comprehensive sex education and abstinence-only sex education.
A Case for Comprehensive Sex Education
Comprehensive sex education is designed around the idea that sexuality is much more than having sex. Comprehensive education attempts to provide an environment where students can talk about sexuality in open non-judgmental way. Lets’ get honest here. How many of us wanted to talk about sex with our parents? I know I didn’t! I assume that most did not. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an outlet where students are encouraged to speak with each other and non-family adult about sex? Perhaps the discussion could start in the class room and then make its way home.
Furthermore, how many parents are educated themselves on how to approach their teenage son or daughter on sexuality. A survey conducted by New York University’s Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health along with Planned Parenthood Federation of America conducted a survey of parents about how they talk about sex to their ch...
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...ucation vs. Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs.” Humans Rights Magazine 38(2).
Planned Parenthood 2014. “Implement Sex Education.” Washington, DC: Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Retrieved April 15th, 2014. (http://www.plannedparenthood.org/resources/implementing-sex-education-23516.htm)
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States 2014. “Sexuality Education Q & A.” Washington, DC: SIECUS DC Office. Retrieved April 15th, 2014. (http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=521&grandparentID=477&parentID=514)
Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F., David Hall. (2011). “Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S.” PLoS ONE 6(10)
Starkman, Naomi J.D., and Nicole Rajani. 2002. “Commentary: The Case for Comprehensive Sex Education.” Aids Patient Care and STDs 16
Everyone has an opinion about sexuality education. From vocal parents at PTA meetings to state governors who must decide whether to apply for federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs or more comprehensive sexuality programs, or both, or neither. From school pri...
When it comes to monitoring and ensuring the well-being of school-aged children, the agendas of most of our nation’s parents, teachers, and public education policy makers seem to be heavily focused on topics such as bullying, drug awareness, and social development. Although each of these issues is very important and deserving of the attention it receives, there is one topic – sexual education in the public school system – that holds just as much relevance amongst today’s youth, and yet it continues to be denied the same consideration. With underage sex being one of the nation’s long-lasting taboos, one would assume that effective Sex Ed programs in the public school system would be geared towards today’s youth. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case, especially for those residents of the state of Florida. Reflective of the predominantly conservative mindset of the early to mid 1900s, the sex education programs in the Florida education system seem to focus primarily on “abstinence-only-until-marriage” (Support SIECUS).
Since the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the U.S. in the early 1980s the issue of sex education for American youth has had the attention of the nation. There are about 400,000 teen births every year in the U.S, with about 9 billion in associated public costs. STI contraction in general, as well as teen pregnancy, have put the subject even more so on the forefront of the nation’s leading issues. The approach and method for proper and effective sex education has been hotly debated. Some believe that teaching abstinence-only until marriage is the best method while others believe that a more comprehensive approach, which includes abstinence promotion as well as contraceptive information, is necessary. Abstinence-only program curriculums disregard medical ethics and scientific accuracy, and have been empirically proven to be ineffective; therefore, comprehensive sex education programs which are medically accurate, science-based and empirically proven should be the standard method of sex education for students/children in the U.S.
Today’s young Americans face strong peer pressure to be sexually active and engage themselves in risky behaviors (Merino 100-109). Anyone deciding to have sex must first think about all the risks involved. Kekla Magoon, author of Sex Education in Schools, says that “half of all teens aged 15 to 19 years old in the United States have had sex” (Magoon 64-65). It is currently not required by federal law for schools to teach Sex education and those few schools that do teach Sex education have the decision to determine how much information is allowed. Advocates from both sides of the Sex education debate agree that teens need positive influences in order to make practical decisions (Magoon 88-89). Opponents of Abstinence-only education believe it fails because it does not prepare teens for all the risks of sex (Magoon 64-65).
