Why High Schools Need To Provide Sex/Contraceptive Classes Essay

Due to the lack comprehensive sex education, they are left in the dark about how to be properly prepared for a situation that may arise regarding sexual activity and how to protect them against sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy. It is a great down fall the lack of education on contraceptives, which only leaves American teens at a greater risk for long-term consequences.

Sex education should be implemented at an early age beginning at the middle school level. A discussion of contraception, the risks of diseases, the risk of becoming an unwed teen parent and the disadvantages of not having an education will help decrease the number of teen pregnancies with future generations. Parents should not feel threatened of having their children learning about sex in class. Parents should feel empowered; it will allow their children opportunities to feel they are able to discuss future topics of sex at home to help promote

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

But they get the message that sex is risky.” They begin to see sex as a sensitive issue that should be taken very seriously because it involves life-changing consequences. Additionally, a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that teaching about contraception and making them available to teenagers was not associated with increased risk of sexual activity as many abstinence-only supporters have insisted. Therefore, the availability of birth control along with education about it does not increase sexual activity but informs teenagers to practice good decision-making for their bodies and their future.

One major problem in America’s society today is teen pregnancy rates. In fact, “teen sexual activity, pregnancy, and childbearing are associated with substantial social, economic, and health costs” (Sedgwick). However, this problem is not one without a solution. The rise of teen pregnancy rates can be prevented and reversed by providing better access to birth control for teens, eliminating the negative connotation that accompanies abstinence, and implementing more efficient sex education in public schools.

Many believe that making the contraceptive available to teenage sends the wrong message and promotes promiscuity among teenagers. Teens should be better informed of options and will possibly make better decisions with adequate education regarding contraceptives and what they prevent. Advocates for youth states “Evaluations of comprehensive sex education and HIV/ STI prevention programs show that they do not increase rates of sexual initiation, do not lower the age at which youth initiate sex, and do not increase the frequency of sex or the number of sex partners among sexually active

The controversial topic of whether or not sex education curriculum should teach contraceptive use or abstinence-only is heavily debated. In 2013, the U.S. totaled 273,105 babies born by teenagers, ages from 15 to 19 (“About Teen Pregnancy”). This raises the question: why is the number of pregnancies so high? Is the reason for that unsettling high, number because abstinence-only is being taught or contraceptive use is being taught? Students who are taught abstinence-only are more likely to wait to have sex, which results in the lowering of teen pregnancy. The abstinence-only curriculum also reduces students sexual activity.The sex education curriculum in the U.S. should consist of abstinence-only education.

If teenagers had easy access to birth control and condoms, then teen pregnancies would start to decrease because they would be aware of how to be safe. They would use the help if they were informed on how to get contraceptives and where to get them from. There is a television show on MTV called Teen Mom; it’s all about 4 teenage girls who happened to get pregnant at a younger age than they expected. This show explains their life and the struggle they had to go through because they weren’t prepared when it came to sex. 3 out of the 4 girls kept their child and began to realize how hard it was. Those 3 girls also weren’t successful in their relationship due to the fact that they weren’t mature enough to balance out their life and 2 of them hadn’t even finished college yet because, they had to reorganize their lifestyle. In the show they have often mentioned that if they knew more about birth control and other ways to be protected; their chances of pregnancy would have been lower. Being a mother isn’t fun when you haven’t fully lived through your teenage years; if contraception was more available teenagers would not have to worry about being a mother at such a young

Early on in life, our youths would be able to take better care of themselves. Lecturing teenagers on how to effectively use contraception help them prevent early pregnancy and avoid becoming part of a statistic. At an early age, having an abortion can become a health hazard. “Teenage abortion patients are up to twice as likely to experience cervical lacerations during abortion compared to older women”, said Amy R. Sobie and David C. Reardon, Ph.D. Teaching kids about proper health care helps them with the transition from a girl to a women. Being aware with what’s going on with their body and always protecting their self from experiencing harmful situations (like abortions) is a show of maturity. Enhancing our youth knowledge on birth control devices can only help them in the future on being a responsible

According to a poll done in 2006 that recorded the “Adult and teen preferences for type of sex education needed,” 14% percent of the adults interviewed thought that teens should get more information about abstinence, 8% that they should get more information about birth control, 73% that they should get more information about both abstinence and birth control or protection, 4% didn’t know, and 1% refused to answer. For teens (12-19), 7% percent thought that they should learn more about abstinence, 9% that they should learn more about birth control, 56% that they should learn more about both abstinence and birth control or protection, 22% didn’t know, and 7% refused to answer (“Adult and teen preferences,” 2010).

Most of us are familiar with the alarming statistics about teen sexual activity in the United States. Among high school students, 54 percent (including 61% of boys and 48% of girls) say they have had sexual intercourse. According to a 1992 Center for disease Control Study. The # of 9th Graders who say they 've had sex is 40%. In the past two decades, there has been an explosion in the # of sexually transmitted diseases. 12 million people are infected each year; 63 percent of them are under 25. Each year, 1 of every 10 teenage girls becomes pregnant, and more than 400,000 teenagers have abortions. 1 in 4 children is born out of wedlock, compared to 1 in 20 in 1960. We have realized that since they stopped teaching sexual education in high schools that the teen pregnancy rates have increased. Today, we will talk about the bad vs. good in sexual education and now it will benefit students in the future.

The FHI found evidence from the US and other countries that show that sex education can reduce the amount of behaviors that teenagers take that put them at risk for unintentional pregnancies. In a control area where sex education classes were held, researchers actually found that annual pregnancies fell from 60 to 25 pregnancies per 1,000 women ages 14-17. In a control where there was no sex education, pregnancies in that same age group actually increased. Sex education would teach teenagers about the many negative effects that teen pregnancy has. If these teenagers understood the risks, like an increased chance of maternal death, a decreased chance of graduating, and the increased chance of their child being under weight or having many other health problems, would most likely decrease the chance of these teens taking a risk that could lead to pregnancy. However, if the students still chose to take the risk and have sex, sex education would teach them about the different types of contraception they could use to help prevent pregnancy.

Many teenagers are now becoming parents these days. In fact, from the ages of 15-19, there were 249,078 babies born in the United States. (1) Many of these unwanted pregnancies can be prevented with the help sexual education. Yes, in some schools there is sexual education. But, if it was in every school many of these could have possibly been prevented. At the school I attend, sexual education is not offered. We are faced with several unwanted pregnancies, and with sexual education, I think these could be prevented.

After reading numerous articles and abstracts in regards to the ever so intriguing topic of teen pregnancy, I’ve come to a conclusion which is a little different than I had expected. Before reading any of the literature on teen pregnancy, I was under the assumption that the sex education classes provided in school were an extremely effective weapon against unwanted teenage pregnancies. Of the literature references that I’ve used and those of which I have haven’t chosen to extrapolate on, many have reported results based on random surveys while others have conducted quantifiable research to reach their findings.

Sex Education over the years has provided the necessary information about precautions, along with consequences that means to be sexually active. Moreover, it allows high schools to educate themselves about an aspect of their life that will always be important factor of their love relationship. Every action and decision towards any element in life will inevitably produce a result, and a response. The ignorance of many teens leads them to make stupid decisions that can change their future. I support the idea of implementing sex education at middle and elementary schools. Next step will be to find a strategy to implement it in the classrooms. Birth control methods are simply out of the equation, but today society has created so many tools to