...Why Sexual Education Should Be Taught In Public Schools In today’s society where children are exposed to sex through various media outlets, the need for sexual education in public schools is necessary. Instead of abstinence-only education, which teaches refraining from sexual activity until marriage, today’s youth needs to be informed about the various aspects of sexuality including pregnancy, contraception, STDs, and abstinence. According to a survey conducted by National Public Radio, The Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, ninety percent of American parents believe that comprehensive sexual education should be taught in public schools to students in grades 7 through 12. This type of education encourages abstinence, but also teaches proper condom use and other contraceptive methods to protect youth from unwanted pregnancies and STD (“Sex Education in America”). In order to reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, Douglas Bernard Kirby, Ph.D. from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy states in his 2007 publication of Emerging Answers: To be effective, such programs must be straightforward and specific; for example, they might discuss realistic situations that could lead to unprotected sex and methods for avoiding those situations, for remaining abstinent, and for using condoms and other contraceptives. (Kirby 16) Even though studies have shown mixed results...
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...Who is Responsible for Sex Education? Writing 291 Joseph A. Marco 22 July 2010 Public schools systems have been implementing sexual education into their classrooms as a regular part of instruction for decades. Ongoing controversies exist when dealing with this issue whether sex education being taught in the public schools or whether it should be considered the responsibility of the parents. It seems most parents are either for or against it and very rarely are they standing on middle ground. Given the statistics does it matter who teaches the children of the United States the basics of sex education? Children should receive a basic unbiased and informative sex education in school, from their it should be the parents responsibility. By their 18th birthday, six in 10 teenage women and more than 5 in 10 teenage men have had sexual intercourse. Of the approximately 750,000 teen pregnancies that occur each year, 82 percent are unintended with more than one quarter ending abortion. The United States continues to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world – almost twice as high as England, Canada, and Wales and eight times as high as the Netherlands and Japan. In addition to the teen pregnancy rate, the teens in the United States contract roughly nine million new sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) each year. Though teens in the United States have levels of sexual activity similar to levels among their Canadian, English, French, and Swedish...
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... Sex Education in Schools Should sex education be taught in school? There had been many debates over this. They say that sex education only destroys the mortality of people because they think that sex education teaches students how sexual intercourse is done. Although sex education lowers the mortality of people by teaching them how to use condoms and contraceptives { birth control } it should be taught in intermediate { 7-9 } secondary { 10-12 } because (a) it prevents sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy (b) it is indeed a need in case of parents’ absence (c) it gives children an idea of what’s right or wrong. Others say that having sex education only encourages the students to engage in sexual intercourse and that it leads to sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy. The truth is that sex education does not encourage you to do it. According to bleakly (2006) “In a survey conducted, only about seventeen percent of the respondents answered that sex education encourages them to do “it”, and that the remaining eighty-three percent disagreed.” Sex education prevents sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy. But how? Students are taught how to use condoms. According to Masland (n.d), “Kids are becoming more sexually active at an earlier age.Sixty-six percent of high-school students have done it by their senior year”. These kids are in danger of sexually transmitted diseases {STD}.There is also a big possibility for them to get pregnant, and this is why sex education should be taught...
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... Sex education is important, but many students finish sex education classes with a distorted view of sexuality and without a good understanding of contraception and safe-sex practices. Instead, children only learn that they should not have sex until they are married. Abstinence-only programs in public schools have become popular because of a law giving millions of dollars to schools that teach the programs. These programs have the good intention of persuading young people to wait until marriage before having sex, but abstinence-only programs are not achieving this goal and are flawed by the distorted and biased perspective that they promote. In 1996, the United States government passed a law giving funding to states that offered abstinence-only programs in public schools. Since this time, over half of a billion dollars has been given to states to promote abstinence-only programs (Brody). To receive the money, schools must agree to follow a set of rules. The rules indicate that a school’s abstinence-only program must have "as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity" ("Impacts"). Students must be taught that they are likely to suffer harmful effects if they have sex before marriage. They also must be taught that the "expected standard" is for school-age children not to engage in sexual activity and for adults to engage in sexual relations only within marriage. Schools receiving the...
