The Importance Of Sex Education In Schools

As a result of high percentage of pregnancy and childbirth among teenagers; which often result in unfavorable health, social and economical issues, there are various types of laws regulating sex education in middle schools in different states. According to National Conference of State

“In 41 states and the District of Columbia, schools that teach sex education are not required to teach medically accurate information. They are allowed

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

People argue that sex education is not being taught the way that it should be these days and besides kids being told not to have sex, they are being told how to have sex without getting diseases. Which in some cases is true, but you never know until you look deeper into how sex education and how it is really being taught in schools around the United States today. After doing research I found two examples of approaches to sex education currently being used in the United States today. The places that I found how sex education is being taught are North Carolina Franklin County Public Schools and Texas Public School District. These two states alone teach the concept of sex education in a very different way. Texas takes an approach at it that everyone wishes every state would look at sex education, and North Carolina takes an approach that everyone thinks all states take in teaching kids about sex. After reading these two article I will take and compare them to some of the experiences that I have had with sex education, tell you which one is more comprehensive, and also get a deeper look into what sex education is like in Texas from one of my fellow classmates.

The controversy surrounding sex education in schools has been talked about for many years. In this day and age, sex education in schools is not as helpful or informative due to the maturation of adolescents. Rather than scaring teenagers with sexually transmitted disease(STD) slideshow presentations, school systems should be teaching teens how to protect themselves from STDs. Health programs all around the country deprive teens of fundamental knowledge when it comes to intercourse. According to Advocates For Youth, “Just as it is important to enhance a child's physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, so it is important to lay foundations for a child's sexual growth”(Advocates For Youth). Adults who teach safe sex education have an important role in helping teens and preteens discover themselves, therefore improving these programs will be improving their growth.

As children grow, they accumulate knowledge over the years about a variety of subjects to prepare them for the future. Children learn from parents, schools, life experiences, what they watch and other influences around them, and it can be either positive learning or negative learning. There is one subject that is difficult to teach and have control over because of misunderstandings, lack of teaching, and publicity. Sex education has been a major debate for children under eighteen, because there are some parents that want it taught in schools and others that do not because of different reasons. There are currently eighteen states and the District of Columbia that require schools to provide sex education and thirty-two that do not require

The United States sex education poorly educates students on how to protect themselves from both unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease. When one looks at data comparing the United States to countries with comprehensive sex education, you can see the significant difference in numbers of these issues. You can also see how the lack of education among students leads to more sexual harassment towards females. In order to combat these issues, the United States should put in place a better education strategy that teaches young adults how to have safe sex that prevents unwanted pregnancy and STIs, instead of stressing the importance of abstinence.

Our parents have a big role in our lives because from the moment that we are born to even up to the day we are fully grown up to make decisions on our own they still influence us. Young people who are barely starting puberty don’t feel comfortable talking to their parents about anything sex related because this topic may or not be sensitive on the person. So, many parents even though they are the ones who influence us the most will agree that their child highly needs this information through schools. According to an article written by Leslie Kantor and Nicole Levitz, “In middle school, 74.9 percent of parents felt it was very important to have sex education, and an additional 18.6 percent felt

All states within America require some version of sex education. Whether that be abstinence only education, comprehensive sexual education, Holistic sex education, and abstinence-plus or abstinence-based sexual education(opposing viewpoints). The social and political climate of sex education over the last two decades has dramatically changed, with

Sex education is a program that can teach students about multiple facets of sex, the anatomy of male and female bodies, and relationships leading up to sex. Unfortunately, more often than not, sex education does not cover over all of these topics. Depending on the school or program certain elements of the education process may be withheld from students. In her 2008 book, Risky Lessons: Sex Education and Social Inequality, Jessica Fields discusses how the North Carolina school board chose to omit three chapters from their sex

For starters, parents should not rely on their child’s school system to teach them about sex education, and depending on the school district, these classes might not even be offered.

There are many states that do not provide the kind of sex education that New Jersey strives to convey to its students. It more often than not ties in with the religious right proclaiming that students are too young to be exposed to sexual material, and thus sexualized as a result. These fundamental groups oppose any suggestion towards a comprehensive approach. Instead, they ask that their children be taught after grade school and additionally, they steer towards ‘abstinence-only’ education. Instead of teaching students how to protect themselves, they teach that the only way to protect oneself is by abstaining from sex. The problem arises, then, when these students decide to have sex. They are unaware of how to conduct themselves responsibly, how to take precautions to prevent against unwanted pregnancy and disease. What kind of ‘education’ are students receiving when they are withheld crucial information?

Today, sex education is taught based on the states’ decision that it be necessary. Nineteen states’ laws require abstinence-only sex education in public schools. The Guttmacher Institute further reports that twenty-nine states do not require sex education at all, and thirty-seven do not require sex education curriculum to be medically accurate (Palmer 2). This means that if sex education is taught in schools, it is either about staying abstinent or the information given does not have to be correct. This is not only immoral, but it is messing with the lives of teens when they go out

Sexual education in public schools has been a controversial topic for many years in the United States. Sexual education began in the 1920s, it was inspired by sexual education programs in the military. These programs were mainly based on religion they stressed the usage of abstinence and frowned upon masturbation (Cornblatt). Over the years sexual education has evolved and now covers topics such as contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases, healthy relationships, and parenthood. While the topics covered may have changed on thing that has remained the same is the opposition to sexual education in schools. Many people believe that sexual education is a personal topic and should be taught by the students guardian at their own discretion. However, sexual education should be taught in schools because it educates teens on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and decreases the amount of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies.

First, schools need to make sure that the information being taught in sex education is medically correct. Many teenagers will go through sex education, but it is a different experience for all of them because of “lack of standardized curricula at the federal, state, and sometimes district level” (Hamilton). As of right now, sex education is mostly based on the importance of abstinence and the types of sexually transmitted infections. Although schools are trying to promote no sex in teens, that does not mean that teens are not in sexual relationships. Teens who are engaging in sexual actions need to know about safe sex because that exists although people say it does not. According to the National Conference of State Legislature, “38 States do not require mandated sex education and another 41 do not require sex education to be medically correct” (Marinelli). Most sex education programs do not teach true facts because