The Importance Of Sexual Education

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.

Should sex education be allowed in high schools? This has been a controversial issue nationwide for over a decade. The American culture is immensely sexually oriented. Sex can be seen through the media and with the younger generation being heavily influenced by technology; they cannot avoid it. In light of this, many of the youth today lack information on sex which highlights the problem. Some people believe that sex education only diminishes one’s rectitude because they feel that sex education encourages the students to partake in sexual intercourse. Although sex education degrades the virtues of children by informing students how to use birth control and condoms, it is imperative in high schools because it prevents sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy, accommodates in case of parents’ absence, and gives children the idea of morality.

One of the most flawed programs in public schools is sexual education. Sexual education is starting to evanescenting when it comes to being taught in public schools. “22 states and the District of Columbia require schools to provide both sexuality and STD/HIV education; another 15 states require STD/HIV education; and 13 states have no requirements when it comes to sexual education”(sexuality education pg 1). Within the 22 states that require taking sexual education, they also give the parents an option to opt out of the class if the class does not go with their religion or they believe their children are to young to be taught. Among the whole United States we have the highest pregnancy rates among teens with the lack of sexual education being taught in the right or direct way. “The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world-almost twice as high as those of England, Wales, Canada, and eight times as high as those of the Netherlands and Japan”(opposing viewpoint series pg 109). While the rising of teen pregnancy continues, teens and adult(age 18)

SEX! For it just to be a three-letter word, its meaning comes out to be just more than pleasure shared between people. It comes with a legion amount of consequences if precautions are not taken into deliberation. “Each year, U.S. teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs)” (Klein and Weinstock). Why watch these number accumulate when we can enlighten our youth on to make sagacious sex decisions and embrace healthy sexual behavior. The school board should take the intuitive for efficient sex education to mandatory in the curriculum. Is it ever too early to learn the basic, but indeed vital elements of sex education? Of course not, but not knowing in advance can result to dreadful 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.

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.

In America, teaching children about sex is something that is seen as “inappropriate” or “wrong”. However, making sure teens and young adults know how to have safe sex is something that is extremely important, especially now. When teens are equipped with the knowledge to make safe, healthy decisions it helps prevent unwanted pregnancy and STD’s.

“Sex education is instruction on issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibility human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, age of consent, reproductive health, reproductive rights, safe sex, birth control and sexual abstinence. Sex education that covers all of these aspects is known as comprehensive sex education. Common avenues for sex education are parents or caregivers, formal school programs, and public health campaigns” (Joint 2017). Most schools in the United States however only teach sexual abstinence while not covering any other subject. Sexual Education is necessary for people of all ages, especially for teens who are learning about the changes with their body. Comprehensive sex education should be taught rather than abstinence only education. Comprehensive sex education is proven to help and educate teens. The benefits of comprehensive sex education as opposed to abstinence education are, lower teen pregnancy rates, lower STD counts, and healthier relationships.

Young students all around the world have been engaged in sex since the start of time, yet our society fails to give the youth the curriculum needed for them to make healthy and smart decisions on sex. Twenty-eight out Fifty states do not require sex education in public schools and so this is not good enough, considering the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate than any other developed country. Sex education should be taught in public schools in order to inform students on making educated decisions on sexual intercourse as well as the consequences sex can have.

“In teenagers between 18–19 years old, 41% report that they know little or nothing about condoms” (HealthResearchFunding.org, 2014, Statistics). A high level of sexual education is something that should be required in every high school. The education they teach should be a comprehensive one, and that means that the education that the student is getting a factual one that teaches them everything they need to know about having safe consensual relationships with others. A comprehensive sexual education is necessary in all high schools in North America because, it gives girls a higher self-esteem, it teaches teenagers about sexual assault, and it leads to less teen pregnancies.

Not all schools provide sex education even though they should because students will gain a lot of knowledge from these classes. These classes should be mostly focuseds from early middle school years to high school. That way students would have much more knowledge of STDs, puberty, and could even help them with their sexual orientation. Parents should also want to talk to their teens about it and sexual education should even start at home. They play a big role in the education of their teens and it shouldn’t just be the school’s option to have talked to students about it. Even though some parents might feel uncomfortarble or even embarrassed talking to their kids about it or afraid they won’t take them seriously it is really recommended they do it when they are growing from children to teenagers. Maybe some parent’s might even think that talking to their children about sex might just cause them to be more curious or push them to act because they are bringing the topic up. Sex education should be should be provided in school’s every student deserves to have more knowledge of what it really is,. It will help to maybe decrease the amount of teenage pregnancy, it could aware teens of diseases and ways to prevent them from occurring, and it would teach them about abstinence, it will help teach them about sexual orientation and homosexuality as well.

How can sexual education programs be improved to further improve the health of a country?

Throughout the years there have been different views on if sex education should be in the school curriculum or not. As early as 1981 with the Adolescent Family Life Act the government gave money to the school for sex education. Throughout the years there have been controversies of what kind of sex education should be in school, or if it should be in school at all. According to the Centers for Disease Control “in 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15 -19 years”. This data suggests that sex education should be included in school. If it is left up to the parents it might get missed. To put it in middle school seems to be the best choice, the peak of adolescence and prime time to get an education.

.Compared with older adults, sexually active adolescents aged 15–19 years and young adults aged 20–24 years are at higher risk of acquiring STDs for a combination of behavioral, biological, and cultural reasons (CDC 1). For this reason, sexual education should continue to be taught in schools. According to “Obviously, Sex Education Should Not Be Taught in Schools,” Cullen Herout believes that sexual education should not be taught in government run schools. He goes on to explain why sexual education should not be taught in schools with multiple reasons with evidence to back up his claim. These reasons include: it will normalize HIV and AIDS, the children will be brainwashed with sexual perversion, and government money should not be used to pay for it. He claims that parents have the sole responsibility of teaching their children sexual education. The only thing he believes should be taught in schools are the main subjects of reading, writing, math, language, spelling, and science. He is convinced that government run anything is corrupted and that the government has some hidden agenda for educating children on sexual education. Overall, he feels the best solution to the issue of sexual education is not having it taught in schools at all.

Would you rather have public schools teach sexual education classes, or teach abstinence education classes? Pregnancy rates in America are slowly decreasing, but are still extremely high. According to K. F. Stanger-Hall (2011), Pregnancy rates in America are more than double the rates of other countries with 72.2% per 1000 girls between the ages of 15-19 becoming pregnant. The best way to lower teen pregnancy is to teach about prevention in schools with sex education or abstinence classes. Teenagers need to learn about sex so that they will be prepared for life situations, know how to use contraception, and refrain from going through pregnancy before the teen is ready for a child. Sexual Education is more effective and is a better option to teach about.