...anything black 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 Schools Anquavese Jones ENG/102 06/26/2011 Becky Wilfahrt Abstract Teenage sex education is a topic of much debate in America’s schools because sex and its health related issues are prevalent in the lives of so many adolescents. Teenagers’ engagement in sexual activities has led to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, emotional and psychological injuries, and out-of-wedlock childbearing (Rector, 2002, para. 1). Therefore, schools across the nation have been charged with implementing programs that will educate the young about the risks of engaging in sexual activities before marriage. America’s schools use one of the two commonly known approaches in hopes to deter premarital sex. These approaches are abstinence education and comprehensive sex education. Abstinence education is a type of sex education that places strict emphasis on abstaining from sex until marriage. Comprehensive sex education examines abstinence along with sexual reproductive health education and contraceptives. This paper will examine both approaches and show that comprehensive sex education is the most effective method. Introduction Sex is a hot topic that reaches many children through the different mediums to include school, internet, radio, and television. An effective way to arm our children with important data concerning sex education is by providing abstinence education in our schools. According to Powezek, in the United States, maturation classes are usually implemented...
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...and it’s Setting Background of the study Sex education has become a major issue here in the Philippines because the church people and government officials cannot decide on whether to incorporate sex education in students learning curriculum in this study the researchers will show the importance of incorporating sex education to the subjects of the students. According to statistics compiled by the Guttmacher Institute schools (2008) is exploring the best sex education programs to benefit students. The US has “one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world—almost twice as high as those of England, Wales and Canada, and eight times as high as those of the Netherlands and Japan.” Because of the rising pregnancy rates among teens, in addition to the rising rates of sexual activity among teens, parents. The United States has unacceptably high rates of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS infections. To address this challenge, NARAL Pro-Choice America supports honest, age-appropriate, and medically accurate sex education that promotes abstinence and provides young people with the information they need to protect themselves. On the same hand, Peter J. Smith (2006) any DepEd directors and church people have argued that if they should incorporate sex education to the learning of the students. Furthermore they have argued about it since 2006 but today some public schools are incorporating sex education to a child’s learning in addition the government...
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...investigate sexual education because it is a policy area that hits close to home. Sexual Education is an issue with many facets, but it falls under the larger umbrella of reproductive freedom. Many people would consider themselves either pro-life or pro-choice, but there is also a middle section that is less defined. This section is present because of cases like rape, health difficulties, or future health of the baby. With education, it is less black and white in the eyes of the general populace. Further, sides are frequently taken due to religious beliefs. Education is typically a more local issue, but it has a large impact on the rate of pregnant teens, which ultimately funnels into the debate over abortion. More specifically, the federal government has to take action on both abortion and sexual education because of their inter-connectedness. With that said, the focus of my policy is primarily the need for comprehensive sexual education. I work for the American Civil Liberties Union, and within this I am a part of TACL. The point of this group is to focus on civil liberties for students. With the passage of the abstinence only bill in Tennessee, I feel as though my liberties have been taken. I believe that you cannot stop students from doing what is natural by not teaching them about it or teaching them about protection. Studies show that in states with abstinence only education laws, the pregnancy rate is much higher. I want to focus my research on education about safety...
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...Should the early sex education be taught in schools or not? Discuss In recent years, the number of pregnancies and the sexual transmitted infections which are experienced by the teens has unpredictably increased. The sex education can be identified as the process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy, and the teens refers to those whose age is between 12 and 20. In whether or not the early sex education should be taught in schools a number of arguments, both for and against, need to be examined. These arguments include that sex education decreases the teenage pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases. Comprehensive sex education promotes healthy behavior. Sex education materials contain offensive content and induce youth to attempt initiated sex. Firstly, the sex education reduces the incidence of underage pregnancy and the spread of transmitted diseases. With regard to the outcomes of the sexual behaviors, it is clearly discovered that the teenage pregnancy and the sexual transmitted diseases are the most serious effects of teen sex. According to Klein, each year, in United State, teens experience as many as 850,000 pregnancies, and youth under age 25 experience about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Meanwhile, Klein states that by age 18, 70 percent of American females and 62 percent of American males have initiated sex. Thus, comprehensive sex education advocates believe that...
