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Prevent teen pregnancy through sexual education
Prevent teen pregnancy through sexual education
Problems with abstinence only education
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In today’s society major issues are established on teen pregnancy and STDs. Many parents are against the abstinence only education program being taught to their children and others believe in teaching there parents that sex is bad. On the other hand sex education tells students what and what will happen if they have sex they will tell them how it happens, what the effects are after it happens, and how to prevent from getting pregnant or STDs. There are also parents that are very against both, the abstinence based Ed and the sex education courses in schools not everybody wants their children to be taught about sex. The course is usually begin during middle school and kind of fade away in high school, but in the middle there are issues within the teachers and the curriculum that they would have to teach. Abstinence only education programs have caused many issues in today's world. Some parents love the idea of teaching their children on how not to have intercourse before getting married. The opposition would say that abstinence-only Ed increase the rate of teen pregnancy and STDs. It is very rare when somebody agrees on the abstinence only program but there are some studies out there that explain how it is effective. Its also explains on how it all began to change through out the years. According to CNN abstinence only education programs are more effective than sex education courses for keeping students in middle school from having sex in a two year period. A study was established by the Arches of Pediatric and Adolescence of Medicine, it indicated that about one-third of the pre teens and young teen students received an 8 hour lesson over abstinence only and had intercourse two years later after taking that class. But mostly everybo... ... middle of paper ... ...ised by counselors to take the course and it will make the job easier on parents, counselors, and teachers. Many complaints are made about this course taking place but when people began to see the rates of STDs the complete will begin to decline. Most parents want their children to be having safe sexual intercourse and if that means receiving condoms from the course then so be it. Sex education and abstinence only programs both cause conflict in today's society. For example, we tend to blame the media for certain things people do vs. blaming the person for being an idiot and not thinking clearly. With that in mind, sex education courses are supposedly made to prevent pregnancy and STDs and so does abstinence only education programs but which ever program a student attends they will still be at risk and therefore it will be up to them if they make a change or not.
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.
Those in support of Comprehensive Sex education believe that if teens get complete and accurate information about sex, then they will be able to make better decisions (Magoon 57). Even those who remain abstinent until marriage need to be able to recognize an STD because their partner could have made a different decision and not remained abstinent (Magoon 57). There are many groups and organizations that promote Abstinence-only education or Comprehensive Sex education (Magoon 80-81). The debate over Sex education is almost solely a discussion of what is moral and what is practical, says Kekla Magoon (6-95). Abstinence-only advocates main issue with Comprehensive Sex education is the debate of whether or not giving teens more information actually leads them to being sexually active (Magoon 73).
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
Santelli, J., Ott, A., Lyon, M., Rogers, J., Summers, D., &Schelifer, R. (2006). Abstinence and abstinence-only education: A review of U.S. policies and programs. Journal of Adolescent Health 38 p.p.72-81.
In the American school system there two different ways to teach sex education. The first, and unfortunately more common, form of sexual education is known as abstinence-only education. This form of education only teaches children about not having sex. Abstinence-only education leaves out many different things that should be taught to students. It leaves out all of the different forms of STDs, all of the negative consequences of sex, the effects of sex on your self-esteem, and more importantly it leaves out the fact that having sex is acceptable. Abstinence-only education make students feel like if they have sex they are horrible people. Studies have shown that in states that only require abstinence-only education there is a higher rate of STDs and teen pregnancies than states that require comprehensive sexual education. The reason these states have higher rate of STDs and teen pregnancies is because the teenagers are too afraid to talk to their parents about forms of contraception because they feel as though if they tell their parents they're having sex in their parents will think of them as
...ive amount of research, it is obvious that sex education in the United States is an important topic to teach in schools. This is something that can affect not only the students body, but also their future. It must be taught. Students not only need to know the consequences of having sex, but also how to protect themselves and their partners. The comprehensive approach has been proven to be the most effective method on adolescents. In closing l, comprehensive sex education keeps students safe and well informed. Comprehensive sex education covers everything about sex and not just abstinence only. Empowering students with the knowledge to protect themselves from any situation is one of the most important aspects of sex education. Comprehensive sex education not only prepares students, but helps society grow as a whole by preparing American adolescents for their future.