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...Should Sex Education Be Taught in Schools Laterra Dykes, Nastasia Davis, David Webb, Joy Dobbins BCOM/275 May 29, 2014 Dewayne Acree Sexually active teens are a matter of severe concern in the United States and many other countries. In the past several years many school-based programs have been created for the sole purpose of delaying the beginning of sexual activity. There seems to be a growing compromise that schools can play an important role in providing youth with a knowledge base which may allow them to make knowledgeable decisions and help them shape a healthy lifestyle (St Leger, 1999). The school is the only institution in regular contact with a sizable percentage of the teenage population (Zabin and Hirsch, 1988), with virtually all youth attending it before they initiate sexual risk-taking behavior (Kirby and Coyle, 1997). The idea of sex education is a very controversial subject. Sex education will teach teens about the importance of safe sex. There are two different styles of learning about sex education, which are abstinence and sex education or comprehensive. Comprehensive education discuss abstinence as a choice. Even though, comprehensive sex education teaching abstinence as a choice it still inform the teens about contraception and how to avoid obtaining sexually transmitted diseases. Abstinence education teaches teens about abstinence from sex until marriage. Abstinence education does not discuss but rejects the use of contraception. The difference between...
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...and white. The debates about sexual education in U.S. public schools are no different. While the ideas of abstinence and holistic learning of sex contradict each other at first, they can coexist if one looks at the bigger picture along with its consequences. Thus, while the discourse concerning sexual education in public schools may depict abstinence-only and fully comprehensive sexual education as conflicting ideologies, they are actually quite similar. This is significant because a comprehensive education actually adds to the abstinence message while supporting (instead of shaming) youth and their right to information that could lead to safer and more responsible sexual choices. While the vast majority of...
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...Sex education in public schools has been a controversial issue in the United States for over a decade. Sex education needs to keep up with the sexuality of today’s young adolescents. Young adolescents are becoming more sexually active at a younger age; by the time they reach high school most have already acquired some knowledge about sex but little about sexual responsibility. With the number of young adolescents with sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies rising— sex awareness is definitely needed. The question remains whether sex education should come from their parent or from a qualified professional at school. In order to educate young adolescents about the consequences and responsibilities of engaging in sexual activities it is my belief that sex education classes should be taught in public middle school. Most goals of sex education classes are the promotion of adult sexual health. Four main goals, according to National Guidelines Task Force, are to provide accurate information about human sexuality, to provide an opportunity for young adolescents to develop and understand their values, attitudes, and beliefs about sexuality, to help young people develop interpersonal skills and to help young adolescents apply responsibility of sexual relationships. Such responsibilities include how to defend a teenager against the pressures of prematurely becoming involved in sexual intercourse, encouraging the use of contraceptives, and other sexual health measures. The...
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...controversial issues discussed in public schools today. As you can imagine sex isn’t the most comfortable subject to speak about especially amongst children and their parents. The fact remains that it is of paramount importance for your child to learn all possible advantages and disadvantage of sex. Communication plays an important role in the development of intimate sexuality. (Troth p195-218) Today, as young people embark on their first sexual relationships in a threatening climate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including the potentially fatal HIV/AIDS virus, the value of practicing communication and negotiation to facilitate the uptake of safe sex has far-reaching implications for health and well-being. However, communication between parents and are a bit uncomfortable with topics like condoms, STDs, and past sexual partners is a difficult task for many young people whose health may be placed in jeopardy by their inability to discuss safe sex. Public schools are now making sex education apart of their curriculum. However, the controversy arises as to whether sex education should be based on abstinence or a “safe sex” model. Critics of the “safe sex” program claim that teaching safe sex is another way of giving consent to engage in intercourse. Isn’t the bigger issue ensuring that students are prepared for any type of situation they find themselves in? What good is abstinence based course if they are already engaged in sexual activities? It is a proven fact that...
