Society Divided By Sexual Education Program Essay

The US teen pregnancy rate is at 72.2%, which is larger than any rate in Western European countries. Sex education can solve the problem that we see, and possibly lower that rate. It can benefit kids by informing them about everything involving sex instead of sheltering them from the truth. Abstinence-only education is the other option that is typically used, but creating a program to cover everything and not exclude some children who have different beliefs is the overall goal. This program should be offered for all students as a mandatory course because of the amount of information that is to be gained by teaching about sex, relationships, protection, STD’s, and sexual orientation.

While teen pregnancy has been steadily decreasing, a growing number of teens infected with std's has been increasing. Sex education in schools has helped the pregnancy issue but needs to continue to further decrease teen pregnancies and to eradicate teen std's. In addition, educators need to start the sex education classes at an earlier age. Schools that teach comprehensive sex ed have a higher sexual literacy rate, lower std rates and lower teen pregnancy rate when compared to schools that teach abstinence only or have no sex ed curriculum.

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.).

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

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

The U.S. has the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancies of any industrialized nation that put young teenagers at risks. It is estimate that 20,000 new cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported each year comes from people under the age of 25 and 82 percent of all teen pregnancies are accidents that account for one-fifth of all unintended pregnancies annually (CDC 2006). As a result, the government needs to stop funding and promoting abstinence only programs and start focusing on comprehensive sex education. Comprehensive sexuality education according to Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS) provides a complete message by teaching age appropriate and medically accurate information

However, controversy arises when the discussion as to what the proper method of teaching sexual education should be. In the school system of the United States sex education is taught in two main forms: abstinence-only sex education, which focuses on abstaining from sexual activity prior to marriage and does not provide contraceptive knowledge, and comprehensive sex education, which focuses on sexual health as a whole including knowledge about contraceptives and how to avoid STDs. Currently the only federally funded programs implemented in public schools are abstinence-only. But does Abstinence-only sex education work? In order to provide an answer this paper will discuss the basic principles and practices which constitute abstinence-only sex education, the proponents argument for abstinence-only sex education and how abstinence-only education affects teen pregnancy and STD

Sex education has always been a controversial topic, especially to the extent that it is taught to. Under the early years of the Reagan administration, the Adolescent Family Life Act was passed for abstinence-only education based on the presumption that talking about sex in school would promote sexual activities among teenagers. The two-point act was quietly passed in 1981, as it was not voted on by the House and was coded under Title XX of the Public Service Health Act. The first point was to provide at least two-thirds of funds to support pregnant teenagers, while the second point’s purpose was to use the remaining one-third or less to discourage sexual acts until marriage. Lawrence (2007) asserted that teenage pregnancy rates at the time of passing were rising, so the government wanted to stop everything all together. Since then, billions of dollars have been spent and more laws have been passed to promote abstinence-only education. Pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. actually continued to rise, despite what was believed that the acts and funding could accomplish (p. 2). Though scientists and accredited researchers saw this coming, they continued with research to finalize conclusions with the majority hypothesis that comprehensive sex education would show the greatest improvement among teenage pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education

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.

One in four teens are diagnosed with STDs every year in the united states. There are 41,731,233 teens in the united states, so that is roughly 10,432,808.25 kids receiving STDs in the united states every year. With fewer than half of high schools and only a fifth of middle schools teaching all 26 topics recommended by the Centers for Disease Control Team(2015), these numbers shouldn’t be surprising. The majority of teens in the United States are taught that abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy or STDs, but in today's society temptation is very prevalent. In the United States 46% of high school age kids have had sex Conklin (2014), and represent 50% of all the new STDs dosomething.org(2014). It is

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 the United States. 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 the United

Sexual education seems to have always been a controversial topic in America. A large part of that is due to most of America holding dear to it’s heart strongly conservative views while also seemingly contradicting that by blatantly adding gratuitous sex scenes to the most basic of TV shows and by slapping obscene titles on the front covers of magazines that sit at checkout at the grocery store. So if sex is everywhere, why isn’t anyone talking about it? In particular why is nobody educating teens on it? Although the latter question may seem like a bit of a stretch it still rings true in many ways. Many college students in America are often confused about their own body’s anatomy or even how sex is supposed to work with another partner. This is largely in part because a majority of American teenagers are taught abstinence only sexual education, or do not receive any sex ed at all. This is unacceptable in a country as advanced as America; at the very least we should leave students feeling confident about themselves and their sexual decisions as well as teaching students proper ways to protect themselves during sexual activity through the use of a comprehensive sexual education program.

Current programs have been successful in lowering the teenage birth rates from their 1991 rates to their current rates, a difference of more than 50 percent. While the STD rates in the United States have not improved, they have ceased to increase in recent years (Satcher, Carmona & Elders, 2015). Sexual education programs differ in what information the program covers, who teaches the class, and how relevant the material is to a diverse student body. In order for a sexual education program to be successful in reducing teenage pregnancy and STD rates, the United States needs to ensure that schools are offering comprehensive sexual education classes that incorporate information on contraceptives and condom usage, are facilitated by both trained and qualified teachers and health professionals, and are tailored to a diverse student

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

New Mexico has the highest rate of teen pregnancy yet it is required for schools to offer sex ed. Eriq Badertscher emphasised that “school programs in sex education too often fail to take account the child’s mental, spiritual, and emotional need.” needs that will be understood and empathized stronger by one's parents. School Based programs are not fulfilling their full duty of educating children about sex. Of the 27 states that mandate both sex and Hiv education only 13 states require the instruction to be medically accurate, likely the leading to cases of hiv/stds because students are not being taught the full picture, and are not provided “enough about the responsibilities it brings” as stated by Denise Geier. While the students are not provided enough education about sex ed neither do their children, they gain the same amount of sex education their teen parents were taught. because of this kids of teen mothers are 50% more likely to be held back,