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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.
Abstinence-only sex education is one kind of sex education in the U.S. It is a program which aims to keep adolescents from becoming pregnant by emphasizing the importance of abstaining until they get married. According ...
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...hūkyō Television Broadcasting. Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. 12 May. 2013.
Santelli, J., Ott, A., Lyon, M., Rogers, J., Summers, D., &Schelifer, R. (2006). Abstinence and abstinence-only education: A review of U.S. policies and programs. Journal of Adolescent Health 38 p.p.72-81.
Sexuality Information and Education Conflict of the United States. (n.d.). An Explanation of Federal Funding for More Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Education.
Reserved from http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=1262 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).
World Health Organization. (2013). Sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
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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...
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).
“Throughout the 1980’s these arguments began to lose legitimacy as the American republic reiterated its support (Fose)”. “Although this topic is highly debated, 93 percent of Americans support “sex or sexuallity” courses being taught in high school and 84 percent supports teachings in junior high (Fose)”. More people requested sex education because of the AIDs epidemic. The AIDs epidemic cau...
The Federal Government has invested millions of dollars into an abstinence education program for young adults that provide ways for them to avoid sexual activity at such a young age. The program teaches teens the importance of sustaining from sexual activity before marriage and the importance of a monogamous relationship in a marriage. It also teaches them the harmful effects psychologically and physically, of sexual activity at a young age.
The “talk” about sexuality has never been a topic many like to discuss with tweens or teens, but it has to be addressed sometime during their lifetimes. Sex is a natural experience that is used for reproduction and the building of an emotional connection. However, many teens engage in pre-marital sex and have no knowledge about protecting themselves. Sexual education teaches about human sexuality and how abstinence should be practiced to prevent sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) and unplanned pregnancies. Yet, sexual education classes are mostly for those in college.
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.
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...
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. .
A study conducted on teens in Sweden and the Netherlands showed that teens in those countries were just as sexually active, but the teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rate was much lower. Researchers say this is due to sex education that begins in elementary school and continues on(Bender p.13). Only ten percent of American school-age youth participate in a comprehensive program lasting at least forty hours(deMauro p.89). Teens in America also score low on questionnaires based on sexual knowledge(Gordon p.
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.
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...
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.
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...