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Public Schools - Sex Education in the Classroom Essay

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Sex Education in the Classroom

Teenage unplanned pregnancies continue to increase and the Aids epidemic is still wiping out entire populations rapidly worldwide. Here in the United States we hear little about the ongoing battle that is being fought between parents, educators and government officials, with the outcome having a significant impact on our children's lives. Programs that teach sex education in the classroom and promote distribution of condoms are constantly under siege by radical groups who believe very strongly in their religious teachings and choose to ignore the truth. The sex education programs are having an immediate impact on the choices the teenagers are making who attend them. To date any abstinence only …show more content…

With these staggering numbers of teenagers becoming pregnant, it is cruel of parents to demand our schools to only teach abstinence programs to sexually active children and not follow through with any other type of education or alternative means of birth control.

Another example of the parents not understanding what their children are dealing with on a daily basis is the sexually transmitted disease epidemic. Teenagers are contracting HIV/AIDS at an alarming rate. We can now assume that unprotected sex is almost a guarantee to becoming infected with some type of Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). The Adolescent Health Monograph Data Sources reports, "HIV infection and AIDS are now the sixth leading cause of death among young persons aged 15 to 24 years old" (Health). This would have to be a low estimate when we take into consideration the 8 to 10 year incubation period of HIV before it becomes the AIDS virus. No one is able to "tell" if their chosen sexual partner is infected with the HIV/AIDS virus because they may not carry visible signs for a very long time. If the parents and educators understood the facts about the transmission of STD's, they would certainly approach the subject differently. "It is now estimated that 1 in 20 teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease each year" (Health). Now the question becomes, how do we as a society protect our children from becoming infected with a potentially deadly disease? The

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