Should Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Be Taught At All U.s. Public Schools?

Sexual education in schools has become a highly controversial topic over the past few years. Some people believe students should be taught abstinence-only education, while others believe students need the full on “sex talk”. While the sex education controversy may seem silly, it is very important that students receive the most efficient education possible. When it comes to education parents want their children to receive the most effective kind. This is also very true in terms of sex education. Sex education is very debatable right now as to whether students should be taught abstinence-only education or comprehensive sex education.

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.).

When the subject of sexual intercourse gets brought up, it can be an awkward situation for not only children, but adults as well. However, it is important that adolescents learn about how they were delivered into the world. Sexual activities can be a dangerous thing if the juvenile does not know what is happening or the ways to prevent them from happening. Many adolescents have been seduced into doing sexual actions without even knowing how it happened because they are uneducated. Safe sex courses should be taught to a minimum level of eighth graders instead of an abstinence class to inform students of the dangers and preventions of dangers sexual acts can cause.

Let’s talk about sex. In western culture, many consider sex to be an inescapable topic. We are both fascinated with, and terrified of, talking about sex. For many of us, we “learned” about sex in a school sanctioned environment. Halting conversations, riddled with immature giggles at the first sign of a penis diagram, and ominous warnings that sex would lead to diseases, pregnancy, and death. Personally, my health teacher insisted on abstinence and refused to speak of sex at all. She explained New York State required schools to teach an abstinence-based curriculum. Sound familiar? In that case, I must apologize.

A subject that is talked about a lot in today’s society is whether or not kids should receive sex education in public schools. With rates of teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases on the rise, it is essential that school aged adolescents receive appropriate sex education courses. Though many parents across the nation believe that it is crucial to curriculum, how much they should be taught and what exactly should be taught is up for dispute. Articles such as “Abstinence and Abstinence-only Education: A Review of U.S. policies and Programs” written by John Santelli, Mary A. Ott, Maureen Lyon, Jennifer Rogers, Daniel Summers and Rebecca Schleifer and “The Impact of Abstinence and Comprehensive Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs on Adolescent Sexual Behavior” Douglas B. Kirby analyze the two types of sex education in the U.S. and their effectiveness on teens. In “Abstinence and Abstinence-only Education: A Review of U.S. policies and Programs” Santelli et al. claims that even though sex education programs that only offer abstinence-only instruction are ethically flawed, abstinence from sexual activity is efficient behavioral choice for teenagers to make. In order to support their claim, the authors focus on the federal government’s involvement on funding for these abstinence programs and the censorship of the information that they portray. In “The Impact of Abstinence and Comprehensive Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs on Adolescent Sexual Behavior,”

In a busy and complicated landscape of sexuality and gender, it is generally recognized that children need instruction in how to behave. Unfortunately, the way that adults wish young people to be introduced to sexuality is governed by diverse worldviews and values, and the subject is seen as so important that this disparity leaves little room for neutrality, much less reasoned compromise. In many cases, the education of children in sexuality is regarded on all sides as a life-and-death issue, involving fundamental assumptions about the role of public and private institutions and even the very stability of society, to say nothing of the potential risks to individuals. As When Sex Goes to School puts it, there is very little within the domain of American politics and the infamous “culture wars” that is not touched by or based in the realm of sexuality and gender, and sex education is an arena where each side seeks to have its values publicly established for the benefit of students.

AUTHOR BOB SMITH ONCE SAID, “IN AMERICA, WHEN WE DECIDE TO IGNORE A SUBJECT, OUR FAVORITE FORM OF DENIAL IS TO TEACH IT INCOMPETENTLY. FAMILIARITY WITHOUT TRUE UNDERSTANDING IS NOT ONLY THE BASIS OF OUR FAMILIES BUT OF OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AS WELL.” SMITH REFERS TO THE INADEQUATE SEXUAL EDUCATION OF TEENAGERS IN AMERICA. Sexual education is the instruction on issues about bodily development, sex, sexuality, and relationships. Comprehensive sex education teaches about abstinence, condoms, and contraceptives to avoid sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unplanned pregnancies. As well as, the skills needed to help young people explore their own values and options. Comprehensive sexual education should be taught in public schools in the United States to provide teenagers with an evidence-based approach to healthy decision making in their sexual lives.

