Sex Education
Sex education informs young people of what they need to know about sex and their risk factors. Sex education being taught in schools not only talks about sex, but makes students aware of sexual reproduction, health, and sexuality. Are teenagers being exposed to sex education to early? At what age should this subject be introduced to children? It is believed that school children engaging in sexual activity is increasing, however statistics and the media state otherwise. “A significant decrease among students, where the proportion who are sexually active declined from 59 percent in 1991 to 41 percent in 2011 (Child Trends).” The purpose of this essay is to not only state the pros and cons but to inform both parents and students of why sex education needs to be taught in schools.
Over the years the topic has gone through various changes in the public school system. The first generation taught sexual anatomy and the risk of pregnancy, but soon was criticized for not showing knowledge of reducing risky sexual behavior, which soon lead to the second generation (Rodriguez, 1). The second generation approached sexual communication, values, and making personal decisions in one’s life; although students made smarter decisions in the areas taught, it failed to introduce teens to all contraceptives, therefore risky behavior was still being shown. Following the failure of the second generation the program of “abstinence only” began. The problem with this was it not only made students aware of the contraception available to the children, therefore encouraging risky behavior. The most current generation, the practice being taught in schools today, is known as “comprehensive sexuality education”; it not only encourages young adult...
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...ve in delaying sexual debut among younger teens (Kirby). Parent and many others think otherwise; but recent statistics show that sex education is beneficial in some way to the school system.
Works Cited
Facts on American Teens' Sources of Information About Sex." Facts on American Teens' Sources of Information About Sex. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
"Have Better Sex." Have Better Sex. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
"Myths & Facts about Sex Education." Myths & Facts about Sex Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014
"Sex Education Stirs Controversy." USATODAY.com. N.p., 10 July 2002. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
"Sexuality Education." International Encyclopedia of Marriage;Family. 2003, MONICA RODRIGUEZ, JEFFREY P. MORAN, and "Sex Education." Dictionary of American History. 2003. "Sexuality Education." Encyclopedia.com. HighBeam Research, 01 Jan. 2003. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Nineteen-fifty five marked the debut of sex education programs in schools in the United States. Along the years, many have argued whether or not sex education should be taught in schools. Many believe that the education of sex encourages students to engage in sexual activities which lead to a higher number of pregnancies and sexual transmitted diseases (STD’s). As the number of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases climbs higher and higher every day in our country, one can only think that sexual education is a necessity in our school systems. Teens as young as fourteen years old have admitted to already engaging in sexual activities. No teen should be engaging in such acts at that age. Many schools give parents the choice to have their child opt out of the lesson or class. Few states are required to teach sex education to students in secondary schools unless they were withdrawn from the class by their parents.
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).
Currently, sex education in schools is primarily centered on the distribution of information without elaborating about the moral implications dealing with sex. Teenagers are well versed on things such as how long sperm lives inside the body and can identify all of the workings of the female reproductive system. However, they are still getting pregnant and still contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Anna Quindlen examines this trend in her essay, “Sex Ed”. Quindlen points out that it is the moral implications of sex that have been left out of the curriculum and it is the responsibility of parents to make those moral connections with their children (277). Understanding the morality of sex, she argues, may help teenagers to make more informed decisions on taking the next step towards sexual activity. They must understand that “…when you sleep with someone you take off a lot more than your clothes” (Quindlen 277). Sex is not simply a...
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.
“Contrary to some people of formal sex education, researchers couldn’t pull up any evidence that receipt of either type of sex education was combined with earlier signs of sex, greater risk taking a poor decision at sexual actions and healthy outcomes.” Further, what the teachers was consistently towards less healthy [sexual and reproductive health] actions, beliefs and outcomes among the younger youth who did not receive any of the directions or “sit down” on neither condoms for males or birth control for young ladies before their first experience with sexual thoughts or
The controversy of whether sex education should be taught in schools has been a lingering argument for years. Opposing sides are so firm on their position that they will not consider those whose opinions counter their own, making it difficult to come up with a solution. Those who are against the teaching of sex education in school feel that they should be the ones educating their children about sex and that sex should be abstained from until marriage. On the other hand, people who support sexual education programs believe their children will learn the importance of contraception, learn how to have sex through the teachings of a professional, and how they can help open up better relationships with their parents.
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.
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.
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...
Sex among teenagers is one of the most controversial topics of our time. The teen pregnancy and STD rates in the United States alone have become a major problem over the years. Despite these skyrocketing sex cases, sexual education is not being taught in some schools, and the ones that do are extremely limited. Parents, the government, organizations, and school boards do not teach the proper curriculum necessary for students to thoroughly understand sexual behavior. This essay will explain the need for proper sexual education in our schools.
Starting at an earlier period of time increases the chance of healthy life choices to become a lifestyle, and allow the students to become accustom to healthy sex lifestyles. Sex education classes provide knowledge about various sexually transmitted diseases and how they are transmitted, safe sex, different contraceptives, and consequences of choosing not to practice safe sex. Providing adolescence with this type of knowledge would decrease STD rates. For example, many adolescent do not know that STDs can be transmitted while performing oral sex or they do not know that they can become pregnant their first time having sex. The awareness of different contraceptives that are offered would help decrease the rate of unwanted teen pregnancies. Most adolescent drop out of high school in order to work jobs or to stay home and care for their children. Changing the trend of unwanted teen pregnancies would result in more high school graduates, which would set the foundation for successful, responsible adults.
Having comprehensive sex education in the schools gives teens safe place to discuss these issues in fact it has been shown that. Seeing that some teens are shy about asking the important questions from their parents, and the parents themselves are not always comfortable or brave enough to answer these questions which can be harmful the child. Having this be taught at the schools wil...
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...
The need for sex education is very questionable in today’s society. An article by Pamela DeCarlo, from the Centre for AIDS Prevention Studies, discusses why sex education is needed in schools. She asks why education on this subject is needed and if will help or hurt today’s children. Her view of the issue is that kids do need to have education to help to protect them but that it isn’t enough to prevent them from receiving STD’s and becoming pregnant. “Knowledge alone is not enough to change behaviors.” DeCarlo also says that, “Programs that rely mainly on conveying information about sex or moral precepts-how...
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).