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...Reducing Teenage Pregnancies and STDs through Education An Investigation into the increasing number of teenage pregnancies and STDs in the United States Christene M. Staley Western Governor’s University WGU Student ID# 000259544 Why do we need sexual education? In recent years there has been a large debate on how to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and STDs in the United States. Although many agree that some form of sexual education is needed there are many opinions on what should be taught in schools and at what age. One approach is teaching abstinence only programs compared with teaching young adolescence about sex and contraceptives use and the risks associated with being sexually active. We compare the United States that currently has both the highest teenage pregnancies and STDs among young adolescence compared to other industrialized countries. This examination will show what methods of sexual education has been proven to work and why. Additionally we will examine why other countries have greatly reduced teenage pregnancies and what they are doing that has been effective. There is a significant impact on society and its costing our nation as well as the children of the teenager mothers. (Manlove et al., 2002). The first thing we need to look at is educating teenagers in order to reduce teen pregnancies and STDs. Second we will look at the need to being the discussion of sex at home and educate our children starting as the...
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...16 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...
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...Title: Go To Bed with Sex Ed General Purpose: to persuade my class sex education should be taught in school Specify: As the generations advance in aspects like technology. Adolescents are beginning to advance in sexuality at an early age as well. Central Idea: Sex education will help Preteens and Teens understand how their bodies operate, how diseases are transmitted, and how to speak up. Introduction Attention Getter: Each year US Teens experience about 850,000 pregnancies. [3] Youth under the age of 25 experience 9.1 million STI’s. [3] In 2011, approximately 24 percent of new HIV diagnoses were young people age 13 to 24. [3] Credibility: When I attended High School in Georgia during my freshman to junior year it was required to take a sex education to keep us informed on current STD’s and STI’s, pregnancy, and our bodies. Although we were not required to get tested the pregnancy rates were lower that the high school I attended in Kentucky. Connect with the Audience: If you want to keep teens educated about current diseases and prevent school wide pregnancies and infections you will agree to educate them about sex. State Central: Sex education will help Preteens and Teens understand how their bodies operate, how diseases are transmitted, and how to speak up. State Main Points: * Less Pregnancies and STD’S * Helping NOT HARMING * Parent/School Involvement Body I. Less Pregnancies and STD’S * Among students who had sex in the three months prior...
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...Sex Education in Schools Should sex education be taught in schools? There had been many debates over this. They say that sex education only destroys the morality of people because they think that sex education teaches students about how sexual intercourse is done. Although sex education lowers the morality of people by teaching students how to use condoms and contraceptives, it should be taught in primary school and secondary school because (a) it prevents sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy, (b) it is indeed a need in case of parents’ absence, and (c) it gives children the idea of what is right and what is 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 students to do it. According to Bleakley(2006), in a survey conducted, only about seventeen percent of the respondents answered that sex education does encourage them to do “it” and that the remaining eighty three percent strongly 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 in America have done it by their senior year. These kids are in danger of sexually transmitted diseases. There is also a big possibility for them to become pregnant...
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...CATHOLICS CAN SUPPORT THE RH BILL IN GOOD CONSCIENCE (Position paper on the Reproductive Health Bill by individual faculty* of the Ateneo de Manila University) (Note: The opinions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of other faculty. Neither do they represent the official position of the Ateneo de Manila University nor the Society of Jesus.) We, individual faculty of the Ateneo de Manila University, call for the immediate passage of House Bill 5043 on “Reproductive Health and Population Development” (hereafter RH Bill) in Congress. After examining it in the light of Philippine social realities, and informed by our Christian faith, we have reached the conclusion that our country urgently needs a comprehensive and integrated policy on reproductive health and population development, as provided by the RH Bill. We also believe that the provisions of the bill adhere to core principles of Catholic social teaching: the sanctity of human life, the dignity of the human person, the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, integral human development, human rights, and the primacy of conscience. Catholic social theology since Vatican II has evolved, on the one hand, from the emphasis on order, social cohesiveness, the acceptance of some inequality, and obedience to authorityto the recognition, on the other, of the centrality of the human person, and the concomitant need for human freedom, equality, and participation (Pacem...
