Sex Education In Schools Essay

Human sexuality can be fascinating, complex, contradictory, and sometimes frustrating. Sexuality is interwoven into every aspect of being human; therefore, having knowledge about sex is as essential as having education about human anatomy. However, it is highly recommended to pay close attention when sex education is delivered to youths. (Donatelle 171)

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

The fact that the United States does not actually require mandatory sex education is of utmost concern, seeing that places where sex education is not taught at all also experience the highest birthrates. In addition to places where sex education is not taught at all, areas in which abstinence-only education were taught also faced higher birthrates (Stanger-Hall and Hall 6). While abstinence only programs have shown no real statistical evidence of success, comprehensive sex education programs have, by combining the positives of both abstinence and information on how to engage in safe sex (Starkman and Rajani 314). In comprehensive sex education, students are taught not only how to use contraceptives properly, but also how to obtain them, as well as other aspects of practicing safe sex. Encouragingly, comprehensive sex education has shown a forty percent success rate in all of the following, “delaying the initiation of sex, reducing the number of sexual partners, and increasing contraceptive use.” Even more impressively, there was sixty-seven percent rate in these areas individually (Malone and Rodriguez 1). Teaching that abstinence is the only option, and providing no alternatives, leaves many teens vulnerable to engaging in unsafe sex out of pure incompetence (Starkman and Rajani 314). Despite many concerns, comprehensive sex education does not make a teenager more likely to be sexually active, and is surprisingly supported by the majority

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.

To truly understand how to lower teen pregnancy, one has to look at the statistics. The following quote from Stranger-Hall’s essay exemplifies this; “After accounting for other factors, the national data show that the incidence of teenage pregnancies and births remain positively correlated with the degree of abstinence education across states: The more strongly abstinence is emphasized in state laws and policies, the higher the average teenage pregnancy and birth rate.” (Stranger-Hall, 6) Variations on how strongly abstinence is emphasized also leads to variations in effectiveness of reducing teenage pregnancy. Abstinence only education emphasizes that the only way to prevent an unwanted pregnancy is to completely abstain from sex until marriage. These programs typically don’t cover means of contraception, and if they do it is usually only to discuss its ineffectiveness. Where comprehensive education differs is that while it too covers abstinence, it also discusses various methods of birth control, as well as sexually transmitted diseases. Despite what the U.S. government supports, it has been shown that comprehensive sexual education does in fact lower teenage pregnancy

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

How much sexual knowledge adults should give to adolescents has been discussed for decades to decrease teenage pregnancy and sex related diseases. According to The National Campaign to prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (2013), the U.S. has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy among developed countries, and about sixty eight girls per thousand became pregnant in 2008. To change this situation, the U.S. provides two kinds of sex education: abstinence-only sex education and comprehensive sex education. In contrast, Japan has one of the lowest rates among developed countries. Summing up the birth and abortion dates, at least 34,220 girls became pregnant in 2011 (Japanese Ministry of Health, 2011). Even though Japan has less teen

Sex education has historically been a controversial topic in the United States. Questions like: Is sex education bad for adolescents? How much should young adults know about sex? And will sex education lead to increased sexual activity? Have been argued about passionately for decades. Parents, politicians, academics, religious conservatives and feminists alike have debated the topic. There is a pervasive fear that sex education leads to higher sexual activity that contradicts the popular belief that individuals should only engage in sex after marriage. Many religious conservatives support abstinence-only programs. Organizations such as the American Family Association and the Abstinence Clearinghouse put forth funding to ensure that abstinence-only programs are taught. (“National Opponent’s…” 2008) Yet, research shows that abstinence only programs are not actually helpful for young adults. Advocates for Youth, an organization committed to rights for young people argues that abstinence-only programs “ignore youth’s basic human rights and fundamental public health principle of accurate, balanced sex education” (Advocates for Youth 2016) They emphasis the fact that sex education is a “right” and not something for people to debate the legitimacy of. Furthermore, according to a 2004 report by Government Reform Committee, much of the curricula used in abstinence-only programs “distort information about the effectiveness of contraceptives, misrepresent the risks of abortion, blur

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

Throughout the United States, many people debate whether young adults should receive sex education in their school curriculum. Statistics show that one-third of girls become pregnant before the age of 20. An increase in teen pregnancy could be due to the age of which females reach puberty. Today, there has been an enormous increase in young girls reaching puberty before the age of seven. Could encouraging sex education in schools decrease the amount of pregnant teens? The purpose of sex education is to educate adolescents of the consequences of engaging in sexual behaviors and making them aware of techniques to protect themselves if they choose to become sexually active. Many people argue about the impacts of abstinence-only sex education programs versus abstinence-plus sex education programs. Millner, Mulekar, and Turrens (2015) define abstinence-only programs as curricula that encourages strictly abstinence as a means of prevention whereas abstinence-plus programs emphasize abstinence as the safest technique but also promotes the use of contraceptives. I will argue that abstinence-plus sex education should be mandatory in school curriculum because it teaches young adults to practice abstinence as well as methods to protect themselves if they decide to engage in sexual activity.

According to a study in 2013 by National Vital Statistics Report, a total of 273,105 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years (qtd. in "About Teen Pregnancy"). Children need to be getting a better education on sex during middle school and high school to be better prepared if they decide to engage in sexual activity. Sex should be taught from a different approach than in recent years. Sex education should be incorporated in all schools starting around 6th grade and continually throughout high school because teachers can give a better understanding of sex which will reduce the number of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections(STI). The early start of sex education would benefit the kids in the long run and will make the

Many teenagers are now becoming parents these days. In fact, from the ages of 15-19, there were 249,078 babies born in the United States. (1) Many of these unwanted pregnancies can be prevented with the help sexual education. Yes, in some schools there is sexual education. But, if it was in every school many of these could have possibly been prevented. At the school I attend, sexual education is not offered. We are faced with several unwanted pregnancies, and with sexual education, I think these could be prevented.

Throughout the years of America, there has been tension regarding sex education with young adults. During the 1940s, is when the observances of teen pregnancy started to be studied. In 1941, was when the highest peak of teen pregnancy was, and has since then gone down. However, the United States still has the highest teen pregnancy rate in all the industrialized nations. In European education systems, they teach sex education in every way. They not only have comprehensive sex education classes, but they also support safe sex in advertisements and in other social issues discussed in classes. Because of this, the Netherlands has one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in continental Europe. A few American states have also started comprehensive sex education, and have lower teen pregnancy rates. The current sex education that is implemented into schools is abstinence-only. The U.S. government should eliminate abstinence-only programs, because it will lower the risk against STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) and STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) among young adults, drop teen pregnancy rates, and an older age when teenagers have sex. With the risk of HIV/AIDS, other STDs, and abstinence-only education programs, many LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, and Queer) young adults are confused on how they should interpret sex education.

Sex education should be increased in schools. Nearly one million women under the age of 20 get pregnant each year. That means 2800 women get pregnant each day. If students are educated about the effects sex has on their lives, it lessens their chance of having children at an early age. Knowledge about sex can also lessen the chance of kids receiving STDS.

from an early age, and continuing the education throughout their teen years, students are aware of their choices and more importantly, aware of how to protect themselves.