The Sexuality Education Initiative was developed by the Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles with the goal of “improving the sexual and reproductive health of low-income youth in high school.” By decreasing the student’s risk of pregnancy and STDs through education, as well as teaching them how to carry themselves, they aimed to make improvements on the students overall quality of life both short and long term. About 1800 students were studied, half receiving the new curriculum (variable group) and half receiving the basic sex education (control group). The students were tested before and after learning the material, and the results were astounding. The results found that there was a consistent pattern of the variable group scoring significantly better than the control group after being taught for 6 weeks. These results suggested to researchers that if this curriculum were to be integrated into public schooling, there would be a sharp decrease in the amount of students dropping out of high school, or becoming infected with an STD
Two drastic Emergency Room cases were handled in 1998 at Mary Washington Hospital. Concerned mothers brought their 12 year old daughters into the hospital thinking they were suffering from severe stomach pain or even appendicitis…both girls were actually in labor (Abstinence, 2002). The United States has the highest teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates in the Western world (Planned Parenthood, 2003). Are teens getting enough knowledge on sex and how to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies? Another heartbreaking statistic is that teenagers have the highest rate of STDs of any age group, with one in four young people contracting an STD by the age of 21 (Sex-Ed Work, 2003). Is sex education really working in school? Or do we need to change the type of curricula that is taught? There is no question that sex education should be taught in schools, but the question is how? The purpose of this paper is to determine which curricula of sex education should be taught in schools to be most effective in lowering STD and pregnancy rates among teenagers.
Collins, Chris, Priya Alagiri, and Todd Summers. "Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education: What Are the Arguments? What Is the Evidence?" AIDS Research Institute. University of California, San Francisco, Mar. 2002. Web. 19 Feb. 2011. .
Sex education in public schools has been a controversial issue in the United States for over a decade. With the HIV and teen pregnancy crises growing, sex education is needed.
Kohler et al. (2008)“Abstinence-only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy.” Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4): 344-351.
Stanger-Hall, K. & Hall, D. (2011). Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S. PLoS ONE 6(10).
The government likes to pretend that if high school students get taught the “abstinence-only” method they would never think of taking part in sexual activities. Statistically this is incorrect. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “56 percent of high school students are virgins”(Martin). For the 56 percent abstinence only is doing them well, but there are still 44 percent of high school students engaging in sex without knowing the precau...
Martinez, Gladys, Joyce Abma, and Casey Copen. “Educating Teenagers About Sex In The United States”. CDC.GOV. Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Feb.2014
This provides a chance for adolescents to engage in interactive discussion with each other. Some of their peers may ask questions that others are afraid to ask or questions that may have not been brought to their attention. For example, inside a classroom many adolescents are taunted because they do not know a particular slang term for sex such as “smash” or “knocking boots.” Interactive discussions among their peers provide a sense of comfort and universality. Different misconceptions of sex are most likely to surface during these discussions, and teachers will have the opportunity to address and correct any false beliefs and misconceptions. All the students will be provided with the same basic information about sex, reproductive systems, and reproduction, which will eliminate myths and help the students effectively practice what they have learned. This leads to the next benefit of sex education in school which is promoting healthy
Sex education in our schools has been a hot topic of debate for decades. The main point in question has been whether to utilize comprehensive sex education or abstinence-only curriculum to educate our youth. The popularity of abstinence-only curriculum over the last couple of decades has grown largely due to the United States government passing a law to give funding to states that teach the abstinence-only approach to sex education. But not teaching our children about sex and sexuality is not giving them the information they need to make well educated decisions. Sex education in our schools should teach more than just abstinence-only because these programs are not proven to prevent teens from having sex. Children need to be educated on how to prevent contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies and be given the knowledge to understand the changes to their bodies during puberty. According to the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten-12th Grade from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), comprehensive sex education “should be appropriate to age, developmental level, and cultural background of students and respect the diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community” (SIECUS).
Before moving on, one must know that sex education is about, but not limited to the discussion of sexual intercourse. As a Buzzle article states, it involves a multitude of topics that introduce human sexual behaviors such as puberty, sexual health, sexual reproduction, sexuality, and more (Iyer). If formally received in school, these topics are brought up and discussed at age-appropriate times over the course of children’s junior high and high school education. Moreover, as I have introduced earlier, the way sex education should be taught is divided into two approaches. It is between taking either a conservative, abstinence-only approach or a more liberal, comprehensive approach. Abstinence-only education, approaches students by stressing the importance of “no sex before marriage” as be...