Argumentative Essay: Comprehensive Sex Education In The United States

There is a strong need for greater access to current and evidence-based sex education in American public schools. Concurrent with access to information and education about human sexuality, schools should also be offering students safe, anonymous ways of receiving condoms. Condoms are crucial for preventing unwanted pregnancy: and it can easily be said that all teen pregnancies in the United States will be classified as unwanted. Moreover, condoms will prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. When they are used properly, condoms can become lifesavers. However, adolescents are often woefully ignorant about when and how to use condoms. Few adolescents in the United States have ready access to condoms, either at home or in schools. Because of the general prudishness embedded in Bible Belt America, states like Georgia must take a strong stance on the issue. Georgia should follow suit with states like Massachusetts, who have implemented successful condom distribution programs in their schools.

While sexual education is mandatory in almost all secondary schools across Australia, the level of depth at which it is taught varies throughout every school. Many highly important areas of sex ed, such as learning about consent, contraceptive options and violence in relationships, are less commonly taught in high school, with puberty typically being the prime topic taught in PDHPE lessons instead. But when we look at the increase in things such as sexual assault, sexual violence, Sexually Transmitted Infections and teenage pregnancy among today’s youth, we must wonder why such imperative subjects to educate teenagers on are discussed so minimally.

Human sexuality can be fascinating, complex, contradictory, and sometimes frustrating. Sexuality is interwoven into every aspect of being human; therefore, having knowledge about sex is as essential as having education about human anatomy. However, it is highly recommended to pay close attention when sex education is delivered to youths. (Donatelle 171)

I think it is safe to say that no two words elicit more feelings of concern, anxiety, and anger in parents, and stirs up more controversy and debate than the words “sexual education”. This especially true with the implementation of the new, revised sexual education curriculum in Ontario schools. Consequently, this controversy has strongly divided individuals, families, and organizations between those who approved of and those who opposed and protested against school-based programs that providee sexual health education to children. But why so much opposition? This is due to the significant changes made to the sexual education curriculum and the sensitive nature of the topics being taught to children regarding sexuality as a whole, changes which are seen as both radical and “even more explicit and more age-inappropriate than before…” (“Ontario’s Radical,” n.d.).

According to a study in 2010, 75 of the 1,000 girls aged from 15-19 became pregnant and 45% of all girls in Texas become pregnant one or more times before they reach 20 years of age. These females are all less likely to complete high school, less likely to attend college, have lower cognitive development, and are more likely to end up as single parents. These high numbers reflect the fact that sexual education is not available in all states. Not all students have the privilege to learn about sex appropriately or correctly. Instead, they are taught that abstinence, or refraining from sex until marriage, is the correct path to take. The reality is that of the 12th grade students in Texas, 63% of them reported having sexual intercourse at least once. Texas has had problems with

All over the globe young girls are becoming mothers without the proper understanding of what it may do with their bodies and future. There is no question that there’s a stereotype connected to teen moms, especially in the United States. Think back to junior high while taking your sexual education course. You may remember a brief lesson about the dangers of having sex such as hormonal changes throughout teen years, sexually transmitted diseases and even the risks of teen pregnancy. Yes, this is enough to scare many juveniles to avoid intercourse, but there is still a minority of teens that think outside of the box. With an education system that only impacts a small range of students

This documentary is about Shelby Knox who wants to change the sex education system in Lubbox. Lubbox is a town that has the highest teen pregnancy and STI rates in the country. Lubbox teaches abstinence only sex education which is clearly not working. Shelby tried to convince the school and others to teach kids a comprehensive sex education.

