Taking a Look at Sex Education

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

Clemmitt (2010) states that currently the most effective approach to prevent teenage pregnancy is evidence-based sex education programs. The primary debate about the best method of preventing teenage pregnancy is between abstinence-only courses and comprehensive sex education. The author says that after operating comprehensive sex education, the Obama approach, many communities and county areas have drastically reduced the rate of teenage pregnancy. Studies and statistics suggested that abstinence-only courses have not contributed to reduce teenage pregnancy rates. The author points out that the abstinence-only courses also include sexually transmitted diseases classes and discussions of unhealthy relationship and making decisions, and abstinence

The reason abstinence-education was pushed back in 1996 was because it became evident that the United States had the highest teen pregnancy rate of all industrialized nations (Sather & Zinn, 2002). But over 20 years later, after continued funding and support of abstinence-only education, the United States still remains the leader in teen pregnancies throughout Western society with a rate of 22.3 births per 1000 15-19 year old women in the US in 2015 (Reproductive Health, 2017). It is clearly time for a change in sex

It has been almost thirty three years since the first federal funding was put to use in “. . . sex education programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage to the exclusion of all other approaches . . .” according to the article “Sex education” (2010) published by “Opposing Viewpoints in Context;” a website that specializes in covering social issues. Since then a muddy controversy has arisen over whether that is the best approach. On one hand is the traditional approach of abstinence (not having sex before marriage), and on the other is the idea that what is being done is not enough, and that there needs to be a more comprehensive approach. This entails not only warning against sex, but also teaching teens about how to have

Programs that encourage abstinence have become a vital part of school systems in the US. These programs are usually referred to as abstinence-only or value-based programs while other programs are called as safer-sex, comprehensive, secular or abstinence-plus programs which on the contrary promote the usage of effective contraception. Although abstinence-only and safer-sex programs disagree with one another, their core values and stand on the aims of sex education is to help teens develop problem-solving skills and the skill of good decision-making. They believe that adolescents will be better prepared to “act responsibly in the heat of the moment” (Silva). Most programs that have been currently implemented in the US have seen a delay in the initiation of sex among teens which proves to be a positive and desirable outcome (Silva).

Sexual education is first and foremost related to sex and sexuality issues. So in order to better understand the case of sexual education, it is important to review the development of the concepts sex and sexuality within the social sciences and humanities.

The topic of sex education conjures up much controversy regarding what should be taught, how it should be taught, or if it should be taught at all. The overarching goal of including sex education in public school curriculum should be to promote a lifelong healthy sexuality, and with this goal comes the hope that the inclusion of sex education in public schools will delay sexual activity. According to an article by David J. Landry, Jacqueline E. Darroch, Susheela Singh, and Jenny Higgins, “men and women in the United States typically begin having sexual intercourse during adolescence at a mean age of 16.9 years for men and 17.4 for women” (Landry, Darroch, Singh, & Higgins,

No matter what kind of sex education provided, teenage pregnancy remains an uneasy issue in our country. “The United States continues to have one of the highest teen

Today, there are more teens getting pregnant than before. With sex education being in schools, it can help teens learn the basic needs for when they become sexually active. This subject can help teen pregnancy, un-planned pregnancy, and could lower the STD rates in the United States. By showing teens these basic needs, it can prevent having to plan for a baby at a young age, not having a support system, and not having enough money to take care of the baby and yourself. In the following paragraphs, it will explain same beliefs and opinions on sex education.

Sexual education is a term used to define sexual intercourse, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual anatomy, and sexuality. Having sex is inevitable. There is no life without sex. Sexuality has social implications; therefore most societies set limits, through social norms and taboos, moral and religious guidelines, and legal constraints on what is permissible sexual behavior. Therefore we need sexual education to teach us about these “rules.” But in the United States sexual education raises a heated debate. As of right now the United States only teaches abstinence-only sexual education. It’s time for the world to face that everyone has sex so we need to teach them all that we are leaving out, not just the bare minimum. Today’s youth have grown up in an extremely weird world in which “the talk” is more of an awkward conversation with your parents than an actual talk informing you about sex. Berl says “According to the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 47 percent of high school students have had sexual intercourse, down from 54 percent in 1991. By their 19th birthday, 7 in 10 Americans have had sex, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a think-tank focused on sexual and reproductive health.” Despite these statistics, parents believe their children are not yet sexually active but they are mistaken. Teens are having uneducated, unprotected sex and some do not know the consequences.

