Public Health Capstone Project

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

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

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

Not only does abstinence only education exclude adolescents of various sexualities, but it fails to regard the health of teenaged girls as well. The repression of female representation in health courses has contributed to the magnification of the gender stereotypes, where women are ideally portrayed as pure vessels if they remain virgins until marriage. Therefore, young girls should remain chaste and pubescent boys naturally have a rampant sexuality due to their uncontrollable hormones. Traditional gender roles are then reinforced, disregarding female sexuality thus alienating them within their health courses since they are not educationally included. This form of instruction censors out necessary sexual guidance concerning their respective reproductive health. For example, details about contraception, abortion, human sexuality, and sexual assault specifically concerning females are neglected within the classroom. Health courses have long-established condoms as the popularized and primary way of having protective sex. But what school boards don’t incorporate in their curricula is that there are various methods of contraception, precisely for women. For example, there are birth control pills, hormone implants, cervical caps, and vaginal rings. Although these preventative measures do not safeguard for STI and HIV contraction, they can decrease the likelihood of having an unintended pregnancy by ceasing ovulation or preventing sperm flow in the vagina by increasing the hormones

At some point of time in everyone’s life sexual activity will occur; this specific behavior is not illegal just imperative that you are aware of possible consequences that is likely to occur due to your actions. With Sexual activity come along Sexually Transmitted Diseases that are able to occur within the body when not careful. Many of the Young adults in today’s society are the number one victims of the infections due to a lack of knowledge on the topic. In my paper, I will inform the young adult’s population on the importance of sexual activities, and ways to prevent those infections by using things such as Condoms, Screenings, and birth control methods; for other reasons. Sexually Transmitted Disease is a topic that is very significant to health promotion to “promote healthy sexual behaviors, strengthen community capacity, and increase access to quality services to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and their complications” (healthpeople2020; need to cite correctly).

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

About half of these are in people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four. That is a staggering ten million cases of sexually transmitted infections and diseases amongst young adults aged fifteen to twenty-four. Comprehensive sexual education programs teach young adults about the severity of sexually transmitted infections and diseases, their threatening consequences, and also, how to prevent the contraception of sexually transmitted infections and diseases as well. In sexual education programs, students are taught about the side effects of several sexually transmitted infections and diseases. They are often times shown pictures related to sexually transmitted infections and diseases. Young adults are spoken to about the importance of testing not only themselves, but the partners they plan to have sexual relations to. Also, they are told about the life threatening consequences of sexually transmitted infections and diseases; including a slow, painful death, consequent of HIV/AIDS. High quality comprehensive sexual education curricula in the classroom setting have been shown to be effective in delaying sex, reducing the frequency of sex or the number of sexual partners, increasing condom and contraceptive use, and reducing the number of sexually transmitted infections and diseases in

The United States has an alarmingly high rate of sexually transmitted infections among ages fifteen through twenty-five especially among states that teach abstinence only opposed to comprehensive sexual education. It holds the highest rate in sexually transmitted infections in youth in all developed countries. This is a frightening and atrocious crisis that is preventable if given the right tools at the right age. Many youth are in harm’s way due to inaccurate information, . Many youth believe oral and anal sex is not a form of sex believing they cannot be infected by any sexually transmitted infections when engaging in these acts. This is not only wrong but can put themselves at higher risk for sexually transmitted disease. Sexually transmitted

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.

The more frequent occurrence of STDs in the younger generations are also based upon the multiple barriers in retrieving the benefits in STD prevention services which includes the lack of health insurance or inability to pay, no transportation, embarrassment of the services in the facilities, and worries of discretion. (STDs) According to the US Department of Health and Human Service, twenty five percent of sexually active adolescents have already obtained an STD. (Parillo) The severity of the issue is approached with the control strategies and educational strategies. In which these educational strategies are more effective when it involves a big health educational program that is provided to our minors. The young populations that are particularly affected by STDs are the young women with a low income for it is easier for a female to receive an STD compared to men. And with those women having a low income, they are not able to access the services that are being provided to them. Today, four in ten sexually active adolescent girls have obtained an STD that can cause infertility and death; also two thirds of adolescent boys have HIV diagnoses.

Comprehensive sex education is the most realistic way of teaching sex education today. While remaining abstinent is the only way to be one-hundred percent sure one will not have an unwanted pregnancy or contract a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), it is unrealistic in today’s society. Teenagers, as well as adults, are engaging in premarital sexual activity. STDs can be a serious or life-threatening disease. Effective comprehensive sex education should contain information detailing sexual development and reproduction, methods of birth control, STDs and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), abortion, and the different religious and cultural views on sex and sexual diversity. With this information,

Each curriculum has a varying view on how sex education should be taught and when sex education should be taught to adolescents. Comprehensive sexuality education is the most effective type of sex education and followes the guidelines of starting sex education in kindergarten until twelfth grade. A broad range of topics are taught to students depending on their grade in order to help them develop vital skills and an understanding the varying topics. Abstinence-based sex education gives adolescence a broad range of knowledge on varying topics related to disease prevention and contraception with the emphasises that the best choice is to abstain from sex. Abstinence-only education promotes that abstaining from sex is the only way and does not address contraception or disease prevention. Abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education teaches adolescents that marriage is the only time sexual activities can take place and that in order to prevent disease and teen pregnancy refraining from sex until marriage is the only choice (SIECUS, 2001).

“Sex Education Has Succeeded” article by William Finger argues that sex education programs have been an achievement for youths on safe sex. Sex education has increased the knowledge on youth’s on taking better decisions about sex. He mentions that it helps youth make better decisions about sexual activities and for those who are not sexually active it delays intercourse. It reduces pregnancy rates and STD rates. This article is prescriptive issue because the author is stating that sex education is a success and we should continue providing this programs to the youth so they can be informed and have knowledge of sex education.

The implementation of sex education in schools will provide teenagers with the appropriate information about sexual disease and early pregnancies. In the last five years, this theme about Sex Education is expanding ever so gradually within the schools. However, the statistics keep the subject of Sex Education alive in schools by having it be implemented as programs. Schools administrators should have more programs and people who are well trained to help students with learning about Sex Education. After all, the teenagers would be the most vulnerable victims for not being well informed; they could catch a sexual transmitted disease or perhaps get pregnant. Also, the parents and community are an important role in learning about Sex Education. Simply by having an open mind and thinking about the safety and future of their children, we as parents can create a safer environment for our children. One technique could be by providing condoms at schools to teenagers as a demonstration of consciousness about how to protect the teenagers from early pregnancy or a sexual disease.