Boy and girl, or any combination of the two, are sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes talking, then comes pairing... hold on, what if we don’t wait until marriage? Sex education has never been perfect, and it most likely never will be. It is constantly influenced by public opinions and public health concerns, but is currently required in some form in every US state. The quality and form of sex education may vary from state to state, and this causes issues of misinformation and undereducation. The two most popular approaches to sex education are comprehensive sex education and abstinence first or only education. According to “Comprehensive sex Education” on siecus.org, comprehensive sex education uses accurate medical and age-related …show more content…
According to the “State Policies on Sex Education in Schools” published February 16, 2016 on ncsl.org, twenty-four states and the District of Columbia require sex education in public schools, while thirty-three states and the District of Columbia require HIV education and twenty-one states require both. However, parents have rights involving sex education in the majority of the states. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia allow parents to participate in sex education whilst four require consent from parents and thirty-five states and the District of Columbia allow parents to choose not to have their children in sex education. Since many opinions of sex education are morally based, it is sometimes difficult for public schools and parents of students to see eye to eye on approaches to it. Although a multitude of public schools require sex ed, but the types and quality of sex education vary. In the “Current Barriers to Sex Education Implementation” section of futureofsexed.org, it is mentioned that numerous states strongly encourage or require abstinence-only programs, which are often cheaper and less time consuming programs to administer. Another factor that affects quality of sex education is that public school sex education lacks a system of liability to make sure that it is accurate or effective. This makes it easier for students to possibly receive false or outdated
Since the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the U.S. in the early 1980s the issue of sex education for American youth has had the attention of the nation. There are about 400,000 teen births every year in the U.S, with about 9 billion in associated public costs. STI contraction in general, as well as teen pregnancy, have put the subject even more so on the forefront of the nation’s leading issues. The approach and method for proper and effective sex education has been hotly debated. Some believe that teaching abstinence-only until marriage is the best method while others believe that a more comprehensive approach, which includes abstinence promotion as well as contraceptive information, is necessary. Abstinence-only program curriculums disregard medical ethics and scientific accuracy, and have been empirically proven to be ineffective; therefore, comprehensive sex education programs which are medically accurate, science-based and empirically proven should be the standard method of sex education for students/children in the U.S.
Sex education in the United States has been an bi-polar opinionated topic within the education system. It's use and curriculum are affected by many forces such as politics, public health concerns, and religious affiliation to name just a few. There has though been clearly documented need for publics support for sex education programs in schools. What is often unknown, is Sex education was been introduced into the education systems as early as 1912. At this time the National Education Association requested for teachers to be trained in sexuality education. In the 1940s the United States Health Services supported Sex education programs in the school systems saying there was an urgent need for awareness. Though it wasn’t till 1955 that the American Medical Association in union with National Education Association published five pamphlets which were to be used for sex education in schools. Although even with the support of teachers and public health officials the use and implementation of sex education programs in school were heavily debated by many.
Colleges and schools where both females and males are educated together are termed to be “coeducational.” Long previous to our modern day society, segregating male and female in education systems was considered the “norm.” During these traditionally dominant ancient times, coeducation was prevalent in Europe and the idea of integrating such unique groups became such a phenomenon. This widespread of coeducation was eventually developed in American countries and has grown to be a universally accepted mode of education. Not only was this idea “new” and “innovative,” but it also crossed the line of our ancestor’s valued practice of tradition. Although this system went against what tradition honored, this new system of education generated comradery between individuals of the opposite sex and has knowledged them of skills one was unable to exercise in a single-sex educational environment. Coeducation, being the more modern system of education, has caused single-sex systems to become more outdated and inconvenient to society’s evolving standards. Exposure to the opposite sex introduces students life skills vital to a professional workfield thus, it shows males and females the importance of maintaining a symbiotic relationship and how they benefit from one another. Schools worldwide should consider the practice of educating students of both sexes in the same educational institution to allow for opportunity for one to build character in accordance to our evolving society and acquire flexibility in social skills.
As many know everyone is different in every way, therefore why do we hold everyone to the same standards and expectations. Abstinence-only education teaches the students that it is only morally correct for students to remain abstinent until they are married. Instead of leaving the option up to the adolescent after providing all information, they put fear into them to choose what they think is the only “morally acceptable” choice. When talking about condoms, abortion, and other sexual orientation they only give the failure rates and more then likely will omit the controversial topics. Instead of giving true facts that have been proven, abstinence-only education will teach the students anything they have to so that they fear having sex. They also teach that if an unintentional pregnancy occurs the only morally correct option would be carry the baby for full term, then give it up for adoption if it comes to that; which is wrong. The other options have been provided for the reasoning of many of the different situations the world faces to this day. We should better improve the world by providing teenagers with sex ed
The fact of the matter is that a high school student in the United States has an extensive probability of receiving a sub par sexual education based on where they live. Currently, there are only twenty-two states mandate sexual education and only thirteen states that require the information that’s taught to be medically accurate. It’s the education systems responsibility to equip youth with all of the information they need to know to make the right choice about sex. That kind of irresponsibility isn't tolerated in any other subject, and health class shouldn't be the exception. If all school subject enjoyed those same loose guidelines, a history teacher could tell their class that Ariana Grande ended the Civil War in 1999 and it would be perfectly legal (Oliver). In her article addressing the shortcomings of american sex education, social activist Beth Leyba wrote “statistics have shown that [abstinence-only] does not work and, in fact leads to higher rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, as kids who are only taught abstinence are less likely to use contraception and condoms when they begin having sex”
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.
