Teaching Teenagers About Safe Sex

Distributing condoms in school is also another aspect of sex education. If the school would provide the protection to any teenager that was contemplating sexual intercourse, at least he or she would have adequate protection from pregnancy and STD'S. This could also set a pattern for

Condoms should be given to middle schoolers because this access does not encourage them to have more sex at a younger age, it makes them more aware. Peaking in the early 1990s, teen pregnancy rates have declined 51 percent and teen births are down 61 percent, said Bill Albert of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies. Many schools say that their kids participated in surveys to see if they have been sexually active during their middle school years. In the article by Larsen-Fleming, it pointed out that 8.5 percent of Oakland’s Unified seventh-graders

Multiple factors influence the rate of teen pregnancy. Some of the most important factors influencing pregnancy rates are socioeconomic status, education, and family income. With low socioeconomic status and income, parents may not always be present in their children’s lives in order to educate them on sex. School districts, then, take on the responsibility to educate teenagers on sexual intercourse and safe practices, but some fail. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. provided statistics showing that while many schools push abstinence-only programs, they show little to no positive impact on preventing teen pregnancies (Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (n.d.)). While abstinence may work for some, it is not realistic to believe that all teens will abide by it. Teens need a comprehensive sexual education with emphasis on safe sex practices, which is where Be Safe, Not Sorry comes into play. The comprehensive program will cover all

While the department of education does include a recommendation for school districts to develop and implement age-appropriate sex education, it’s not mandated in many states. There is confusion among teenagers about the different methods they can use to protect themselves; for example, contraceptives (such as birth control) do not prevent STI’s, but do prevent pregnancies. In fact, almost 37% of "18-25 year olds incorrectly believe at least one of the following: transmission of HIV is possible by sharing a glass, kissing, or touching a toilet seat" (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 2006). Without the proper knowledge, teens simply cannot be expected to act accordingly. Abstinence-only education gives students an incomplete education, and expects students to disregard the gaps in teachings. This isn't just unfair; it is dangerous. In a study performed by the American Journal of Public Health involving 4,000 teens over a period of seven years, they found that adolescents who used condoms during their first intercourse had on average the same number of partners as those who did not use a condom. However, the former group was 30 percent more likely to have used condoms in their most recent sexual encounter,

Also, schools that hand out condoms students are less likely to have unsafe sex than schools that don’t (ACLU). Research shows that when teenagers are required to get parental permission, more 15% of them would rather have unsafe sex than get parent permission. A law that requires teenager to gain parental permission before receiving contraceptives will have some harmful consequences (Guttmacher Institute). One half of new HIV cases in America come from adolescents, 3 million teenagers get an STD, and almost 900,000 girls become pregnant (ACLU). These results will rise if teenagers are required to get parent

Parents should consider speaking with teenage daughters about the necessity of birth control to bring awareness of sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, and teen drop outs. It’s stated that 10,000 teens and young adults are contracting HIV between the age of (13-24), and many of them have multiply partner which puts them at a high risk of contracting a STD or HIV. So many teens are sexually active, but are not using protection which causes them to become pregnant. Statistic states that children who are born to teenage mothers has a high chance of having health problems, dropping out of school, incarcerated, and giving birth at a young age. Teenagers who get pregnant in high school tends to drop out. If they drop out that will not have the skills and credentials to function in today’s society and work place.

Many young adults in the United States are ignoring the use of condoms, more to the extent college students, this declining trend can be seen at many US colleges because of a lack of efficient measures being taken to promote safe sex in ways such a lack of information in mandatory workshops, students failing to acknowledge the consequences of having unprotected sex, and poor promotion and advertising by the university to have safe sex. Many universities around U.S. are doing a really great job to promote safe sex among students by provide many useful advices as well as resources to help their student prevent from sexual diseases, but it’s still not effective enough. Writing in TIME Magazine, Katy Steinmetz explains that, " While teenagers in the U.S. are likely to use a condom the first time they have sex, their behavior becomes inconsistent after that." (Steinmetz 1) She also proclaims "with the use of condoms among teens stalling, STD rates are on the rise." (Steinmetz 1). Today, teens in the U.S. are the highest group to get contact with STD because of lack engagement in safe sex. Steinmetz believes part of the reason why is because of the public schools and their lack efforts to address the issue to students. She claims "Schools have competing health issues that they're asked to deal with, things like tobacco use, bullying, the obesity epidemic. It's been hard to keep attention focused on HIV and STD prevention." (Steinmetz 2) Also, with limited time frames for teachers, it is impossible to spend an adequate amount of their class periods on all of them, and often safe sex is not stressed like it should be. If teens do not understand why they need condoms, there is no incentive for them to seek them out and actually use them. Laura Kann, an