As Coach Carr from Mean Girls once said, "Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die! Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just don't do it, OK, promise? OK, now everybody take some rubbers. . . . At your age, you're going to have a lot of urges. You're going to want to take off your clothes, and touch each other. But if you do touch each other, you *will* get chlamydia... and die." While Coach Carr is supposed to be a satirical representation of the average abstinence-only high school sex education teacher, many real sex ed. classes are run similarly to his. The idea that high school students should only be taught abstinence-only sex education has been a debate since it was legally established

Comprehensive sexuality education has always been a focal point of the debate across the United States. Any topics related to sexuality education would make tremendous amount of people feel embarrassed and uncomfortable because sex education is fallaciously perceived as a stigma of the society on an increase rate of unintended pregnancy, the outbreak of sexual transmitted diseases, and other social ethical issues. From a U.S. review, however, “the overwhelming weight of evidence shows that sex education that discusses contraception does not increase sexual activity.” The understanding of sex education not only covers simply a part in reproduction, or how babies are conceived and born but also helps the teenager to have some basis understanding of virtually every aspect of sex by the time he or she reaches full maturity, and more importantly, it encourages confidence and improves communication skills, the social issues surrounding sexuality and reproduction as well as cultural norms, family

Sex education in the United States is not very comprehensive and none regulated, which means that many American teenagers are without the proper information to make informed decisions about sex and sexual health. Many schools offer just abstinence only education and are unable to explain safe sex procedures, putting children at risk for unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. With the average age of intercourse at fifteen years old (Buehler 2014) and many parents uncomfortable with discussing the topic with their children, it is up to sex education classes in school to properly inform teenagers about their bodies and sex. Then when these teenagers are parents themselves, they will be better prepared to talk to their own children and this will hopefully help the American general public before more informed and more likely to have safe sex.

Many topics around the world spark controversy within social dynamics. Sex education, is a big controversy today expressed throughout every nation. The controversy originates from the simple fact that all people are different. Every person was brought up separately and therefore everyone has a different religion, culture and belief that leads up to different opinions in the matter. Sex education is widely debated because many people have different views on whether we should educate our children about sex, and on what we should teach them about. Although many believe that teaching our teens about sex is morally wrong, not educating the nation's youth about sex will cause more detrimental problems in our adolescence social

Sex education provides the youth with the skills and knowledge needed to practice safer sex behavior, refuse sex, and engage in positive youth development programs. The positive youth development programs provide the youth with motivation and confidence to gain and utilize the skills listed above. The federal government invests $1.5 billion dollars in abstinence-only programs, which have been proven ineffective among the adolescent population (Advocates for Youth, 2009). Nevertheless, there has been proposed budgets to create funding for programs that have been proven effective in reducing teen pregnancy, delaying sexual activity, or increasing contraceptive use (Advocates for Youth, 2009). limit the youth with information that is contradicted through the media everyday.

In the early 1960’s the controversial issue of sex education started to become a more prevalent conversation among educators and parents alike when the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of oral contraceptives(Szustek, 2009). Though the topic was previously being discussed as early as mid to late 19th century, it was not deemed completely necessary or an appropriate topic for school aged children prior to this point. In the United States more than 750,000 girls between the ages of 15-19 experience unexpected pregnancies annually and another 19 million of all newly reported Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) cases are young adults between the ages of 15-25(Boonstra, 2013). The argument of whether or not sex education should be taught to students is moot since according to a recent survey by National Public Radio about 93% of adults believe sex education is needed (Anonymous, 2004). The more pressing issue is the content in which is to be presented to students. There are conflicting groups that argue the validity of the methods used to convey the importance of the apparently sensitive subject; one side of the divide are the supporters of abstinence only education which presents a very singular approach and on the other is those that believe in the importance of comprehensive sex education which explores a variety methods of sexual safety.

As children grow, they accumulate knowledge over the years about a variety of subjects to prepare them for the future. Children learn from parents, schools, life experiences, what they watch and other influences around them, and it can be either positive learning or negative learning. There is one subject that is difficult to teach and have control over because of misunderstandings, lack of teaching, and publicity. Sex education has been a major debate for children under eighteen, because there are some parents that want it taught in schools and others that do not because of different reasons. There are currently eighteen states and the District of Columbia that require schools to provide sex education and thirty-two that do not require

from an early age, and continuing the education throughout their teen years, students are aware of their choices and more importantly, aware of how to protect themselves.