Essay on Sexual Education in Public Schools

Abstinence education strives to create an environment in which students will be prepared to remain abstinent because it is the “only completely effective form of birth control. Creating an appeal to religious groups with the same ideology, these programs promote “the idea of sexual activity inside the context of marriage [as] the only proper behavior. ” (“Comprehensive Sex Education vs. Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage-Programs”) In the TED talk “Why We Shouldn’t Shy Away From Sexual Education”, Dr. V. Chandra-Mouli adds that “one of the main reasons for resistance to sexuality education is the concern that it plants the idea in children’s minds to have sex before they are ready…” Parents fear the idea of their children being influenced to have sex out of wedlock because it brings a higher risk of getting a sexual transmitted disease (STD) or becoming unintentionally

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.

During 1920s, U.S. schools began to incorporate sex education to their courses. A 2002 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that “58% of secondary school principals describe their sex education curriculum as comprehensive programs provide factual information about birth control, sexual transmitted disease, and continue the message to children about waiting to have sex.” (Johannah)

Sexual education is a highly debatable topic, but many believe the information taught to students should be abstinence-only. Abstinence-only education has been put in place in order to educate students about the social, mental, and physical benefits of resisting from all sexual activity. It emphasizes the unsafe impacts of participating in sexual activity before marriage and having casual sex. It also promotes the idea that sexual abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. Abstinence education only permits the discussion of contraception and condoms in terms of failure in order to utterly discourage casual sex (Wilgoren, 1). Along with teaching the physical dangers of sex, abstinence education also teaches the mental dangers of sex (Abstinence-Only Education, 1). Sex has many risks and dangers that are not

People such as President George W. Bush has made no secret of his view that sex education should teach teenagers "abstinence only" rather than including information on other ways to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Unfortunately, despite spending more than $10 million on abstinence-only programs in Texas alone, this strategy has not been shown to be effective at curbing teen pregnancies or halting the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. (2010 Union of Concerned Scientists) In addition, the Bush administration distorted science-based performance measures to test whether abstinence-only programs were proving effective, such as charting the birth rate of female program participants. In place of such established measures, the Bush administration required the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to track only participants' program attendance and attitudes, measures designed to obscure the lack of efficacy of abstinence-only programs. (Federal Register 65:69562-65, November 17, 2000). This

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.).

However, more and more studies are proving that Abstinence-only programs are do not effectively prevent any of the above listed issues. One such study was conducted by Pamela Kohler, Lisa Manhart and Dr. William Lafferty, which utilized surveys given to never-married heterosexual adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 and compared those who received abstinence-only sex education, those who received comprehensive sex education and those who received no formal sex education. It was found that Abstinence-only education did little to nothing to prevent teenage pregnancy and that adolescents who received abstinence-only sex education were up to two times more likely to report teen pregnancy than adolescents who received comprehensive sex education. The study also found that abstinence-only programs did not reduce the likelihood of adolescents engaging in premarital sex. Abstinence-only sex education was also proven to have no effect on reducing the likelihood of STD diagnoses among

The first argument made by those who are against schools teaching sexual education to their children state that the school has no right to teach their children about sex. Those parents argue that they can educate their child themselves about the dangers of sex. Parents fear what the schools are teaching their child, and fear that they will become “more accepting of sexual behavior” (Lenth). Another fear is that the classes will make students believe that all teens have sex, peer pressuring them into having

Sex education has been the single most controversial debate in the United States education systems within the past few decades, but was first introduced as early as 1905 where there was a rally for sex education within schools in attempts to eradicate venereal disease (The Beginning of Sex Education in the U.S.: A Historical Perspective). There was not much support at this time though, until the 1980’s when there was the HIV/AID’s epidemic. This was when more people became aware of what was going on and tried figuring out how to put a stop to it, and quick. Surprisingly, in the early twentieth century, people were actually taught to be fearful of sex and that such contact could result in fatality. Many young boys and girls were actually taught

A censored sexual education does not discuss contraceptives, safe sex practices, nor does it promote abstinence. In fact, abstinence-only education, defined as encouraging teenagers to not engage in sexual intercourse or sexual acts whatsoever, is found in roughly 34% of public schools ("Abstinence Only Vs. Sex Ed. - Effectiveness & Statistics"). Theoretically, abstinence-only is ideal and it truly is the only 100% effective way to prevent STD’s or unplanned pregnancies, though is not practical for modern society. Sexual education was originally omitted from the classroom and left for parents or religious groups to discuss and teach. Abstinence-only sexual education became mainstream in schools as a fear reaction from the teen pregnancy epidemic in the 1970’s and 1980’s (Greslé-Favier, 414). This sexual education style was implemented with good intentions to protect the youth from diseases that had not yet been studied enough such as AIDS, HIV, and Gonorrhea as well as preventing pregnancies that correlated with high teenage dropout rates

The hypothesis is that abstinence-only sex education does not cause teenagers to have less sex when compared to comprehensive sex education. In a comprehensive sex course, the students would learn that abstinence is the best method for avoiding STIs and pregnancy, but it would also teach about positive contraceptive use, sexual health, and sexual expression. By teaching the

Sexuality is a part of everyone’s life. It is important that children get the proper education they need so they are aware and are able to protect themselves. The way sex education should be taught is debated among parents, educators, religious groups, and society. Some people believe in abstinence only curriculum while others believe a comprehensive curriculum is more effective. Values, beliefs, and funds can affect how students are being taught. It is important that we pick a curriculum that works best for the students.

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

Picture a young couple being on the verge of exploring their sexual desires for the first time. The question is does this young couple have the proper education to make this life changing decision? They most likely were given their education from the school they attend. Hopefully the school taught them what they needed to know to make such a decision. Should sex education be taught at school by teachers or by the parents?

Controversy is rampant regarding the sexual education of grade school children. Some insist that it is prudent to educate children on this subject beginning as early as kindergarten. Others strongly disagree that earlier education has any effect at all on teen sex and pregnancy and, therefore, abstinence should be the focus. Lastly, we have those who believe advocating abstinence is appropriate, but agree that a more in depth sexual education is also necessary for those who are going to have sex anyway despite our best efforts to teach them otherwise.