Abstinence-only sex education courses do not inform students of the functions and efficacy of contraceptives, as evidenced in a poll of 1,800 young men and women, which showed that “six in 10 underestimated the effectiveness of oral contraceptives.” (Frost, Lindberg, et al.). Unintended pregnancies from lack of understanding of contraceptives is the most prominent impact the current sex education curriculum is having. With the highest proportion of unplanned pregnancies being 98% and belonging to teenagers, the impact the improper sex education has is straightforward (Unintended Pregnancy Prevention). Unplanned teenage pregnancies can inhibit the mother’s ability to continue her education, ostracize her from society, and be a significant financial burden on, not only the mother and her family, but American taxpayers, as “teen childbearing costs . . . between $9.4 and $28 billion a year.” (Negative Impacts of Teen Childbearing). Moreover, contraceptive use, specifically condoms, are crucial in preventing the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases. Due to the fact that “nearly half of the 20 million new cases of STD's each year” are attributed to teens and young adults, the teaching of the methods of contraceptive use are not reaching the standard at which they should be (Adolescent Development and STDs). It is vital to the well-being of the students of America’s public school system that they are instructed with accurate information that will protect them from unintended pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted

Condom usage prevents numerous pregnancies. It is common knowledge that a condom is a protective layer of latex that traps semen and stops it from entering the vaginal canal, but many don’t realize the issues of having sex without a condom. Various people don’t have to access to this type of contraceptive, so they follow the drive and have unprotected sex which leads to unplanned pregnancies. An articles written by Alyssa DiSabito argues that “another reason teens have trouble obtaining contraception is that they are too afraid to purchase it in public” (1). If condoms were offered at school then teens would more likely to use them. With young adults having condoms more readily available to them, the number of unplanned teens pregnancies would decrease.

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

Not only is the curriculum centered around teaching teens how to be morally right and healthy adults, but abstinence is the only way to protect adolescents from contracting an STD. Comprehensive programs teach adolescents how to have sex by explaining why condoms are necessary and how to use them, but this teaching tool is wrong because there is always a risk of catching an STD when engaging in sex. There is not one condom out there that is a hundred percent accurate at stopping the spread of an STD, but they also offer little protection from herpes and human papillomavirus (Heritage). Therefore, it should not be taught as an option to teens who already have a mentality that they are invisible. STD numbers are drastically increasing in the

During lunch a group of high school students engaged in a discussion on sexual matters. One of the students mentioned that if two condoms are worn instead of only one it will further prevent pregnancies and stds. However, when more than one condom is used it will create friction and break leading to the possibility of getting pregnant and direct skin contact which makes a person vulnerable to an std. Many adolescents in the present day are participating in sex with minimal to no knowledge about the concept. There are about “850,000 pregnancies, and… 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections”(Mckeon, 2006, para. one) within the young age group primarily targeted to the high school students. The appropriate action to decrease these numbers is having all high schools have an elective sex education course, to educate students on the body of females and males, inform on the complications and risks, and promote an effective version of abstinence.

Parenting classes could teach the importance of safe sex to teenage girls. Many girls in high school take the risk of unprotected sex and to understand this issue we need to look at the statistics. According to www.dosomething.org, 90% of teenage girls who have unprotected sex end up pregnant within just one year. Also according to www.betterhealth.org, 51% of females are sexually active before they get medication contraceptive prescribed by a doctor. 40% of high school seniors also do not use a condom which significantly increases the risk of a pregnancy. With the chance that condoms don’t work or if it rips, the change of pregnancy increases. This class could show girls the importance of birth control, condoms and other contraceptives to prevent teenage pregnancy. By showing the statistics as well, this could significantly reduce the amount of

Teenage pregnancy has become a public concern over the past decade. The problem is bigger than what society may think of since studies have shown that 3 out of every 5 teens within the ages of 14-19 years old becomes pregnant, one might ask as to why teenage pregnancy is prevalent. Social media, music, and peer pressure are some contributing factors since they tell and give a message that sexual relationship is common to everyday life. Efforts to curb this behavior over the years have seemed to go un-notice. Since it seems to be no decline in statistics. This leaves one to ask these questions. Why and what causes teens to disregard what they have been taught? Why do teenagers engage in unprotected sex? There are many contributing factors but

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,