In the United States, there is a rising problem that is not going anywhere anytime soon, that is if we, as citizens, don 't change it. This problem is causing billions of dollars and people 's futures all because schools would rather teach ignorance than the truth. What’s the problem? Sex education. Although sex education may not seem like a rising conflict, it is actually one of the top controversial topics in our country regarding education. According to Brigid McKeon, “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)” (McKeon). This number is so unbelievable to any sane person, but somehow schools still won 't take the initiative to teach realistic sex education. Sex education can be taught in two different procedures- comprehensive or abstinence only. The difference between the two methods is that comprehensive sex education teaches abstinence as a secondary choice, so that teens who decide not to wait are well educated on how to keep themselves protected. Comprehensive sex education should be required in every single public school because it is the most effective method on how to keep teenagers well informed and prepared.
According to planned parenthood, sex education is widely supported by many people in the United States. In Planned Parenthood’s most recent poll on sex education, 93 percent of parents supported having sex education taught in middle school, and 96 percent of parents supported having sex education taught in high school. Most parents support sex education in middle school and high school that covers a wide range of topics, including STDs, puberty, healthy relationships, contraception, and sexual
Whereas, the Sexual Education program promotes safe sex and knowledge of the sex and it’s consequences. The motto would be, “Knowledge is Power.” As a result of this program has decreased the rate of unplanned pregnancy and sexual disease outbreak. This is why it is argued that Sexual Education should be taught in the public school system.
What is the meaning of comprehensive sex education? Is education about all matters relating to sexuality. What it teenage pregnancy? It is classified as any teen between the ages of 15-19 the gets pregnant. The statistics for teen pregnancy according to the CDC is whites, 24% for blacks, 27% for American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN), and 34% for Hispanics.1 for15-19 year old teens in 2007 to 2011 only
Due to culture, such customs have been hard to get rid of and improve upon, especially with many of this shame originating from organized religion. In recent years though, conservatism on this education has lessened and allowed for students to be taught about sex, especially through health class. Debra Houser puts it as “[a]bout half of all young people begin having sex by age 17. Providing a foundation of quality sexual education is the only way to ensure that young people grow into sexually healthy adults.” Based on this study it would also be wise to start teaching about actual intercourse and everything that goes with it, contraceptives, pregnancy, diseases, and healthy relationships, before puberty.
Before moving on, one must know that sex education is about, but not limited to the discussion of sexual intercourse. As a Buzzle article states, it involves a multitude of topics that introduce human sexual behaviors such as puberty, sexual health, sexual reproduction, sexuality, and more (Iyer). If formally received in school, these topics are brought up and discussed at age-appropriate times over the course of children’s junior high and high school education. Moreover, as I have introduced earlier, the way sex education should be taught is divided into two approaches. It is between taking either a conservative, abstinence-only approach or a more liberal, comprehensive approach. Abstinence-only education, approaches students by stressing the importance of “no sex before marriage” as be...
The issue of sex education in schools is going to be there for many years to come. The problem is that people want answers that can’t be talked about until more research is done on the effects of sex education. Parents, teachers, schools and students all have on common goal and that is to find a way to accurately discuss sex education in schools. There are problems with that because of all of the arguments surrounding the issue and all the problems with trying to come to a conclusion about it. Since the teen pregnancy rates have more than double and STD cases are the highest among teens we obviously see a need for it, but don’t know how to go about it. Once we research the long term effects of sex education and then come to agreement on what should be taught in schools the sex education problem in America will diminish. We need to break down the educational borders and try to look at all the perspectives to reach the common goal.
Sex education in our schools has been a hot topic of debate for decades. The main point in question has been whether to utilize comprehensive sex education or abstinence-only curriculum to educate our youth. The popularity of abstinence-only curriculum over the last couple of decades has grown largely due to the United States government passing a law to give funding to states that teach the abstinence-only approach to sex education. But not teaching our children about sex and sexuality is not giving them the information they need to make well educated decisions. Sex education in our schools should teach more than just abstinence-only because these programs are not proven to prevent teens from having sex. Children need to be educated on how to prevent contracting sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies and be given the knowledge to understand the changes to their bodies during puberty. According to the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten-12th Grade from the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), comprehensive sex education “should be appropriate to age, developmental level, and cultural background of students and respect the diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community” (SIECUS).
What is possibly a more delicate topic to introduce to kids than that of which concerns the birds and the bees? I know that I never got a talk from my parents as it just wasn’t to be discussed in our house and we would learn about it in our school’s Health class. Living in a small rural community in the heart of the southern “Bible Belt”, I can say from experience that the sex education my peers and I received was not sex education. The problem is, many sex education courses teach based on abstinence from sex until marriage. These programs use fear, shame, and even religious influences in order to prevent adolescents from having sex out of wedlock, thinking that less information will deter them from risky sex. However, it is the lack of knowledge that promotes these actions. By not providing kids with the information they need for sexual safety, abstinence from sex education is actually ineffective compared to comprehensive sex education.