Young students globally have been engaged in sex since the start of time, yet our society fails to provide the youth with the curriculum and resources needed to make healthy and smart decisions related to sex. 28 out 50 states do not require sex education in public schools, however, the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy compared to any other country. Sex education should be taught in public schools in order to inform students on the consequences of sexual intercourse as well as making educated decisions on sex.

When hearing the term “sex education,” most will immediately think of “the talk” that parents have with children. “The talk,” a phrase widely used through everyday life, movies, television, etc. is intended by parents to inform their children of the consequences of unsafe sex and to explain how babies are made. Despite being a necessary conversation at home, this “talk” is generally vague and uninformative in comparison to classes on the subject. However, this topic causes chaos when dealing with courses in middle and high schools on it. Surprisingly, a substantial amount of adults would argue that the more you say to younger people in regards to sex, the greater the risk of them having unsafe sex at a much younger age than desired, despite proof that states otherwise. That type of mindset is primarily why a vast amount of schools in the United States rely solely on having abstinence-only sex education courses for students. I strongly believe that needs to be modified immediately. In this paper, I will argue why students in the United States need a more comprehensive sex education class in their curriculums in school for the following reasons: higher rates of pregnancy in teenagers, higher rates of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and the negative aspects of the aftermath of teenage childbirth.

In the United States, rates of sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy, and teen births are significantly higher than in most other industrialized countries. In fact, 4 out of 10 adolescent females have been pregnant at least once before the age of 20, 1 out of 4 sexually active teens contracts an STD each year, and 50% of new HIV infections occur in individuals under the age of 25 (Beh 22). This can partly be attributed to the state of sex education in the United States. Only 24 states require sex education be taught in schools and only 20 of those require the information to be ‘medically, factually, or technically accurate’ (“State Policies”). Abstinence-only education has been proven to be ineffective in reducing rates of teen pregnancies, STDs, and the consequences of both; has a lack of public support; and a large majority of the programs that are federally funded have been found to be factually and medically inaccurate. Proper and comprehensive sex education should be required in all states across the nation. States should also shift their focus from abstinence-based practices to more comprehensive ones that include information about contraceptive use, pregnancies, abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases.

I was a senior in high school at the age of 17 when I had my son Zachary. Up until that moment I lived just as my other classmates did. I played the sax in the school band, football games on the weekend and hit the books on Mondays. Although I wouldn’t trade my son for the world, I wish I would have waited after college and a degree to raise him. The only thing my parents ever told me on the topic of sex education was “Mijo, debes de tener relaciones sexuales” simply meaning don’t have sex. My schools sex Ed class or lack thereof, was a faded memory at best. I was taught close to nothing about contraceptives, STD’s and HIV, but if I had there would be no doubt the last 6 years of my life would have been much less complicated.

According to the University of Kansas, historian Jeffrey P. Morgan in his book Teaching, Sex, sex education first appeared in 1913 when Chicago public schools instituted a lecture series for girls and, separately boys, on “physiology, moral hygiene, and venereal disease”. Americans have viewed adolescent sexuality as an impulse to be controlled, or better, repressed. Sex education has mainly aimed at saving teenage girls from having early sex, and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Alfred Kinsey discovered that girls and boys started having sex at younger ages than usual; this made the change in the curriculum for sex classes critical. Comprehensive sex education classes are key to our youth to ensure a healthy lifestyle, to obtain a proper education, and to achieve economic progression. Thus making comprehensive sex education classes more effective than abstinence-only classes.