High school is a time for teenagers to discover themselves, explore their futures, meet new people, try new activities, and become more independent. Along with the new opportunities comes peer pressure and tough decisions. Most of the decisions are basic like choosing to go shopping with friends instead of studying for a math test or skipping soccer practice to go on a date with a crush. The consequences of simple work or friends decisions are minor. The teenager may get a bad grade on the math test and have to run extra laps at practice the next day but his life will not be significantly altered. Some decisions, however, are more complicated. In high school teenagers begin to date and engage in physical contact such as kissing. As relationships become more serious, pressure to perform other sexual acts increases. In order to make the best choice on an important decision requires information and knowledge on the subject, risks, consequences, and options available. Without proper information in regards to sexual intercourse and the risks associated with such actions, teenagers cannot be expected to make the best decision when it comes to performing sexual acts. Comprehensive sexual education needs to be taught in American high schools to increase the knowledge of teenagers on the risks of sexual intercourse and the preventative measures available to reduce the risks so teenagers can make informed decisions. The risks associated with the performance of sexual acts include pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexually transmitted infections. When the risks become reality, the lives of the affected teenager are changed negatively. Teen pregnancies inhibit the education of women with only “about half (51%) of [them rece... ... middle of paper ... ...ple do not support teaching about or providing contraceptives to teenagers. In the article “Distributing Condoms in Schools Encourages Teen Sex”, John D. Hartigan wrote, “… supplying teenagers with condoms inevitably produces a marked increase in their sexual activity” (11). Regardless of the availability of condoms and other forms of contraceptives, teenagers will still engage in sexual intercourse. The article “Effective Sex Education” by Brigid McKeon for the Advocates for Youth states the information, such as contraception use and availability, taught in “comprehensive sex education… [does] not increase rates of sexual initiation” (12) The only difference between making contraceptives easily available to teenagers and preventing teenagers access to contraceptives is the number of teenagers who are unprotected from pregnancy and sexually transmitted illnesses.
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).
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...
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.
This bill is established and designed to implement comprehensive sex education classes as a mandatory curriculum in high school of every state in the United States in order for every high school student to graduate.
“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
...firm that effective sexual education is imperative to the American society as “rates of sexually transmitted disease (STD), teen pregnancy, and teen births are higher in the [U.S.] than in most other industrialized countries” (Kohler). In the contemporary society of America, the involvement of young adolescents in sexual relationships is a reality that cannot be denied and no school-based intervention can undo the pressure of media and natural hormonal urges that adolescents experience; but at least through an effective comprehensive-based sexual education teenagers can be provided with accurate medical and health information about prevention methods for teenage pregnancy, STDs and STIs, and HIV. Engaging in sexual behaviors is a personal decision and teenagers need to have accurate information about sexual self-protection so that they can be well-prepared and safe.
The “talk” about sex 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. Sex education teaches about human sexuality and how abstinence should be practiced to prevent sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) and unplanned pregnancies. Yet, sex education classes are mostly for those in college. Sex education is not meant to encourage sex, but hopefully steer students into having safe sex or no sex at all. Becoming aware about the consequences of having sex among the tween and teen community needs to be established and understood. If parents have a hard time giving the “talk” about sex, then the subject should be discussed with a trained individual instead of being avoided. Without knowledge teens will explore things without caution. Sources indicate that the argument to allow sex education within public schools, such as middle or high schools, is whether the benefits of learning about sex at an early age will outweigh the risks of experiencing sex without advanced knowledge.
I chose to reflect on the essay, Sex Ed by Anna Quindlen promoting the importance of sex education and how immensely beneficial it can be to teen students. More than a million teenagers become pregnant annually. The United States has more than double the teenage pregnancy rate of any western industrialized country. In addition, teenagers have apical rates of sexually transmitted diseases of any age association. In point of fact, one in four young people acquire an STD by the age of 21. Sex education is a very important subject in today's society, its mere absence in my educational and social progression utterly affected me and my peers in adolescent years.
Sex education has been an ongoing debate for decades. In the early 1970’s, twenty states voted restricting sex education from the school curriculum, leaving the District of Columbia and only three states (Maryland, Kentucky, New Jersey), requiring schools to teach sex education. By the mid 1980’s, a deadly disease permitted through sexual intercourse was recognized; the fear of catching a disease sex education quickly became accepted. In 1986, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop felt sex education should start as early as third grade stating, ‘“There is now no doubt … that we need sex education in schools and that it [should] include information on heterosexual and homosexual relationships. The lives of our young people depend on our fulfilling our responsibility”’ (qtd. in Donovan). December 1997, the District of Columbia and nineteen states provided sex education in school. Sex education covers a range of topics and concerns about safe sex, abstinence, gender, development and human growth, human reproduction, sexual anatomy and physiology, pregnancy, relationships, body image, sexual attitudes, value and morals, sexual behavior, sexual health, sexual orientation, and sexual pleasure. Parents and religious groups believe abstinence should only be taught in school. The teaching of sex education, to many, only encourages student to engage in sexual activity, and for that the parent should only teach reason if they choose to do so. Sex education provides information and answer questions for students whom are scared or shy to ask a parent. Information provided for students in this course will help decrease pregnancy, and disease, provide information and help for any situation; and change the mind of some students about having sex. Sex ...
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.
My high school did not really do much for sexual education. There was an optional health class that was offered, but there were never enough people that wanted to take it so most of the time, they did not have the class. In both biology and anatomy, there was one day that nurses from the local hospital would come in and talk about STDs but that was the only time in high school. Although I think that teaching high schoolers about STDs is important, these talks seem to attempt to scare teens into not having sex. In eighth grade, there is a mandatory health class where they teach about sexual education and STDs. This class was an abstinence-only program and was very insistent that being abstinent was the only way to be. It was also a joke at my
Three million teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease and one in three women will become pregnant before they are twenty years old. Teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant at an alarming rate causing the government, schools, and parents to scratch their heads. America is the country with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world. Many are wondering what can be done to stop this. A debate has been going on about whether abstinence only education is doing any good for high school students in America. Abstinence only education teaches teenagers to abstain from all sexual acts until they are married. It does not teach about pregnancy or the different types of contraceptives that are available to prevent pregnancy. On the other hand, there is safe sex education. Safe sex education teaches teenagers facts about intercourse they need to know, acknowledges the potential consequences or risks of sexual behavior, and helps them make better decisions to protect themselves and their bodies.
Martinez, Gladys, Joyce Abma, and Casey Copen. “Educating Teenagers About Sex In The United States”. CDC.GOV. Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Feb.2014
Rates of sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancy are higher in the United States than in any other domesticated country. Not surprising since American culture has brought sex to the forefront over the last few decades. The need for comprehensive sex education in schools can teach children that the romanticized relationships and sexual interactions in the media aren’t showing the whole story. For children with ...