The Effects Of Sex Education On Schools

As children grow up, they are exposed to changes in their body and physiology. Adults, family, schools, and friends influence them and teach them about the world and the changes they are going to experiment, but how does an adult approach children and teenagers about sex? New ideas and debates have formed concerning how to educate the youngsters on the topic of sex: whether parents should explain their children about the birds and the bees, or schools need a course to educate students about sexual activity. This paper is going to examine sex education from different perspectives: psychology, education, and religion studies. Sex education is instruction on issues regarding human sexuality, emotions, responsibilities, anatomy, sexual intercourse, reproduction, health issues, rights, how to practice safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases, sexual organs, or everything related to human reproduction and sex. Almost four out of ten young women get pregnant before the age of twenty (hhs.gov), and nearly twenty million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) come from people in between fifteen and twenty-four years old (hhs.gov), and most of them state they were uniformed or not prepared. The topic of sex has been a taboo subject in various cultures throughout the years because many parents are unwilling or unable to properly educate their children about sex, forcing them to seek out less credible sources. If schools are permitted to teach sex education, then they can

Multiple factors influence the rate of teen pregnancy. Some of the most important factors influencing pregnancy rates are socioeconomic status, education, and family income. With low socioeconomic status and income, parents may not always be present in their children’s lives in order to educate them on sex. School districts, then, take on the responsibility to educate teenagers on sexual intercourse and safe practices, but some fail. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. provided statistics showing that while many schools push abstinence-only programs, they show little to no positive impact on preventing teen pregnancies (Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (n.d.)). While abstinence may work for some, it is not realistic to believe that all teens will abide by it. Teens need a comprehensive sexual education with emphasis on safe sex practices, which is where Be Safe, Not Sorry comes into play. The comprehensive program will cover all

One major problem in America’s society today is teen pregnancy rates. In fact, “teen sexual activity, pregnancy, and childbearing are associated with substantial social, economic, and health costs” (Sedgwick). However, this problem is not one without a solution. The rise of teen pregnancy rates can be prevented and reversed by providing better access to birth control for teens, eliminating the negative connotation that accompanies abstinence, and implementing more efficient sex education in public schools.

The fact that the United States does not actually require mandatory sex education is of utmost concern, seeing that places where sex education is not taught at all also experience the highest birthrates. In addition to places where sex education is not taught at all, areas in which abstinence-only education were taught also faced higher birthrates (Stanger-Hall and Hall 6). While abstinence only programs have shown no real statistical evidence of success, comprehensive sex education programs have, by combining the positives of both abstinence and information on how to engage in safe sex (Starkman and Rajani 314). In comprehensive sex education, students are taught not only how to use contraceptives properly, but also how to obtain them, as well as other aspects of practicing safe sex. Encouragingly, comprehensive sex education has shown a forty percent success rate in all of the following, “delaying the initiation of sex, reducing the number of sexual partners, and increasing contraceptive use.” Even more impressively, there was sixty-seven percent rate in these areas individually (Malone and Rodriguez 1). Teaching that abstinence is the only option, and providing no alternatives, leaves many teens vulnerable to engaging in unsafe sex out of pure incompetence (Starkman and Rajani 314). Despite many concerns, comprehensive sex education does not make a teenager more likely to be sexually active, and is surprisingly supported by the majority

Teenage pregnancy is a growing problem in the United States today. As of 2010, 57.84% of 15-19 year old girls will become pregnant, which is especially high as compared to the rates of other developed countries. (Kost, 3) Why are unplanned pregnancy rates in teenagers so high? There are various factors that contribute to these high teen pregnancy rates, but one major factor is the type of sexual education that teenagers receives. While attention to abstinence in sexual education can be beneficial, it is when sexual education focuses solely on abstinence that teen pregnancy rates increase. Comprehensive sex education in schools has been shown to lower the rates of teen pregnancy more than abstinence only sex education has, and therefore should

Sex education has been the single most controversial debate in the United States education systems within the past few decades, but was first introduced as early as 1905 where there was a rally for sex education within schools in attempts to eradicate venereal disease (The Beginning of Sex Education in the U.S.: A Historical Perspective). There was not much support at this time though, until the 1980’s when there was the HIV/AID’s epidemic. This was when more people became aware of what was going on and tried figuring out how to put a stop to it, and quick. Surprisingly, in the early twentieth century, people were actually taught to be fearful of sex and that such contact could result in fatality. Many young boys and girls were actually taught

Most of us are familiar with the alarming statistics about teen sexual activity in the United States. Among high school students, 54 percent (including 61% of boys and 48% of girls) say they have had sexual intercourse. According to a 1992 Center for disease Control Study. The # of 9th Graders who say they 've had sex is 40%. In the past two decades, there has been an explosion in the # of sexually transmitted diseases. 12 million people are infected each year; 63 percent of them are under 25. Each year, 1 of every 10 teenage girls becomes pregnant, and more than 400,000 teenagers have abortions. 1 in 4 children is born out of wedlock, compared to 1 in 20 in 1960. We have realized that since they stopped teaching sexual education in high schools that the teen pregnancy rates have increased. Today, we will talk about the bad vs. good in sexual education and now it will benefit students in the future.

