Sex Education in School

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Sex Education in School

Just say no, or say nothing at all. Either live by the word of the Christian God, or live with disease and unsupportable families. In current abstinence-only sexual education, this is the choice the nation gives to young people about their private sexuality. Clear concise facts have given way to horrifying lectures of the fictional evils of sexual behavior that falls outside the lines drawn by the right wing and the Pope. These tactics do not educate and only damage adolescents and their budding sexuality. By perpetuating an archetype of sexual innocence they only accomplish a spreading of sexual ignorance. Comprehensive sexuality education in every school would end the inefficacy of abstinence until marriage programs and resolve the many sexual problems facing the youth of today.

The state of teenage sexuality in America right now is a dismal thought. Young people lack the most basic information, like how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. In a number of states it is illegal for educational professionals to give students such information. This leads to American youths being some of the most sexually uniformed in the modern world. These suffocating laws, designed by right wing radicals, prevent schools from addressing the topic even if it is in the best interest of the student. In a report by the respected American Health Consultants, Inc., it is said that,

"Among the seven in 10 public school districts that have a district wide policy to teach sexuality education, 86% of them require that abstinence be promoted as the preferred or only option for teens."

Abstinence-only sex education forbids dissemination of any positive information about contraception, regardle...

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Schmitt, B.D. "Sex Education for Preschoolers." Clinical Reference Systems 1 Nov. 1999: 1313

Shelton, Deborah L. "Does Sex Ed Focused On Abstinence Work?" American Medical News 17 Jan 2000: 21

Stryker, Jeff. "Abstinence Or Else! The Just-Say-No Approach In Sex Ed Lacks One Detail: Evidence That It Works." The Nation 16 June 1997: 19

"Teen Sex and Pregnancy" The Alan Guttmacher Institute Nov1999: The Alan Guttmacher Institute. 20 Nov 2000

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