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.).
It is no surprise that with the Internet at our fingertips and being just one Google search away from any source of information, image, or video, today’s youth have “easy access to both helpful and potentially harmful and incorrect information” (“Sex education,” 2015). In fact, despite all of the current sources of information available to young people, the Internet “has become a key source of information about sexuality and sexual health” (Rathus, Nevid, Fichner-Rathus, & McKay, 2014). As a result, youth today are far more knowledgeable around the topic of sex and other aspects of sexual health than most people were
Recently there has been a lot of debate about the new sexual education curriculum being taught to children from a younger age and how it will affect them. Some people say that children are too young to be learning this information and then how they use it will be in a negative manner. What frightens most parents is that they can raise their children as they wish, but have very little control over what other people do with their children (Wolfe, D. A. 2015, February 28).The Ontario sex-education curriculum is an necessary step to address the fears of parents that their children could be victimized, harmed, or take part in behaviours that carry significant risk but the new curriculum is quite different from the older version because it is more explicit, it also is going against catholic school
In Canadian society, there are certain things that are expected to happen. Any type of public hatred against the LGBTQ+ community, or any other cultural, or religious group, is completely not acceptable. As well as sexual education is to be taught in the school system. Beginning September of 2015, the Ontario school system implemented an upgrade to the province’s sexual health education curriculum. The updated curriculum contains a more progressive outlook than the old curriculum, which had not been updated since 1998 Today’s society is sexually explicit, and because of this, Ontario has tapered their sexual education towards this fact. This essay will explore the differences in how the curriculum has been received, and how the sexual education
There are many problems facing teenagers these days. None are bigger than the issue of underage sex, and all the issues stemming from it. The number of teenagers becoming sexually active, pregnant, and contracting sexually transmitted diseases are rapidly on the rise. There is no simple fix, or easy solution to this problem. Sex education should begin at home, and extend to include an effective program in schools that reinforce a clear message of abstaining from sexual activity in addition to informing students of the risks posed by engaging in sexual activity. The political, and religious dissension on this issue has resulted in a procedural stalemate preventing schools from effectively addressing the problem, and implement a
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.
Sexuality is an intrinsic part of being a human being. Hence, it follows that as we grow sexual development is normal and for most a point of curiosity. In an age where even a curious five year old could ask the internet where babies come from instead of asking their parents, it is becoming increasingly evident sexual education is a necessity for the sexual health of America’s youth. Sexual education is an important class that should be integrated into the public school system in order to prevent the problems of teen pregnancy and STDs such as HIV. The CDC reports that in 2015 about 230,000 babies were born to teen girls aged 15-19 and that nearly half of the 20 million new STD cases reported in 2015 were among young adults between the ages
Sexual education is an important topic which as to be addressed due to the growing debates as to weather it should be implemented within the school system. The Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education states that sexual education curriculums addresses a range of topics including “puberty, effective contraceptive methods, prevention of STI/HIV, communication skills, sexual orientation, interpersonal relationships, and media literacy” (Public Health Agency of Canada). Children need to address such issues early in order to protect them from early initiation of sexual activity, sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. The issue is then weather or not parents support such a program.
Youth today use the internet as their main source of sexual health information. According to a survey of American teenagers between 13-18 years of age, 84% turn to the internet to search for answers to a health problem. Amongst teenagers that use search engines to seek health information, fifty percent say they typically merely click on the first site that comes up, and only go additionally if they still have concerns. However, studies indicate that 55 to 90% of the sexual health sites consisted of wrong or misleading information.
Sex education, most commonly known as family life, is any information about sex and sexual relationships taught to maturing young people as a part of a school’s curriculum. Currently, there is a constant political and ideological debate in the United States over the merits of abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education programs in the teaching of our youth. Abstinence only sex education has been the primary sex education taught in the United States. Although different in their approach, the overall goal is to help them build a foundation to be able to make healthy informed decisions as they mature into adults. The objectives of sex education programs are to help adolescents develop a positive view of sexuality, body image and make responsible decisions in relationships (Knowles, 2012). Ultimately, any sex education should be a partnership between parents, guardians and school personnel. However, in recent years, a large amount of information about sexuality is acquired through friends, music, books and the media instead of from their parents. For some individuals,
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
Sex education and abstinence needs to be taken more seriously in the educational system and in the homes of young adolescents. This subject is extremely important to me and is prevalent today because sex ed is an issue that many men and women fail to comprehend, whether it is sex education or abstinence. Throughout many middle schools , high schools and adulthood sex education is “sugar-coated.” When you don’t call it what it is, it seems unimportant an example is “The birds and the bees” when the bee’s get the pollen and puts it in flowers and how birds lay eggs which is pretty explanatory but not enough seriousness is being put into account. An issue that still prevails is that the school system wants students to know about it in as early as the sixth grade for preventative measures; avoidance of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. In my experience the sixth grade is a bit too young. I was only twelve years old learning about sex education and I had no idea what was happening since they just “dropped” the subject on us all at once and did not really ease it on too us bit by bit.
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
It is evident by this list that there are distinct differences in the topics emphasized in Louisiana and in California. The most noticeable differences regarding the percentage of schools that emphasize certain sex education topics are the efficacy in condom use, the importance of using condoms accurately, and how to correctly use a condom. This is arguably a major public health issue because these topics are crucial to encourage healthy sexual behaviors and it has been long established that consistent and proper condom use can reduce the risk of HIV and STD transmission (JAMA network). More specifically, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), proper condom use can reduce the risk of HIV infection by about 80% (WHO, 2009). As the average age of sexual debut in the United States is about 17 years old, it is crucial that youth learn about the importance of consistent and correct condom use as a way to prevent HIV and STD infection (Santelli, 2006). One could argue that Louisiana is an anomaly regarding their high adolescent HIV and STD rates. However, studies have shown that of the states that choose to implement abstinence-based sex curricula, many of those states are in the south, such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, and tend to have high adolescent HIV and STD rates (citation needed). Therefore, there is arguably, a relationship between the type of sex education curricula and adolescent HIV and STD rates.
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
Faces blush, pupils cringe and minds zone out as the teacher brings out the ‘red’ box. The contents inside so horrifying that it makes even the most intrepid of learners escape from the classrooms. What is the fuss all about? It’s sex education - of course – the funniest and most pointless lessons. Yes, boys, you will learn how to put a condom on a plastic penis, and yes girls we will discuss your periods because we have to… sound familiar? It seems like teachers are forced to put up with this and in all honesty, a middle-aged married women with two kids teaching such a subject shouldn’t bother. The reality is your children know more than you think they do. Your young innocent angels have passed the age of holding hands, now love to them is more than romance, to which the middle-aged teacher is oblivious to. Children are having sexual experiences and the lack of understanding is dumbfounding.
I remember walking into the bathroom on the second floor of my high school. I took a glance at the wall above the hand dryer and there it lay, an apathetic attempt at educating the masses at Neville high school about the ‘dangers’ of sex, a laminated piece of printer paper which obviously indicated the pusillanimous nature of the high school. Twenty or so abstinence-based opinions on sex, unable to elaborate upon the relatively simple claims made on the sheet. Hanging a piece of paper in the bathroom over the sinks do not constitute a proper sex education. Proper sex education is comprehensive and divulges into serious topics, such as relationships, sexual diversity, and sexual assertiveness, and tells adolescence more than just ‘don't do it, you won't get any more popular’. When examining the two main forms of sex education one may ponder how does America compare to other countries, why it fails in comparison, and then wonder why people believe in abstinence program and the effects of doing so.