While parents would like their children to wait as long as possible to begin having sex, the reality is that teens are having sex much younger than many parents think. Some teens, or preteens, begin having sex or engaging in sexual behavior in junior high. By the time they are seniors in high school, an estimated 65 percent of teens have had sex, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007. (Dawn, 2009). Unfortunately, a percentage of those teens will become pregnant. After more than a decade and a half of decline (a 27 percent drop from 1991 to 2000), teen birth rates rose again in 2006, which was the last year for which data are available. It is still unclear on what caused teen birth rates to rise again, with supporters of abstinence-only sex education programs and contraception-based programs each blaming the other side for the increase. However, a 2007 study in the Journal of American Public Health attributed the trend in decreasing pregnancy rates to improved contraception use among teens during that time. (Anderson Orr, 2009).

Statistics from recent studies suggest that only 13% of U.S. teens have ever had sex by the age of 15. But by the age of 19, seven in ten teens of both sexes have had sex. Between 1995 and 2006-2008, the percentage of teens aged 15-17 who had ever engaged in sexual intercourse declined from 38% to 28%. Among teens aged 18-19, it declined from 68% in 1995 to 60% in 2006-2008. The pregnancy rate among young women has declined steadily from 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in 1990 to 70 per 1,000 in 2005. However in 2006, the rate increased for the first time in more than a decade, rising to

Many teenagers are now becoming parents these days. In fact, from the ages of 15-19, there were 249,078 babies born in the United States. (1) Many of these unwanted pregnancies can be prevented with the help sexual education. Yes, in some schools there is sexual education. But, if it was in every school many of these could have possibly been prevented. At the school I attend, sexual education is not offered. We are faced with several unwanted pregnancies, and with sexual education, I think these could be prevented.

With the end of World War II, not only did America see the rise of the teenager as a consumer category, as well as, an increase in films as educational tools in the classroom, but also a shift in sex education. This era demonstrates a transition from moral/ethical interpretations of sex education commonly taught within the home or church during the early 1900s toward more accurate, biological interpretations of sex taught within the mid-century classrooms. This is evident from an educational health circular from 1940: High Schools and Sex Education, which note that “as conditions change and as knowledge expands it becomes necessary for the school to assist the home more and more in its educational functions.” This health circular explains that WWII resulted in less time for mothers to devote toward educating their children and subsequently schools became vessels for home economics and sex education curricula.

t’s clear that the school hasn’t been doing the greatest job at explaining pregnancy prevention tactics; 1,700 teens ages 15-17 give birth every week. Schools say that teen pregnancy is an issue and how it is the person’s fault, but how could it be their fault if they’re not taught forms of safe sex? As teens get older, they’re going to want to experiment; we can’t stop that. What we can do is make sure that they have the knowledge for when they are willing to experiment and learn more about their bodies. Schools should make sex education classes a requirement for every middle and high school kids, no matter what grade they are in. Most doctors, educators and adults are telling kids to just stay away from

More teens than you know are having sexual behaviors. With or without knowledge of how to prevent pregnancy and STIs. Teaching teens about their sexual behaviors could help teens have better mental health. Sexual education classes can help teens brains develop to make better decisions and understand the choices they make(DeWitt). Even though teens might disagree, sexual education classes should be mandatory in schools because it would help teens learn how to properly have safe sex, decrease the chances of obtaining STI’s, and decreasing the chances of pregnancies.

2 out of 10 girls in the U.S. will get pregnant by the age of 20 (Tsai). Teen pregnancies and STI’s in teens are very common. Teenagers in schools across the US are at risk of getting pregnant. They may even have a sexually transmitted disease and not know it. Many teenagers and even some adults do not know a lot about sexual health. That is because schools are not giving out some of the most important information to their students in sex education classes. All public schools should require that sex education teaches more than only about abstinence and STI’s.

In order insure America’s future, a national problem needs to addressed. Is America’s youth being educated in regards to preventing teenage pregnancy? Did you know that approximately every two minutes, a teenage girl in the United States gives birth (Guernsey 6)? While this fact may be sad and startling to most people, it is indeed the truth. Over the past few decades, the problem of teen pregnancy has grown considerably in this country. However, the most extensive dilemma regarding the issue of adolescent pregnancy is the incredibly important question of prevention. Preventing teen pregnancy includes such solutions as the availability of birth control, sexual education among children and adolescents, and a greater sense of support for