Persuasive Sex Education

Did you know that 24 states in the US require their public schools to teach sex education and HIV education to their students (NCL.org)? Do they even need to understand sex or STDs? Well of course not. That’s why schools should not even teach these students sex because it’s just going to be too much for the high school students’ young mind, sex education will definitely motivate the students to have sex—regardless of their sexuality--, and it’s up to their not so busy parents to explain sex—and all its glory—to their children who are attending high school.

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

Sexual education teaches adolescents about the use of birth control, their bodies, STD’s, and pregnancy. Due to the awareness of sexual education, adolescents are more careful about sexual intercourse. The pregnancy rate has reached the lowest in modern era between 1990-2010. It declined to 51% pregnancies per 1000 females ages 14-19 to 57.4%. This is the lowest recorded since 1973. Sexual education was not offered in schools until 1983 and many people had close to no knowledge about the options. Even though teens today are aware of their options today, they do not take proper precautions.

Sex education should start at a young age in order to assure sexually healthy adults. The United States ranks first among developed nations in rates of both teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. In an effort to reduce these rates, the U.S. government has funded abstinence-only sex education programs for more than a decade (Stager-Hall, 2011). Although this type of education is beneficial, it is not realistic to societies needs. Data shows that abstinence based education is ineffective in preventing teenage pregnancy and is possibly causing high teenage pregnancy rates in the U.S. (Stager-Hall, 2011). According to governing.com, sex education in U.S. schools are failing. The article discusses how sex education can be an uncomfortable experience and how as a country we are horrible at teaching it. “A December report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that less than half of U.S. high schools and only one-fifth of middle schools are meeting the CDC's recommendations for

The two main risks of becoming sexually active at a young age are unintended pregnancies and STDs. Both of which can easily be prevented by a proper education in the use of condoms and contraceptives. Annually almost 615,000 teenage girls become pregnant with 82 percent of the pregnancies being unplanned, (Guttmacher). These girls are typically unready to handle pregnancy and motherhood, lacking the mindset for patience, maturity, and sacrifice the life of a mother requires. Young people ages 15-24 account for 25 percent of all new HIV infections in the U.S. and make up almost one-half of the over 19 million new STD

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.

Sexual activity among young people is a matter of serious concern. Parents around the United States are very worried about their children and their loss of innocence when it comes to this subject. Sexual education is an optional program that is taught in some schools to inform the youth about sexual health. Many people are torn when it comes to this topic and feel that sexual education leads to premature sexual activity; where others believe sexual education is extremely beneficial to all students who are involved. Sexual education was previously taught to delay sexual activity, however recently it has been used as a tool to help educate the youth about medically accurate information in hopes to prepare them for their futures. Sexual education is not a federally mandated program, so across the United States some students are receiving information and some are not. Schools offer a safe learning

Every year in America, one million teen girls become pregnant and at least three million teens become infected with an STD (Donovan, 1). Though these numbers slightly fluctuate, problems facing American adolescents today, like HIV/AIDS, other STD’s, and teen pregnancy. This means that some needs to change. These problems will decline when sex education is revamped everywhere in America, by making the curriculum completely comprehensive in addressing problems facing adolescents today such as teen pregnancy, STD’s, rape, pressures and emotions dealing with sex, and give teens good communication skills. Right now teachers approach these subjects on their tip toes, dance around the issue, and not fully give out all the information.

Sex education can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century. “Chicago’s public schools introduced the Nation’s first formal sex education program” which has raised controversy throughout the years. Many believe that talking about sex in the classroom raises the initiation of such behavior. Others believe that ignoring the subject keeps teens in the dark which leads them to make unsafe decisions when they become sexually active. Whether it is at school or at home, teens must be taught about the dangers of unprotected sex as well as abstinence. Being unaware of protection puts teens at risk of becoming pregnant or contracting an STD or STI. Sex education must be taught at school and it must be taught right, without lies or myths and without giving teens the idea that the only perfect time for them to become sexually active is when they are married. If sex education was taught at school instead of abstinence-only education, it would help young adults make correct decisions when becoming sexually active as well as helping them make wise choices that can affect their future.

Everyone knows that sex is an increasing problem in the United States. The United States has the highest rats of teenage pregnancy and births in the western industrialized word. (pregnantteenhelp) Every year, 750,000 girls will get pregnant. (pregnantteenhelp) Obviously, these statistics are alarming and not good. This is why sex education should be taught younger.

Talking to young people about sex will not encourage them to experiment sexually. Instead, it will educate students on the dangers of having unprotected sex and actions to keep themselves safe (AVERT.org, n.d.). For instance, sex education in schools will teach students the various birth control methods. It is important to teach students the use and the cost of birth control as well as the suitable health condition to use a birth control method (Epigee Women’s Health, n.d.). The aim here is not to encourage students to be involved in sexual activities but to prevent unwanted pregnancy among adolescents and school going children. Statistics from the World Health Organization (2012) reported that pregnancy and other childbirth related problems is the number one killer of young women. Most youngsters stated that they did not know that there are ways to prevent pregnancy in the first place. Thus, it is important to keep children educated about their sexuality so that they will not get themselves into tough situations at a very young age that will not only ruin their live but also put their own lives in

The use of sex education in our schools continues to be a polarizing question for many Americans. Only 22 states in America require schools to teach their students about sexual safety (Siebold). Without sex education, teenagers are not learning the basics of safe sex and the different types of STD’s. Many people think teaching sex education is promoting sex in our school by addressing the idea of sex. Although many states believe abstinence is the only method to protect from early pregnancies and outbreaks of STD’s, research shows sex education teaches children about the importance of contraceptives, lowers teen pregnancy rates, and reduces the spread of STD’s.

First, schools need to make sure that the information being taught in sex education is medically correct. Many teenagers will go through sex education, but it is a different experience for all of them because of “lack of standardized curricula at the federal, state, and sometimes district level” (Hamilton). As of right now, sex education is mostly based on the importance of abstinence and the types of sexually transmitted infections. Although schools are trying to promote no sex in teens, that does not mean that teens are not in sexual relationships. Teens who are engaging in sexual actions need to know about safe sex because that exists although people say it does not. According to the National Conference of State Legislature, “38 States do not require mandated sex education and another 41 do not require sex education to be medically correct” (Marinelli). Most sex education programs do not teach true facts because

Sex education is an important class in modern day society. Many adolescents today are surrendering their virginity at very young ages. Therefore, teens need to be informed about all the risks that may accompany participation in sexual intercourse. These classes can help decrease the number of STD cases and teen pregnancies each year as well as encourage teens to have “safe sex” if they choose to engage in it at all.* Sex education classes are valuable because they help teens realize the devastating risk of diseases that can be a consequence of sex, advise students to have safe sex if they are going to partake in it, and warns them of the risky probability of the female becoming pregnant as a result.