Three million teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease and one in three women will become pregnant before they are twenty years old. Teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant at an alarming rate causing the government, schools, and parents to scratch their heads. America is the country with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world. Many are wondering what can be done to stop this. A debate has been going on about whether abstinence only education is doing any good for high school students in America. Abstinence only education teaches teenagers to abstain from all sexual acts until they are married. It does not teach about pregnancy or the different types of contraceptives that are available to prevent pregnancy. On the other hand, there is safe sex education. Safe sex education teaches teenagers facts about intercourse they need to know, acknowledges the potential consequences or risks of sexual behavior, and helps them make better decisions to protect themselves and their bodies.
“Sex sells.” This is a common phrase used very often in social media and entertainment industries. Today, the youth generation is highly exposed to social media and products of entertainment industries from music to movies on the big screen. Most of the products produced by these industries are sexually explicit, and they tend to send the wrong messages about sexual behavior. Adolescents almost spend the same amount of time watching television and engaging with social media as they do in an educational environment. Therefore, the best way to tackle the misconceptions of sex among adolescents is to provide sex education in school. Sex education should be taught in school in order to provide a mutual learning experience for adolescents among
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.
Overall, my point of view is that sexual education should be taught in school. It’s a subject that should not be looked over and should be taught before you go to high school when those things come into play. This is my point of view because boys and girls need to know about their bodies, know about STD’s, and know the different types of methods to prevent pregnancy. Sexual education should be taught regardless. Another important thing that everyone needs to learn are the different ways to stay protected so that you do not end up getting pregnant, or getting a girl pregnant. Instead of having unprotected intercourse they need to either use a condom, or be on some sort of birth control. There are many ways to be able to prevent pregnancy but they also need to know that you are never fully guaranteed that pregnancy won’t occur. They need to be informed
According to World Association for Sexual Health, "to achieve sexual health, all individuals, including youth, must have access to comprehensive sexuality education and sexual health information and services throughout the life cycle" (Sexual Health for the Millennium 4). In the fifteenth century, scientists and educators raised the issue of sex education of children and adolescents. This topic particularly was discussed after the sexual revolution that occurred in the past century, when there were the first attempts to introduce sex education courses first as electives, and then as a mandatory class. Sex education should be taught in schools as a compulsory subject in order to develop knowledge about puberty as well as to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
My high school did not really do much for sexual education. There was an optional health class that was offered, but there were never enough people that wanted to take it so most of the time, they did not have the class. In both biology and anatomy, there was one day that nurses from the local hospital would come in and talk about STDs but that was the only time in high school. Although I think that teaching high schoolers about STDs is important, these talks seem to attempt to scare teens into not having sex. In eighth grade, there is a mandatory health class where they teach about sexual education and STDs. This class was an abstinence-only program and was very insistent that being abstinent was the only way to be. It was also a joke at my
“Forty-one percent of teens ages 18-19 said they know nothing about condoms, and seventy-five percent said they know nothing about the contraceptive pill” (Facts on American Teens). Even if schools taught just abstinence it still would not be enough. “In 2007, a study showed that abstinence only programs have no beneficial impact on the sexual behavior of young people” (Facts on American Teens). Sex education is not taken as seriously as it should be in schools, it is treated like it is not a big deal. Schools should require a sex education class that specifically teaches students about sex and goes into depth of all the possible consequences because of the high pregnancy, abortion, and virus rates.
...y way to 100% prevent unwanted teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Other supporters claim that by using education to promote understanding of STDs along with an abstinence-only program, teens will receive all the information that is needed for them to be able to make healthy choices.