Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The benefits of sexual education for adolescents
Importance of gender education among teenagers
Effectiveness in gender education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The benefits of sexual education for adolescents
When it comes to monitoring and ensuring the well being of school-aged children, the agendas of most our nation’s parents, teachers, and public education policy makers seem to be heavily focused on topics such as bullying, drug awareness, and social development. Although each of these issues is very important and deserving of the attention it receives, there is one topic-sex education in the public school system-that holds just as much relevance amongst today’s youth, and yet it continues to be denied the same consideration. With underage sex being one of the nation’s long lasting taboos, one would assume that effective Sex Ed programs in the public school system would be geared towards today’s youth. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case, especially for those residents of the state of Florida.
Reflective of the predominantly conservative mindset of the early to mid 1900s, the sex education programs in the Florida education system seem to focus primarily on “abstinence-only-until-marriage” (Support SIECUS). In other words, these programs preach that completely abstaining from any sexual activity is the only way to avoid potentially devastating consequences, such as teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Although this idea may be true, it is based on the faulty premise that all teens will adhere to such a policy, therefore, eliminating the need to educate them on other precautionary measures, such as contraceptives. Unfortunately, such hopes have proven to be unrealistic, resulting in the need for these programs to be readdressed.
As with all issues, there are many evident stakeholders who are continuously affected by Florida’s lack of an effective and standardized sex education program within it...
... middle of paper ...
... Deutch has even stated that “abstinence is the important message to start, but it’s not simply enough to hope that’s the only message that’s necessary” (Support SIECUS).
Although tax payers may not directly experience the effects of sex educations programs as much as the teachers, parents, and students, it is important that they’re assured their tax dollars are being used to support a program that better provides the youth with the knowledge and resource to practice safe sexual endeavors.
Works Cited
Pease, Jill. "Sex Education in Florida Schools Varies Widely, Not Available to All Students." University of Florida News UNIVERSITY of FLORIDA (2007): n. pag. News. 5 Nov. 2007. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. .
"Support SIECUS!" SIECUS. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. .
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.
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...
Chen, Grace. “Schools, Parents, and Communities Should Contribute to Educating Teens About Sex.” Teenage Sexuality. Ed. Aarti D. Stephens. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. From “Public Schools and Sex Education.” Public School Review. 2008. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.
Quindlin, Anna. "Sex Ed." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. By Gilbert H. Muller. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. 275-77. Print.
Sex education in the United States has been an bi-polar opinionated topic within the education system. It's use and curriculum are affected by many forces such as politics, public health concerns, and religious affiliation to name just a few. There has though been clearly documented need for publics support for sex education programs in schools. What is often unknown, is Sex education was been introduced into the education systems as early as 1912. At this time the National Education Association requested for teachers to be trained in sexuality education. In the 1940s the United States Health Services supported Sex education programs in the school systems saying there was an urgent need for awareness. Though it wasn’t till 1955 that the American Medical Association in union with National Education Association published five pamphlets which were to be used for sex education in schools. Although even with the support of teachers and public health officials the use and implementation of sex education programs in school were heavily debated by many.
The Sexuality Education Initiative was developed by the Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles with the goal of “improving the sexual and reproductive health of low-income youth in high school.” By decreasing the student’s risk of pregnancy and STDs through education, as well as teaching them how to carry themselves, they aimed to make improvements on the students overall quality of life both short and long term. About 1800 students were studied, half receiving the new curriculum (variable group) and half receiving the basic sex education (control group). The students were tested before and after learning the material, and the results were astounding. The results found that there was a consistent pattern of the variable group scoring significantly better than the control group after being taught for 6 weeks. These results suggested to researchers that if this curriculum were to be integrated into public schooling, there would be a sharp decrease in the amount of students dropping out of high school, or becoming infected with an STD
Kayla Bell writes, in the article Abstinence Is Only Sure Way to Prevent Pregnancy, STDs, that Roslyn Murphy, the mother of an 11 year old boy, believes that she and her husband should be the ones to tell their son what is right and wrong. Murphy said "As a parent, I need to teach my children about sex education, and biblically, I believe in what God is saying -- to reiterate the reasoning for not having sex." While many studies prove that this method is ineffective, advocates who are pro-abstinence stand by their decision and have statistics of their own to point out. For example, a study conducted in 2010 found that a third of the six and seventh graders who participated in abstinence-only education reported that they had sex two years later. About half of the other students who did not partake in the course reported having sex in the same time period, but the two groups' reported the use of condoms were the same (Bell).
Sexuality Information and Education Conflict of the United States. (n.d.). An Explanation of Federal Funding for More Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Education.
Sex education is an informational class that teaches human anatomy and puberty, protection options for those who decide to have sex, and the basics of STD’s. In Arizona, sex education is optional; schools do not have to teach this class if not wanted. If schools decide to have sex education in the health class curriculum, it is usually taught to students anywhere from fifth to eighth grade. Very few schools offer sex education and according to the Senate Bill 1309 “The Parents Bill of Rights”, parents are required to sign a permission slip before their child attends the class (Innes). Most parents are opposed to sex education, because they want to be the person to talk to their child about sex. A problem with this opin...
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.
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.
Sexual education has been a heated topic for years. The topic started in 1912 when the National Education Association wanted teachers to begin lecturing in sex ed programs.(Pardini, Priscilla) In 1940 the U.S. Public Health Service labeled sexual education an “urgent need” and strongly advocated it in schools.(Pardini, Priscilla) Though sexual education had support from health officials and educators, there were many opponents.(Pardini, Priscilla) Conservatives and health advisors battled over how sex ed benefits and how it should be taught in schools.(Pardini, Priscilla)
Whereas, the Sexual Education program promotes safe sex and knowledge of the sex and it’s consequences. The motto would be, “Knowledge is Power.” As a result of this program has decreased the rate of unplanned pregnancy and sexual disease outbreak. This is why it is argued that Sexual Education should be taught in the public school system.
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...
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).