So many teens go through all of these changes and turmoil in their lives completely alone and uneducated, or even made uncomfortable by it all. Schools refraining from teaching proper etiquette of sex and personal health care won’t fix any problems. They are often written off to just keep it to themselves, and so some certain dangers are presented by this. Adolescents should absolutely be taught all the gory details about the human body and its functions.
Alice Dreger decided to attend her son’s sex education class as a guest. She was shocked by the fact that it was all abstinence based, lead by a christian group. She even “live-tweeted” her thoughts on the program, which caught the attention of many people. “We need sex ed that teaches the facts – including that sex can be pleasurable, that varied forms exist, that consent is key, and that risks should be managed wisely. If we teach that, maybe kids will come to us when they have questions or get in trouble. Maybe they won’t struggle with shame when masturbating or having sex with others.”
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According to guttmacher.org, the average adolescents in the United States have sex for the first time at about age 17, but do not actually settle down and marry until their mid-20s. During this interim period of nearly a decade or longer, they may be at heightened risk for unintended pregnancy and STIs. While not all teens are sexually active, there are others who are absolutely not abstaining from it. The least schools could do is provide them with the knowledge of doing it safely, and the ability to take care of themselves. Sex is a normal and healthy part of life, once the person feels emotionally ready for
In 1913, sex education became a topic that was found to be an important education tool. Since then, this form of education has been a hot and debatable topic among many Americans. The original reason for sex education classes was to reduce problems such as sexually transmitted illnesses and prostitution. In recent years, abstinence has become the focus of sex education curriculum. Abstinence means refraining from sex completely. Although, it is the only one-hundred percent way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies, abstinence-only instruction should not be the only form of sex education taught. Our youth need to know about all aspects of sex. This intails how to protect them if they choose to become sexually
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
While in high school, most teenagers between the ages 13-17, will have attended at least one sex education class. Instead of using the “Abstinence- Only” approach, schools should consider on teaching students the “Safe- Sex” approach to increase their knowledge on potential health risks involving sex. Increasing their knowledge not only increases their awareness, but lets them use their knowledge in the real world and let them form their own decisions, whether they be bad or good.
Schools should educate students about their bodies, and how to protect them. “The point of this kind of sex education is to inform teenagers about the possible risks of being sexually active and to educate them about methods of birth control and sexually transmitted infection protection.” Students deserve the basic human right live freely, and if their choice may be, considering about 70% of the national teenage population usually make this decision anyway, to be involved in sexual relations than there needs to be a basic knowledge of safety
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
Teenagers have been having sex since the beginning of time. Instead of telling them “just don’t” shouldn’t we educate our teens so that they can be safe? The problem with traditional Abstince- Only-Until-Marriage is that instead of educating they use fear tactics to unsuccessfully keep children ignorant. This causes children to turn to other outlets like porn and other children their age, it’s like a bad game of telephone where people end up getting pregnant or catching STI’s. The other problem with Abstince-Only education is that it does not cover all of the subjects of sexuality, there are the obvious things such as STI’s and pregnancy prevention but there are
Should sex education be allowed in high schools? This has been a controversial issue nationwide for over a decade. The American culture is immensely sexually oriented. Sex can be seen through the media and with the younger generation being heavily influenced by technology; they cannot avoid it. In light of this, many of the youth today lack information on sex which highlights the problem. Some people believe that sex education only diminishes one’s rectitude because they feel that sex education encourages the students to partake in sexual intercourse. Although sex education degrades the virtues of children by informing students how to use birth control and condoms, it is imperative in high schools because it prevents sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy, accommodates in case of parents’ absence, and gives children the idea of morality.
Whether its safe sex practices or even abstinence, all of these issues must be dealt with in an educational setting, because when we look at the teen pregnancy rates, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, it only makes sense to have as much education as possible. Adolescents have a human right to accurate and comprehensive sexual health
Sex education should be taught by the schools and not only by the parents of the students. Only 13 states require sex ed to be ‘medically accurate,’ in the U.S. (“Should Sex Ed”). We should be teaching our children about sex ed medically correct and not teaching them incorrect things. According to Future of Sex Education, “Young people have the right to lead healthy lives, and society has the responsibility to prepare youth by providing them with comprehensive sexual health education that gives them the tools they need to make healthy decisions” (FACTS ABOUT). People are so worried about kids getting pregnant and getting STDs but if we don’t teach our kids about the the correct things and medically accurate information the pregnancy rates would go down and kids getting STDs would lower..
There are problems with not teaching sex education at school. There are some parents that don't know how to talk to their children about sex. If the school doesn't children about sex, then they will learn it the "hard way", maybe by contraction of a sexually transmitted disease. One of the most deadly and well-known sexually transmitted diseases today is HIV. According to the Web page AVERT, HIV infection is increasing most rapidly among young people ("Does"). This disease is killing hundreds of children each year, because they had to learn it the "hard way".
Did you know that 24 states in the US require their public schools to teach sex education and HIV education to their students (NCL.org)? Do they even need to understand sex or STDs? Well of course not. That’s why schools should not even teach these students sex because it’s just going to be too much for the high school students’ young mind, sex education will definitely motivate the students to have sex—regardless of their sexuality--, and it’s up to their not so busy parents to explain sex—and all its glory—to their children who are attending high school.
First, with young students this subject may be a little uncomfortable to talk about, but without learning about sexuality extensively many students may be unaware of the hazards of unprotected sex. Being open with our children and explaining the natures of sex will help them make the best decisions for themselves without scaring our students by focusing on the dangers. Second, some may say that our sexual education course is fine how it is, but there always room for improvement. A questionnaire was presented to graduates from Ontario Canada. They were asked what they think should be mandatory concerning sexual education in high school. Many agreed that talking about sexual decision making, communication about sex, relationships and more should be mandatory throughout sexual education creating a better understanding of safe sex. (Meaney 112). Why isn’t this in the United States curriculum? Whether teachers or parents like it or not, every teen is curious and full of questions. Being prepared for that is the best solution to protect our youth from sexual transmitted disease and pregnancy. Last, you may know someone who has had a child in their teenage years and question how hard could it be? They could do it, why can’t you? Talking to
Coinciding with the onslaught of the new millennium, schools are beginning to realize that the parents are not doing their job when it comes to sexual education. The school system already has classes on sexual education; these classes are based mainly on human anatomy. Most schools do not teach their students about relationships, morals, respect, self-discipline, self-respect, and most importantly contraceptives. Everyday students engage in sexual activity, many of them with out condoms. This simple act jeopardizes these students' futures and possibly their lives. An increasing amount of school systems are starting to combine messages involving abstinence from sexual activity,
“If the Liberals' law is passed, will sex education in the schools, including elementary grades, include the same portrayals of sexual activity which presently exist in heterosexual instruction? Will there be the same presentation of homosexual activity? Of course there will.”
The prevalence of having had sexual intercourse before age 13 years was higher among male (8.3%) than female (3.1%) students(Kann, Laura, Steve Kinchen, and Shari L. Shanklin, et al.). Most schools do not even start the education until around 9th grade when a student is in most cases already over the age of thirteen. Children are starting to have sex at earlier ages so with reason schools need to start educating them at earlier ages. Students who are starting to have sex at such a young age need to know that the biggest risks of having sex at such a young age are unintended pregnancy, human immunodeficiency virus(HIV), and STIs.