Persuasive Essay On Sexual Education

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.).

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.

The U.S. has the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancies of any industrialized nation that put young teenagers at risks. It is estimate that 20,000 new cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported each year comes from people under the age of 25 and 82 percent of all teen pregnancies are accidents that account for one-fifth of all unintended pregnancies annually (CDC 2006). As a result, the government needs to stop funding and promoting abstinence only programs and start focusing on comprehensive sex education. Comprehensive sexuality education according to Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS) provides a complete message by teaching age appropriate and medically accurate information

Sex education classes, whether or not they clash with religious or parental teachings, teach a basic and scientific background of sex, what bodily changes are, and how to protect oneself from the dangers of sex. Statistics show that sex education can reverse current trends and prepare children from the dangers of sex by educating them about STDs, pregnancy, and so on. The United States’ statistics on teenagers and young adults are negatively alarming. “Approximately 10% of all births in the U.S. occur in teenagers and 9.5 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are diagnosed in teenagers and young adults each year (Kaneshiro B.).” Unfortunately, there is a lack of courses aimed at teaching America’s youth about sex and the inherent dangers that they cannot foresee while there is a surplus of television shows such as, Teen Moms, promoting sex and pregnancy.

Why should America let have sexual education since kindergarten to prevent many pregnancy and AIDS to teenagers?

In today’s society, teenagers are becoming sexually active at an earlier age. Consequently, sixty-six percent of American high school students have reported partaking in this activity by their senior year – sex (Masland) (SC#8). Because of this promiscuous behavior among teens, there have been alarming rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and even unintentional pregnancies (Masland) (BE#3). In the United States, high schools usually decide whether or not to implement sexual education as a course (Sexuality) (BE#9). While schools may encourage abstinence of sex until marriage, most teenagers will need to know safe sexual practices before they are married. If the teenager is not informed on how to keep themselves and their partner safe during sex, major consequences could ensue. If high schools required a course about sexual education, teenagers would know the implications and consequences of engaging in unsafe

“Same-sex education also known as single-gender education is the practice of conducting education where male and female students attend separate classes or in separate buildings or schools”. Coeducational schooling is the education of students of both sexes at the same institution. Study.com states that gender stereotypes are overgeneralizations about the characteristics of an entire group-based on gender. Another term that you might see being used in this paper is gender differences, gender differences is self-explanatory it basically is the differences between male and females. Single-sex education started in the 1980’s in the United States. According to (oxfordbibliographies.com) the latter half of the 20th century dealt with many countries moving away from single-sex education claiming it to be “unconstitutional.” During the 20th century, in the U.S, women began integrating into male colleges. At the same time the all-female schools remained segregated until further notice. That’s when the debate between parents/schools for or against single-sex education started.

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

When it comes to sexual education for children, I think that information should be provided from more than one outlet. I think that sexual knowledge should be gained from both home and school. I do not think that churches should really have any role or part in teaching children sexual education, because most churches would promote only chastity and abstinence only ideas. I think that a mix between learning things at home and at school is what would work best for most children. This being said, I think that when it comes to schools, there must be a better and reformed version of sexual education than what we see today.

Comprehensive sexual education has long been a contentious issue within the United States of America. Owing largely to America’s history and culture, sexual education has long been stigmatized as unnecessary involvement in the private life, or even misattributed to rising rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. A U.S. review article, however, poses the opposite argument – “The overwhelming weight of evidence reveals that sex education which discusses contraception does not increase sexual activity.” The understanding of sex education not only provides young people with a better understanding of the ways in which their bodies function, but can also help in allowing teenagers to take better care of their sexual health to include pregnancy and STI prevention. Furthermore, sex education improves gender equality, provides accurate information about sexually transmitted infections, and promotes interpersonal skills. Thus, comprehensive sexual education should be introduced and made mandatory in all secondary schools across the United States.

The United States of America contains 50 states, and out of 50, 23 states and the District of Columbia require public schools to teach sexual education (Ruth). This means out of 98,271 public schools in America, only 37,835 schools, or 38.5%, teach sexual education (“Educational Institutes”). Many adults believe children in middle school and high school may be too young to know about sex, and therefore do not want their child to be educated about it, thus being the cause for the low rate of sexual education. Because of this low education rate, teenagers contract half of all new STIs and girls have been dropping out of high school to raise a child (“State Policies on”). Studies prove 3 in 10 teenage girls in America become pregnant at least once before they turn 20, resulting in nearly 750,000 teenage pregnancies every year (“11 Facts About”). All public schools should be required to teach adequate sexual education.

world around them and their changing bodies is in turn detrimental. They need to be

“Students who reported being sexually active, 39 percent reported that they did not use a condom at last sexual intercourse, and 77 percent reported that they did not use birth control pills or depo-provera. Among teen couples who do not use any method of contraception, 85-90% will experience a pregnancy within one year (Bridges).” Many people believe sexual education leads students in the wrong direction, such as, increasing pregnancy rates and encouraging sexual activities. Sexual education teaches students about the use of condoms and contraceptives. In a sexual education class, students learn about a natural part of life. Sexual education helps students prepare and think more carefully about a part of life. As a teenager learns about sexual education it encourages them to reduce sexual activities. Providing Sexual education in schools is a valuable and positive resource for students.

Thinking about sex education brings up those awkward moments we had as teenagers sitting in a classroom and listening to our health teachers talk about sex that we joked about with friends but never wanted to discuss with an adult. However, a lot has change over the years. Now, there is a lot of LGBT students coming out in high school and we live in a society where we are surrounded by images that encourages conversations about sex.

Meet Ashlynn. She is my cousin’s daughter who is now 7 years old. 8 years ago, my cousin, Eric, was a second-year at Pacific Lutheran University in Washington and had been dating his girlfriend, Abby. A few months into the relationship, Abby found out she was pregnant and decided to keep the child. Today, they share joint custody of their adorable daughter, but it certainly has not been an easy journey. Once Eric and Abby chose to keep the baby, both dropped out of college and continued to live with college debt. In addition, both work full-time, minimally paying jobs and remain disputing custody issues, taking a large emotional toll on the parents, child, and families. While Ashlynn is fully loved and wanted, she came from a pregnancy that was unintended. Eric and Abby had not planned to raise a child in the middle of their college career, and their story is simply one of many. Secretary DeVos, although all unintended pregnancies cannot be avoided, there are certainly measures individuals can take that reduce the chance of pregnancy. One critically important measure includes receiving a sex education, a topic that is in dire need to be reformed in the United States.