Sex Education With Young Adults Essay

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.

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)

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.).

Studies have also shown that abstinence-focused programs have failed to reduce STI rates. The American Sexual Health Association states, “More than half of all people will have an STD/STI at some point in their lifetime,” (“Statistics”). Comprehensive sex education would teach teenagers how to improve their sexual health, prevent unwanted pregnancies, and prevent sexually transmitted diseases and infections. Providing students with this information does not encourage them to participate in sexual activity sooner. Several findings show that, “[Comprehensive sex education] effectively promotes abstinence and may delay sexual debut, reduce sexual frequency, reduce the number of sexual partners, reduce STI risk, and increase the likelihood of consistent contraceptive use,” (Jeffries 173). Comprehensive sex education will be beneficial to students by teaching them how to have sexual intercourse safely, if they choose to not remain abstinent.

Many advocates for abstinence-only education believe that its message is strongly intertwined with traditional values and religious faith; both of which they claim to have measurable influence in preventing teens from having sex (Collins, Alagira, and Summers 12-13). Christian conservative women believe that comprehensive sex education would encourage sexual activity and lesbianism, as well as undercut marriage and create social decay (Fields 24).

Abstinence only education has been the most prevalent form of instruction in middle and high school courses for years in the United States. Instead of providing accurate scientific facts, it has been primarily based on ideology and what has been traditionally morally accepted: sexual activity within a heterosexual marriage. As a result, teenagers have been taught through biased information influenced by current heteronormative standards. Consequently, abstinence only education fails to acknowledge the minority populations of teenaged students who are different genders and sexualities other than a heterosexual male. Realistically, it can be inferred that a majority of the student bodies in America are rich in diversity. The classroom is no longer composed of homogenous individuals. Instead, classrooms are full of adolescents of various genders, sexualities, ages, and ethnicities. Abstinence only education strictly instructs through biological and reproductively compatible terms rather than addressing other methods of having sex, specifically pertaining to the LGBTQ community. The current curricula typically teaches that penile-vaginal sex is the “proper” way to have intercourse and that it is customary that sex occurs only between a man and a woman. Thus, emphasizing how genitalia should be used rather than having a more holistic approach towards sex. Ultimately, this disregards all of the possible mechanisms that exist when it comes to physical touch. As a consequence,

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 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

Society’s view of human sexuality is fluid, constantly switching between periods of tolerance and repression. The opinions people develop on subjects pertaining to this subject differ from culture to culture and society to society. In the current generation, many people who live in the United States are taught to suppress sexuality and to conform to heteronormative ideals (Sumara, 1999). The source of this problem can be traced back to the mindset of members of the population and the sexual education that is provided to children and adolescents that were born to that generation (Perez, 2010). Today’s education system promotes an “abstinence-only” method of sexual education, the government funnels money into programs that teach teenagers that abstinence is the only way to avoid getting pregnant and contracting sexual diseases (NYC Department of Education). However, this means that adolescents are not being taught about contraceptives and other safe sex practices, which would be taught with comprehensive sexual education (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2015). Usually, when schools teach sex education they use a heterosexual couple as the norm, they do not acknowledge that there are other sexualities like those of the LGBT community. If schools focused on teaching both comprehensive sexual education and acceptance of different sexual orientations they could decrease unwanted pregnancies, lower the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, and promote a more

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

As of 2017, there are twenty-one U.S states that do not mandate sex education. That is almost half of our country's youth not having access to proper, medically accurate, and unbiased sexual education. There are about 10 million STI cases a year among those aged 15 - 24; this means 50% of sexually active people will contract an STI before the age of 25. In order to combat these numbers, sexual education needs to become a subject taught in high schools nationwide. After all, if we allow our children to be taught subjects like English, math, and science, why deny them the opportunity to learn about their own biology?

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.

Sexual education in Washington state needs a major revamping. Sexual Education and its place in schools has been debated for decades. Going into 2017 many millennials wonder how sexual education will be approached. As well as questioning, why it is not mandatory in our schools and the curriculum being decided by the government. Some, mostly the elderly generation, do not approve Sexual Education being taught in schools feeling it should be taught either in religious circles or the privacy of home. Of course, not all youth today want to learn about sexual activities and should not be forced to take a class that covers such a personal topic. However, with the United States rising in the ranks in teenage pregnancy’s as well as sexually transmitted diseases we need to educate our children on how to be safe by giving them the resources they deserve. Sexual education should be mandatory in public institutions in Washington state because it will help students make more educated decisions later in life sexually, will give them the resources to be safe sexually, as well as have a better understanding of their bodies and sexual encounters.

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.