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Sexual education in public schools
Sexuality education in elementary schools
Sexual education in public schools
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“10,000 young people contract a Sexually Transmitted Disease, more than 2,400 teens became pregnant and about 48 contract HIV” (Ballard and Ginsburg). Teens should know the risk of STD’s that can occur to them along with the tragic physical and emotional cost. No teen should find themselves in a situation where they feel uneducated or unprepared on the subject of sexual relations. Abstinence education will help give a better understanding to the many pro and cons that come with sex. Many times when the topic is not covered, it results in negative outcomes due to the lack of knowledge. Abstinence education and providing condoms should be allowed in today's society to help give students a better understanding so they are prepared to make make
It has been almost thirty three years since the first federal funding was put to use in “. . . sex education programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage to the exclusion of all other approaches . . .” according to the article “Sex education” (2010) published by “Opposing Viewpoints in Context;” a website that specializes in covering social issues. Since then a muddy controversy has arisen over whether that is the best approach. On one hand is the traditional approach of abstinence (not having sex before marriage), and on the other is the idea that what is being done is not enough, and that there needs to be a more comprehensive approach. This entails not only warning against sex, but also teaching teens about how to have “Safe Sex” (“Sex Education,” 2010).
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 two most important topics for a junior high sex education curriculum I think would be abstinence and abortion. Teens these days are struggling in a world that tells us sex is necessary for people who are dating. As a result, many teens give in to their desires and the pressures and engage in sexual relationships. This occurs from early to late adolescence and beyond. Supporting teens' choices, schools teach "safe sex." In my school a group was brought in to demonstrate for the entire school how to put on a condom, using a microphone. This turned into a joke, no one taking it seriously. Even so, it is a horrible example. We have to teach the kids abstinence is the only way to prevent the large problems of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. I can recall that abstinence was mentioned as a side-note as the only 100% guarantee against these two problems. It is a mixed message delivered when teens are given condoms in school that are only about 60% effective, but told that abstinence is the only prevention. Abstinence is the only total prevention, so America's schools must stop promoting ways that try to block pregnancy and STDs. Abortion is my second important topic. Adolescents are growing more and more careless in their sexual behavior and that has led to growing pregnancy rates. Many of them have decided to terminate the pregnancy and the child's life. The physical and emotional harm that abortions cause would have to be addressed, because not many are well informed in that area. A recent talk show that had a man refusing to believe that he was the father of his girlfriend's daughter because he "only conceives males." It is...
Kirby, Douglas. "Abstinence, Sex, And STD/HIV Education Programs For Teens: Their Impact On Sexual Behavior, Pregnancy, And Sexually Transmitted Disease." Annual Review Of Sex Research 18 (2007): 143-177. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 Apr. 2013.
During 1892, the birth of sexual education began when the National Education Association promoted sexuality education as a necessary part of a national education curriculum. After a few years, schools around the country began teaching sexual education in the classroom. However, it was not until 1996, under the Clinton administration that the federal government established to fund a national program formally called Title V of the Social Security Act. As part of a provision of the Welfare Reform Act, the federal government established a grant to the state for the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (Title V). The abstinence-only-until-marriage programs was intended to improve health and control diseases for future generations; however,
Teenage sexual activity is a major problem confronting the nation and has led to a rising incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and teenage pregnancy. The existence of HIV/AIDS has given a sense of urgency to the topic of sex education. The issue of sex education in schools especially in the formative years has been a subject of intense debate among parents, school officials, health scientists and religious authorities worldwide for a considerable period of time. The debate centers on comprehensive sex education versus abstinence-only sex education in school. Abstinence only sex education is a sex education model that focuses on the virtue of abstinence from sexual activities; therefore, encouraging sexual abstinence until marriage. This form of sexual education completely ignores all other elements of comprehensive sexual education like safe sex and reproductive health education issues like the use of contraceptives and birth control methods. Comprehensive sex teaching encourages promiscuous sexual activity as “a natural part of life.” Proponents of abstinence only education activists cite several reasons why this type of education is the best. It focuses on the upholding of moral virtues. They also claim that sex outside marriage hat is “encouraged” by the comprehensive sex education which as a result, has some emotional and physical downfall especially when done at a very young age. They blame the comprehensive sex education for failing to discourage premarital sex especially at this time when the HIV pandemic is busy devouring young people in various parts of the world (Deborah 2). In fairness, both programs were designed to decrease the incidence of STDs...
Students should be informed about more than just “don’t have sex” because eventually it is going to happen and they need to be educated on the proper way to handle the situations. Because students are mostly taught abstinence it has created the situation to where researchers find” Abstinence-only education, instead of reducing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, has made teenagers and young adults more vulnerable to ST...
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...
For my course project I decided to research teen pregnancy, and how sex education in different states affects the teen pregnancy and teen birth rates. With my research I came to believe that abstinence only education is ineffective at preventing pregnancy.
“Sex sells.” This is a common phrase used very often in social media and entertainment industries. Today, the youth generation is highly exposed to social media and products of entertainment industries from music to movies on the big screen. Most of the products produced by these industries are sexually explicit, and they tend to send the wrong messages about sexual behavior. Adolescents almost spend the same amount of time watching television and engaging with social media as they do in an educational environment. Therefore, the best way to tackle the misconceptions of sex among adolescents is to provide sex education in school. Sex education should be taught in school in order to provide a mutual learning experience for adolescents among
Education is a vital tool that every young person needs to be able to start a life of their own. Without education it becomes harder to find a steady job and a stable income. As with any important resource, there are so many debates surrounding different styles of education. One major style of education being debated today is the idea of single sex education. The idea of essentially segregating students based on sex seems outrageous to some people. However, dividing the sexes may be a necessary and important new way to heighten the learning experience.
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).
“Forty-one percent of teens ages 18-19 said they know nothing about condoms, and seventy-five percent said they know nothing about the contraceptive pill” (Facts on American Teens). Even if schools taught just abstinence it still would not be enough. “In 2007, a study showed that abstinence only programs have no beneficial impact on the sexual behavior of young people” (Facts on American Teens). Sex education is not taken as seriously as it should be in schools, it is treated like it is not a big deal. Schools should require a sex education class that specifically teaches students about sex and goes into depth of all the possible consequences because of the high pregnancy, abortion, and virus rates.
According to World Association for Sexual Health, "to achieve sexual health, all individuals, including youth, must have access to comprehensive sexuality education and sexual health information and services throughout the life cycle" (Sexual Health for the Millennium 4). In the fifteenth century, scientists and educators raised the issue of sex education of children and adolescents. This topic particularly was discussed after the sexual revolution that occurred in the past century, when there were the first attempts to introduce sex education courses first as electives, and then as a mandatory class. Sex education should be taught in schools as a compulsory subject in order to develop knowledge about puberty as well as to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.