Comprehensive Sex Education

Human sexuality can be fascinating, complex, contradictory, and sometimes frustrating. Sexuality is interwoven into every aspect of being human; therefore, having knowledge about sex is as essential as having education about human anatomy. However, it is highly recommended to pay close attention when sex education is delivered to youths. (Donatelle 171)

What and when do American parents want their children to be thought about sex? This is an ongoing question that parents seek to find the best answer, to be able to inform their kids about sexuality in order to build up a strong foundation for sexual health.

Sex education, as it is understood today, was unknown until about 200 years ago. Since children were taking part in almost all adult works, sexual knowledge was acquired automatically with all other kinds of knowledge. “Facts of life”, such as bathing, sleeping together in the nude, discussing about pregnancy, and giving birth at home were never a secret. Therefore, the idea that parents or other communities such as schools have a responsibility to teach young people about sex is a modern concept. In other words, the formal movement of sex education started in the early twentieth century when families started growing up in the cities rather than farms. During that time, American reformers were among those who were more focused on dangers of twin anxieties known as medical and moral decline which were resulted from lacking sex education among youths in the society (Moran). With the new outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and the fact that sexually active people are becoming younger, sex has become a daily topic.

Before the late nineteenth century, children in the United States were practicing s...

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...eration. (Sex Education)

Works Cited

1. Banks, Sandy. "When middle school is too late for sex ed." Los Angeles Times 6 February 2010.

2. Donatelle, Rebecca. “Access to Health”. 11th Edition. San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 1950: 171 and 207-210.

3. Johannah, Cornblatt. "The Sin of Yielding to Impure Desire." Newsweek. , 28 Oct 2009. Newsweek. 12 Apr 2011

4. Morran, Jeffery. "Sex Education." faqs.org. 2008. The Gale Group.

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5. NCSL. “State policies on sex education in schools”. 2011.Guttmacher Institute. 12 April 2011

6. “Sex Education.” Wikipedia. 2011. Wikipedia Foundation Inc.. 12 Apr 2011