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...And Other Related Complications Teenage pregnancy is defined as a teenager or underage girl (usually within the ages of 13–19) becoming pregnant. The term in everyday speech usually refers to women who have not reached legal adulthood, which varies across the world, who become pregnant (MedlinePlus 2008). Adolescent mothers are more numerous in western societies and especially in the United States. Today, young people are sexually active at an earlier age compare to the previous generation, and there are several associated consequences. Sexual activity among adolescents is often associated with unprotected sex or use of ineffective methods of contraception. A large proportion of adolescents are suffering from sexual transmitted diseases (STDs) and girls become pregnant and young mothers. Given the increase in teenage pregnancies and the consequences on the quality of life of the young people, an intervention, is needed starting in the middle schools. According to a study done in late 2009 by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), a pro-choice organization, nationwide, teenage pregnancy rate was 71.5 pregnancies per 1,000 women ages 13 to 19 (Huffington Post 2010). Before intervention, however, it is essential to understand the factors underlying the premature and unprotected sex leading to unwanted pregnancies and STDs among adolescents. These risk factors include individual characteristics of adolescents as well as environmental factors. This paper will examine the reasons...
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...following: * Personal values * Ability to use a method correctly * How the method will affect sexual enjoyment * Financial factors * Status of a couple’s relationship * Prior experiences * Future plans The widespread use of contraceptives points to both an increased awareness of responsibility for contraception and options available. Understanding this concept, its work and how they compare in terms of benefits and disadvantages is necessary for successful counseling. Legal and ethical issues must also be considered when counseling clients. The arguments about contraception fall into several groups: * philosophical arguments such as the "natural law" argument * arguments based on different ideas of marriage, sex and the family * human rights arguments such as * 'procreative liberty' * a woman's right to control her own body * human rights arguments about mass birth control programs * arguments based on the good or bad consequences of birth control (consequentialism) * arguments about the environmental and resource problems caused by over-population * religious arguments Background of the Study The Reproductive Health Bill, popularly known as the RH Bill, is a...
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...impart sex education to our teenagers. During adolescence, not only do the hormones work overtime, but there are physical changes too that are taking place in the body structure; particularly so in the sex organs, making the teenager curious to explore these changes. During the last three decades media both audio visual and printed has been feeding the young curious minds more often with misinformation and wrong notions about sex. The 'sexual arena' is in constant focus among the teens; in the absence of proper guidance, this can result in more harm than good. Enlightening a teenager is the best preventive policy to tackle the growing health problems in this age group. They need to understand very early that it is better to be safe than sorry. (Taruna http:// tarunamlife. blogspot. com/2010_10_01_archive.html) Sex education means different things to different people. Perhaps this is because we precise sex, as we do other things, in relation to our own expression and attitude. First of all, sex education which is sometimes called sexuality education involves all aspects of the individual not merely the physiological process and physical needs. Sex education is also about developing young people’s skill so that they make informed choices about their behaviour, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices. Sex education is about taking precautionary measures and making children aware of what it is all about and it is not about encouraging children to have sex. It...
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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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...Abstinence- Only Vs. Comprehensive Sex Education Nickenha Ashley SOC 233 Professor Singer October 31, 2013 The debate about “abstinence” vs. “comprehensive” sex education has been occurring for at least three decades. The common ground that drives these competing approaches is concern about the negative consequences of adolescent sexual activity to the health and well-being of individuals and society. The debate about these programs were re-energized recently based on the research of about four different abstinence program, where teens in that study reported that they did not abstain from sexual activity more than non-participants. Based on these results it has come to the conclusion that the abstinence approach to preventing teen sexual risk behaviors does not work. My position on this topic is that I feel that all schools should implement the comprehensive sex education class rather than the abstinence only. The abstinence only approach to sex education does not protect young people from HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, and unplanned pregnancy. This approach will likely have serious unintended consequences by denying young people access to the information they need to protect themselves. Sex education will prepare them only for when they want to make that decision but will clarify that having no sex is the only way to truly prevent any accidents. The idea that sexual activity is the ticket to popularity is burned into teens brains by media, through television...
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