Comprehensive Sexual Education Essay

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.

During 1920s, U.S. schools began to incorporate sex education to their courses. A 2002 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that “58% of secondary school principals describe their sex education curriculum as comprehensive programs provide factual information about birth control, sexual transmitted disease, and continue the message to children about waiting to have sex.” (Johannah)

Studies show that the national average for an adolescent’s first sexual intercourse encounter is seventeen years old. Despite this number being very close to the average age in other industrialized countries, the United States holds a higher percentage of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) contraction than those countries (Harper et al, 2010, p. 125). It’s becoming evident that while a majority of the nation’s youth is sexually active, they are not doing so with the appropriate knowledge to keep themselves and others healthy.

"Approximately four million teens get a sexually transmitted disease every year" (Scripps 1). Today’s numbers of sexually active teens differ greatly from that of just a few years ago. Which in return, projects that not only the risk of being infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) has risen, but the actual numbers of those infected rise each year as well. These changes have not gone unnoticed. In fact have produced adaptations as to how society educates its young adults about sex, using special programs, various advertising, and regulating sexual education courses in public schools. One major adaptation is the advancement and availability of

Over 15 million STD’s are contracted in the U.S. each year (Koumans et al., 2005). Over one one-fifth of these cases involve two of the most commonly known STDs: chlamydia and gonorrhea (Koumans et al., 2005) Unfortunately, most of the individuals who get infected with these diseases fall into the age range of 15-24 years old (Koumans et al., 2005). According to Wyatt & Oswalt (2014), almost half of all STD’s contracted each year are by young people ages 15-24 years old. Moreover, the data shows that, “45% of herpes infections, 70% of gonorrhea infections, 63% of chlamydia infections, and 49% of HPV infections occur among youth between the ages of 15-24 years” (Wyatt & Oswalt, 2014). Given that many college students are between the ages of 18-24 years, it is important that schools focus on educating students about the risk of

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.).

Studies have also shown that abstinence-focused programs have failed to reduce STI rates. The American Sexual Health Association states, “More than half of all people will have an STD/STI at some point in their lifetime,” (“Statistics”). Comprehensive sex education would teach teenagers how to improve their sexual health, prevent unwanted pregnancies, and prevent sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Providing students with this information does not encourage them to participate in sexual activity sooner. Several findings show that, “[Comprehensive sex education] effectively promotes abstinence and may delay sexual debut, reduce sexual frequency, reduce the number of sexual partners, reduce STI risk, and increase the likelihood of consistent contraceptive use,” (Jeffries 173). Comprehensive sex education will be beneficial to students by teaching them how to have sexual intercourse safely, if they choose to not remain abstinent.

Master of Professional Health Debra Hauser states that sexual education is an essential part of the development and growth of teenagers. In her article “Youth Health and Rights in Sex Education”, MPH Hauser provides a report of teenage pregnancies and STDs incidences, which points out that each year in the United States, about 750,000 teens become pregnant, with up to 82 percent of those pregnancies being unintended. Young people ages 15-24 account for 25 percent of all new HIV infections in the U.S (Hauser). According to Hauser, “sex education teaches young people the skills they need to protect themselves”, such as the ability to recognize patterns of a toxic relationships, learning to value and have control over their bodies, understanding

We have all heard the stories about the rise in teenage pregnancies, girls dropping out of school to care for their newborns, and even those who get pregnant on purpose. This new trend is everywhere. Most parents fail to have the “talk” with their children and are left without the proper education regarding sex until its too late. With the current rates of teenage pregnancy correlated with the current rates of spreading epidemics of STD’s and HIV/AIDS, steps should be taken in an effort to aid the situation. Schools are a main source of information and education for teens, and are in a unique position that can provide adolescents with knowledgeable skills and understanding that promote sexual health. With consistent speculation surrounding

Numerous sexual partners enables the chances of contracting an STI, such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, or Syphilis, to increase; that being said, statistics indicate that one in every five teens has had four or more sexual partners. Teens of the ages 15 through 19 are among the highest rates of the population infected with the previously mentioned sexually transmitted diseases. Teens engaging in sexual activity are often exposed to diseases without full understanding of the ease that these infections can be transmitted; students need to be exposed to the severe consequences in order to promote more cautious future decisions, like the amount of sexual encounters. Many young males and females never acquire information on the numerous sexually transmitted infections that they could catch and distribute nor how to prevent or treat such diseases. The statistics of high school students that document receiving counseling on STDs and STD testing at a routine checkup with their doctor meets low expectations, recording at 42.8 percent for females and only 26.4 percent for males. The high rates of infected teens could be directly related to the lack of knowledge they receive on the possible diseases that can be distributed through sex. Without proper knowledge on sexually transmitted diseases, the

Some 110 million Americans have an STD at any given time. With 50 percent of new STD cases involving persons aged 15-24(CDC), it's clear to see that there is a problem with prevention of these Infections. With having an STD, it puts people at more risk to get the HIV virus, which is not curable at this time (STD Facts). Showing that people who haven't contracted an STD are less likely to preform risky sex behavior.

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

In 1981, the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA) was signed into law by President Reagan. Through the act, the federal government first invested in sexual education programs, all of which encouraged “chastity and self-discipline.” After this came the Title V abstinence-only-until-marriage program, which was created in 1996 as part of the welfare reform legislation. Finally, the Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE), was created in 2000. Now, for over three decades, people are still debating whether the original approach of teaching abstinence should be kept or if schools should go into further detail in teaching how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

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

Coinciding with the onslaught of the new millennium, schools are beginning to realize that the parents are not doing their job when it comes to sexual education. The school system already has classes on sexual education; these classes are based mainly on human anatomy. Most schools do not teach their students about relationships, morals, respect, self-discipline, self-respect, and most importantly contraceptives. Everyday students engage in sexual activity, many of them with out condoms. This simple act jeopardizes these students' futures and possibly their lives. An increasing amount of school systems are starting to combine messages involving abstinence from sexual activity,