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...Public Schools and Sex Education There has been a decline in teen age pregnancy over the past few decades. Is it because sexual education is being taught at a younger age today? Or is it the lack of knowledge of abstinence? It should be the parents’ responsibility to teach their child about sexual education, not the school system. Although sexual education is important, there are still several students that completes the sex education courses and they are still not sure of what sexuality is or have a solid understanding of contraception and/or safe sex practices. Unfortunately, children usually only learn that they should not have sexual intercourse until they are married. This is where abstinence comes in play. Over the years’ abstinence-only programs in public schools has become more and more popular. This is so, because of a law that gives millions of money to schools to teach abstinence-only. This type of program has good intentions. They are designed to persuade younger people to wait until marriage. Unfortunately, these programs (abstinence-only) are not quite achieving their goal. Back in 1996 when the United States government passed a law to add funds to abstinence-only public schools, more than half of a billion dollars has been given to different state to help with the promotions of abstinence-only programs. (Brody) There were so many different stipulations placed on school system in order for the schools get good funding. In 2007, the United States Department...
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...Sex Education In Public Schools Sex education in public schools has been a controversial issue in the United States for over a decade. With the HIV and teen pregnancy crises growing, sex education is needed. Some of the American public believe that sex education should be taught at home by the children's parents. They feel that sex education programs in schools do not put an emphasis on abstinence and encourages children to have sexual intercourse. American culture is very sexually oriented. Sex can be seen all over the media. Charles Krauthammer stated, "Sex oozes from every pore of the culture and there's not a kid in the world who can avoid it"(Bender). After being faced with sex on an everyday basis, the independent teens of today will make their own decisions on whether or not to have sex. The important thing is to make sure that they know all aspects of it. Reality-based sexuality education gives young people an understanding of positive sexuality. I t also provides sexual health information and skills on decision making (What). Subjects include sexual development, reproduction, relationships, affection, intimacy, body image and gender roles (What). Successful sex education programs have several high points. The high points include exercises to encourage the appraisals of values, and skills in which students are taught how to negotiate while in sexual situations (" What type”) The majority of this nation favors sexuality education...
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...Danielle McKenzie Ms. Thomas English Class MW (1:40) November 14, 2011 Should sex education be increased in schools in an attempt to curb problems such as teenage pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases? The issue in the world today is that kids worldwide are getting pregnant or getting stds or maybe even both. Parents are asking what ways or programs that can prevent the kids from those problems. Teen pregnancy is happening throughout the United States. Seeing that sex education is not really taught at schools that makes most kids u aware of what they are doing sexually and the bad things that come with having sex such as being pregnant or catching a sexual transmitted disease or even catching Aids. Having sexual education being taught in schools will make the teen pregnancy and std and aids rate go down. Most teens who do not receive any type of sexual education are most likely to become pregnant or get a disease. Teen Pregnancy is a huge issue that affects many families in the United States. An average of one million teen girls in the United States gets pregnant. Majority of teen pregnancies are to low income or eve poor families. Most teen pregnancies are unplanned. Most teens that become pregnant do not get a college degree. It has been said that more than half of teen moms are going to have another child following their first one in less than a year. Most teens that get pregnant do not have an abortion because their parents are against abortion or their child...