“I don’t worry about sex education in the schools,” said comedian Milton Berle, “If the kids learn it like they do everything else, they won’t know how.” (Milton Berle Quotes About School). While incredibly witty, Berle’s comment perfectly exemplifies the ongoing issues with the way students in American public schools are being taught sex education. Misinformation, myths, and straight-up lies are being fed to students who carry the lessons they learn into their relationships, causing more harm than good. Courses that teach students sexual education should not be seen as a detrimental goal, but rather such curriculum should be utilized to create more mature, responsible adults, who are understanding of how to navigate the complexities of

Minnesota is ranked number six out of all states in teen birth rate. Minnesota is ranked number three in teen pregnancy rate. The average ages for all of these results are girls aged from fifteen to nineteen. With the most recent statics, in 2012 there were 3,295 teenage girls to give birth to a child and in 2010 there was 146 million spent on teenage childbearing. The last statistic I found was there were are 18.5 births per 1,000 teenage girls. (National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, pg.1) With regards to reading this information it makes me think back to my high school years, were we taught the right information? What type of sex education should be taught to decrease the numbers of teenage pregnancy? In my opinion students need to get taught the comprehensive sex education program. This is a program where abstinence is taught that it is the best way to avoid pregnancy and STI’s but students are taught ways of contraception and condoms to prevent the pregnancy and STI’s is they do decide to become sexually active.

More than 1 million American teenage women become pregnant each year. Why is this happening when there are so many contraceptives at everyone's fingertips? Why do so many people have unrecognized STD’s? The initial thought that comes to mind is stupidity, but after looking into the topic, the real problem happening is that teens are uneducated when it comes to safe sex. The average age of first sexual intercourse is 16.2 for women and 15.7 for men. That’s a pretty young age to be having sex. Comprehensive sexual education should be mandatory in schools standard curriculum. It’s not necessarily unethical for teens to be having sex, others may have different beliefs and that's okay but to be completely honest, it’s bound to happen someday so

American school systems insist on continuing a toxic cycle. One that perpetuates confusion, shame, and unhealthy behaviors which could cause lifelong health risks. This cycle is the current sex education system. The current American sex education system is dangerously incomplete, and sometimes not available at all. It follows an outdated attitude that is still reflected throughout society. This perspective must be modernized, and can only be changed by providing complete sex education for all students. This is why by federal law, all children in public school, beginning in fifth grade, should receive sex education which requires the teaching / learning of safe sex and birth control. This mandated, long-term, sex education would allow a complete

Should sex education be taught to young adults in school? This has been a major controversial topic for many years amongst parents, teachers, and other community members. Their biggest concern is that it teaches students that it is okay to have sex at a young age and think that the program shows them how sexual intercourse is done. Although, this is not the intent of the class, like some may think. They tend to believe that abstinence-only programs should be taught in schools. Allowing sexual education to be taught in public schools and not in an abstinence-only point of view is something that every school should do because it can help them understand the facts about their bodies. “Sex education aims to reduce of potentially negative outcomes from sexual behavior, such as unwanted or unplanned pregnancies and infection with sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.” (AVERT) By teaching sexual education it can help them to understand the emotional values it has by resisting peer pressure and how to recognize it.

The debate over whether comprehensive sexual education should be taught in schools is no less heated than it was when it first became a contemporary controversy in the 1960’s. Some argue that it should not be taught at all, in or out of the home. What many are unaware of is that sexual education has been a major moral dilemma since the year 1892, when the National Education Association passed a resolution citing the need for “moral education in the schools” (Cornblatt). This hot-button issue has made notably slow progress over the course of history, largely due to religious principles enforcing conservatism. Today, sexual education is mandatory in public

Teenagers and sex are two words that are often heard together, whether we like it or not, teenagers are having sex. Some schools don’t teach sexual education and because of that students are suffering. There’s no way to make teenagers not have sex but there is away to teach them about having safe sex, that is why I believe that we need to require sexual education be taught in high school.

This concealment of data will only impair young people for whom it is difficult to find accurate information by conferring with either their parents or peers. Besides the problem of school districts skirting the issues of safe sex and pregnancy prevention, students are completely unaided in understanding the complexities of sexuality beyond mere intercourse, because these topics are considered too controversial, even though they are the topics most applicable to many students lives. "As many as one in two school programs do not discuss more controversial topics, such as abortion and sexual orientation, in their sex education curricula" (American). Adolescents need the whole story on sexuality; deleting all sections that could perchance, in the remotest context, affront someone, leaves unanswered questions and a nebulous comprehension of sexuality. Those who believe that teenagers need to know nothing more than what is currently taught should have a look at the latest research. In his research summary "The Necessity of Comprehensive Sexuality Education In The Schools"