Every year in America, one million teen girls become pregnant and at least three million teens become infected with an STD (Donovan, 1). Though these numbers slightly fluctuate, problems facing American adolescents today, like HIV/AIDS, other STD’s, and teen pregnancy. This means that some needs to change. These problems will decline when sex education is revamped everywhere in America, by making the curriculum completely comprehensive in addressing problems facing adolescents today such as teen pregnancy, STD’s, rape, pressures and emotions dealing with sex, and give teens good communication skills. Right now teachers approach these subjects on their tip toes, dance around the issue, and not fully give out all the information. Meditation. To find out what needs to be change we should look at what is being taught. In Levine’s book, Harmful to Minors, she discusses the curriculums being taught in public schools today, by breaking them down into two categories. Abstinence-only and abstinence-based. Both of these programs do teach about health, physical education, home economics, and biology, but both can really differ when dealing with the different “sensitive” issues. Abstinence-only education, promotes postponing sex, but when it comes to issues like contraception, it is taught how affective it is, but not where to get it. Abstinence-only curriculum promotes more education through the family, instead of through school. Some abstinence-only curriculums do deal with comprehensive issues, but mainly try to avoid the subject. Some teachers even make up lies to try and scare kids away from sex. Abstinence-based is more comprehensive. The curriculum does promote that abstinence is the only 100% full proof method, but ... ... middle of paper ... ...’s. Numerous sexual partners later, she found out she had Chlamydia. These are great examples when comprehensive sex education is needed. Kids will be kids, and kids have sex. Educating the youth will only have them making wiser decisions and protect themselves. There is no doubt that change is needed. Comprehensive sex education is the answer. Informing the youth will have positive repercussions for not only the youth, but for society in general. Evidence does not lie. Abstinence-only education does not work, and there is no evidence that supports it. Comprehensive sex education does not give adolescents the wrong ides. They already have the wrong idea, but still America doesn’t get it. Educating is the only way we have a fighting chance. When the youth has all the information and resources available, they will make informed responsible decisions.
How many girls have you see around school who are pregnant? Do you ever come to think that they may not have had the “sex talk” with their parents or any sort of sex education at school? “The United Stated still has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any industrialized country. About 40 percent of American women become pregnant before the age of 20. The result is about 1 million pregnancies each year among women ages 15 to 19.” (The Annie E. Casey Foundation) At the age 15-20 most teen males and females don’t have a stable job and are still going to school. There is much at risk when a male and female decide to have sexual intercourse. Having a sex education class would help decrease the teen pregnancy rate. Learning what one can do to prevent a teen pregnancy and the consequences that can lead up to it, will help reduce the amount of sexual activity among teens. Having a sex education class that is required will benefit the upcoming teens of the next generation. Some parents don’t want their teens to have premarital sex and some parents don’t want the schools to be the ones responsible to teach their kids about sex education because they feel like it’s their job. There has been much controversy on sex education being taught at school.
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).
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.
encompasses sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image, and gender roles.” Sex education discusses important aspects of reproduction, sexuality, and just growing up in general in a physical and emotional sense. One would have to wonder though; does sex education actually serve its purpose? Does it enlighten teens enough about sex and the consequences, to the point where you can actually tell the difference between those who are sexually educated and those who are not? According to a study done bye Coyle (1999) sex education no matter where, at home or in school, and no matter the program does indeed help decrease the amount of teens having unsafe sex. Based on information from that same study about 3 million teenagers a year get an STD, and roughly 10% of adolescent females ages 15-19 get pregnant every year unintentionally. In an article from The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1999) there has been a 20% drop in female pregnancies between n 1990 and 1997 and the drop has continued, they have stated that the reason for this i...
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.
There has been a heated debate over the years on whether sex education should be taught at schools instead of abstinence-only. Many believe that talking about sex in the classroom raises the initiation of such behavior, and by stressing discipline, self-control, and self-respect, advocates argue, abstinence-only programs build character in students. Others believe that ignoring the subject keeps teens in the dark which leads them to make unsafe decisions when they become sexually active. In order to fix this problem schools should teach Sex Education, but emphasize that abstinence is the only 100 percent effective way to prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.
How much sexual knowledge adults should give to adolescents has been discussed for decades to decrease teenage pregnancy and sex related diseases. According to The National Campaign to prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (2013), the U.S. has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy among developed countries, and about sixty eight girls per thousand became pregnant in 2008. To change this situation, the U.S. provides two kinds of sex education: abstinence-only sex education and comprehensive sex education. In contrast, Japan has one of the lowest rates among developed countries. Summing up the birth and abortion dates, at least 34,220 girls became pregnant in 2011 (Japanese Ministry of Health, 2011). Even though Japan has less teen pregnancy, lack of practical sexual knowledge has caused several tragic incidents in recent years. To give sexual knowledge to children, Japan provides fact-based sex education. Moreover, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are becoming serious problem recently. According to World Health Organization, 490 million people get STIs yearly (2013). To avoid teen pregnancy and STIs, sex education plays an important role for adolescents. However, because there are several programs, what adolescents learn is different depending on the kinds of sex education. Among the three kinds of programs provided in the U.S and Japan, comprehensive sex education is the most effective one. This paper focuses on the sex educations in the U.S and Japan and describes their features and effectiveness.
In the United States, there is a rising problem that is not going anywhere anytime soon, that is if we, as citizens, don 't change it. This problem is causing billions of dollars and people 's futures all because schools would rather teach ignorance than the truth. What’s the problem? Sex education. Although sex education may not seem like a rising conflict, it is actually one of the top controversial topics in our country regarding education. According to Brigid McKeon, “Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs)” (McKeon). This number is so unbelievable to any sane person, but somehow schools still won 't take the initiative to teach realistic sex education. Sex education can be taught in two different procedures- comprehensive or abstinence only. The difference between the two methods is that comprehensive sex education teaches abstinence as a secondary choice, so that teens who decide not to wait are well educated on how to keep themselves protected. Comprehensive sex education should be required in every single public school because it is the most effective method on how to keep teenagers well informed and prepared.
Why should comprehensive sex education be allowed in schools? Should teens be exposed to comprehensive sex education? Sex education should be taught in school because it give children stable and accurate information , it informs them of the danger and diseases associated with sex, and it teaches them about safe sex options.
First of all, the main reason children have sex prematurely is because they are curious. Students lack knowledge about sex because they haven’t been taught about it, however, when children know the consequences behind their actions and the risks they are taking they less likely to want to have sex. If we take the time to show kids what it is like to take care of a child as a teenager or show them AIDS victims; they may be much less likely to want to indulge in sexual activities. Sex education probably can’t prevent teenage sex, but it can ensure students have the knowledge they need so they’ll be aware of what they are getting themselves into.
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.
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...