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...Comprehensive Sex Education Which is the Right Choice? Allysa Lekas English 401 Professor Kramer December 11, 2012 Abstinence-Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education The appropriate type of sex education that should be taught in United States public schools continues to be a major topic of debate, which is motivated by high teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States compared to other countries. This debate is centered on whether abstinence-only or comprehensive sex education should be taught in public schools. Some argue that sex education, that covers safe sexual practices, such as condom use, sends a mixed message to students, and actually promotes sexual activity. The United States government used to promote abstinence-only initiatives through the Adolescents Family Life Act. It cost 176 million dollars annually to fund abstinence-only programs. The central message of these programs was to delay sexual activity until marriage, and cannot include information about contraception and condoms (Stranger-Hall & Hall, 2011). It has been proven that abstinence-only education does not have an effect on the birth rates in the United States, but comprehensive sex education has. Teaching students to not only about abstinence, but about contraceptive use and information about sexually transmitted diseases, has decreased the birth rates in the United States as well as the contraction rate of sexually transmitted diseases. Comprehensive sex education in school has been proven...
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...Already on Twitter? Content from FacebookTwitter Learn more|Turn off Back to messages Next message Previous message (No Subject) Kayla Tovar 9:38 PM To: Kayla Tovar Picture of Kayla Tovar Sex Education In Public Schools Some of the American public believe that sex educationshould be taught at home by the children's parents. They feel that sex education programs in schools do not put an emphasis on abstinence and encourages children to have sexual intercourse. American culture is very sexually oriented. Sex can be seen all over the media. Charles Krauthammer stated, "Sex oozes from every pore of the culture and there's not a kid in the world who can avoid it"(Bender). After being faced with sex on an everyday basis, the independent teens of today will make their own decisions on whether or not to have sex. The important thing is to make sure that they know all aspects of it. Reality-based sexuality education gives young people an understanding of positive sexuality. I t also provides sexual health information and skills on decision making(What). Subjects include sexual development, reproduction, relationships, affection, intimacy, body image and gender roles(What ). Successful sex education programs have several high points. The high points include exercises to encourage the appraisals of values, and skills in which students...
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...In 1597, Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power” and if that is true, then the more we know, the more choices a person can make on their own and the more individual power a person has. For children, trusted adults information is the “be all to end all” and usually the younger they are, the less questions are asked. This is helpful if the information being received is always correct, but in some cases it is not and that wrong information can spread like wildfire among young people. With sexual-education in public schools, students can be taught the correct material so that they can be educated and use their knowledge as power. I went to school in Washington state, and when we got to a certain age we age-appropriate sexual education. A permission slip was signed by my mother, and at approximately 12 years old, boys and girls were separated with familiar teachers and classmates of the same gender and taught about how our bodies were changing. Females learned about menstrual cycles, pads and “why tampons really do fit” while the males learned about why they were getting hair in places they didn’t before, and why their bodies were changing in different ways as well. I was among classmates who were my friends and teachers who I trusted and we were allowed to ask questions like “Does it hurt?” and “Does my brother know about this?” Samples were given out for us to see, feel and understand and alleviated the possibility of the wrong information getting in to our sponges of brains...
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...Sex Education in Public Schools "Sex oozes from every pore of the culture and there's not a kid in the world who can avoid it" Charles Krauthammer stated. (Bender) Why should a teen have to avoid the topic of sex? Many teens are taught to believe that sex is wrong until after they are married, but not taught the truth about sex. Sex is a natural biological urge that no piece of paper makes a difference about. What should be different, is how teens are taught about sex. In 1996, the United States government passed a law giving funding to states that offered abstinence-only sex education programs in public schools. Since this time, over half of a billion dollars has been given to states to promote abstinence-only programs. (Brody) After a study of four of the schools with abstinence only programs showed, that teens who had participated in the class were no more likely to hold off on having sex, engaging in oral sex, lower the amount of sexual partners or avoiding sex completely than, a teen that did not attend the class at all. (Trenholm) Comprehensive sexual education programs have helped the rate of sexual transmitted diseases, (STD Surveillance) number of unwanted pregnancies and or abortions decline. Sex education also has been shown to reduce the possibility of sexual violence. (Gorden) Comprehensive sexual education programs promote knowledge about prevention, knowing the symptoms of STDs and where to get tested. In 2009, two years after the...
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