Sex education compiles essential information from human sexual anatomy to reproduction. The continuous debate over whether or not sex education should be taught in schools has rapidly become one of the most controversial topics in today’s generation. Although some say that exposing students to topics about sex at an early age might seem too provocative, inappropriate, or is capable of clashing with several religious values, being educated about the issue is more helpful than being clueless. Furthermore, incorporating sexual education in a classroom setting will help inform students not only about sex but also inform them about more sensitive issues like sexually transmitted diseases, reproduction, safe sex, abstinence, and more.
Growing up would not be growing up if it did not involve changes; changes that involve the surroundings and changes that happen within oneself. One of the earliest and most impactful transitions a child goes through is the transition from elementary to middle school. Children entering middle school are introduced to cliques, peer pressure, and most importantly, puberty. Therefore, incorporating sex ed classes during this time plays a vital protective position as upcoming teenagers learn about sex education before they start to have sex, and, ideally, avoid perilous sexual behaviors, effectively (Grossman).
Human Immunodeficiency Viruses and Sexually Transmitted Diseases are transmitted through having unprotected sex and sharing needles with someone who has the infection. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP), about 25% of HIV patients are between the ages thirteen to twenty-four years old and about twenty million people, twenty-five and under, posses some form of STD. Additionally, the CDC reports that more than half of the middle to high school students who are engaging in sexual behaviors are not necessarily doing so, safely (Zimlich). The rapid increase of teens with sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, becomes more and more prevalent in the United States, which only furthers the argument that sex education needs to be pushed in the attempt to lower these rates.
Besides the possibility of acquiring STDs, another effect of unprotected, and sometimes, even protected sex, can be pregnancy. Since teen pregnancy is a major social and political issue nationwide, much of the discussion about sex education has to do with its effectiveness in reducing the number of unexpected pregnancies among young women. As indicated by a report discharged by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), teen birth rates in California has significantly reduced due to extensive sex education programs. In a press release, the department revealed several strategies used to contribute to the decrease of both teen pregnancy and birth rates in the state of California. One factor was the state’s school sex education program, which the law required to be comprehensive and medically accurate. Another was the state’s community-based education programs that provide sexual health information to teens and their parents (Danawi). The director of the CDPH, Dr. Ron Chapman claimed that “California’s innovative strategies and community partnerships aimed at lowering teen pregnancy are helping young women and men make responsible choices. We must not be complacent; we must continue to promote teen pregnancy prevention programs and strategies in all communities” (Danawi).
Aside from the prevention of pregnancy through sex ed, there is also the issue of abortion and adoption when unprepared teens are faced with unplanned pregnancies. Having a child at such a young age will challenge the physical, mental, and emotional strength of a person. Responsibilities increase and priorities change. According to a 2010 report:
“Teen childbearing is associated with adverse health and social outcomes for teen mothers and their children, although these outcomes often reflect preexisting social deficits. Compared with women who delay childbearing until their 20s, teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school and have low educational attainment; to face unemployment, poverty, and welfare dependency; to experience more rapid repeat pregnancy; to become single mothers; and to experience divorce, if they marry. Infants of teen mothers are more likely to be premature and experience infant mortality. The children of teenage mothers do less well on indicators of health and social well being than do children of older mothers.” (Werner)
Adoption and abortion are the two alternatives when women decide that they are too young to raise a child or when infections like STDs leave future mothers with no choice. Both adoption and abortion are controversies that this country face and both can significantly be controlled through education. Therefore, sex ed should be taken humorlessly and earnestly.
Sex Ed classes also provides guidance relating to birth control, or contraception, and abstinence. Strategies for birth control accessible today run from procedures that are, for the most part, permanent, for example, sterilization, to temporary techniques that must be utilized with each act of sex. The different strategies contrast in their adequacy, which is often expressed in terms of the estimated percentage of women who do not become pregnant during the first year of using a particular method. Effectiveness can vary, with a few techniques approaching 100 percent, or near the level achievable with constant abstinence. Two distinct figures are regularly given for viability: one reflecting right utilization of the strategy, the other reflecting typical use, taking into account the failures to use the method properly or consistently. A common estimate for the effectiveness of not using contraception at all is 15 percent (“Birth Control”). The complete prevention of sex until after marriage, or abstinence, also plays a big part in sex ed.
Non-supporters of sex education in schools claim that doing so may be at odds with some religious ideologies. Programs that push an abstinence-only curriculum tend to be supported by Christian groups and social conservatives, while comprehensive sex education programs tend to be consistent with a more liberal point of view. Those in favor abstinence-only programs typically argue that teaching young people about safe sex is tantamount to encouraging them to have sex. Supporters of abstinence-only programs therefore worry that instituting comprehensive sex education in schools will increase the level of sexual activity among teenagers, thus increasing the rates of STIs and teenage pregnancies. Additionally, they assert that such programs undermine customary family values and overlook abortion and homosexuality. Abstinence, they say, is the only appropriate choice when educating young people about sexuality (Lee).
Those who favor comprehensive sex education over abstinence-only programs counter with the argument that many, if not most, young people will not wait until marriage to have sex. Therefore, young people should be taught about safe sex. In particular, supporters of comprehensive sex education believe that young people must learn how to prevent pregnancy and STDs. Comprehensive sex education works, in partnership with parents and teachers, to promote the development of relevant personal and interpersonal skills. Supporters of comprehensive education also point to studies showing that giving teenagers more information about sex does not in fact increase their levels of sexual activity or lower the age at which teens first start having sex. In addition, advocates of comprehensive sex education point to a body of research finding that abstinence-only programs do not effectively lower rates of teen pregnancy and STIs. Finally, critics of abstinence-only programs charge that some abstinence-only lesson plans contain medically inaccurate information such as false statistics about the effectiveness of condom use in preventing pregnancy (Lee).
The essential objective of sex ed in schools is to help students construct a solid establishment as they develop into sexually healthy adults. These programs are capable of aiding teenagers in creating a positive perspective of sexuality, provide them with information and skills that involve taking care of their sexual health. Sex ed provides teenagers the opportunity to fully comprehend their qualities, dispositions, and convictions about sexuality. Although students might feel a sense of embarrassment when learning about the human body and sexuality, it does not change the fact that it is essential. Learning about safe sex practices or even choosing to abstain from it is an important outcome especially when sexually transmitted diseases are in high rates in this country and all over the world.