Comprehensive Sex Education Research Paper

I believe that all schools should teach an inclusive form of sexual education. I believe that teaching abstinence is not working in the slightest because the rate of teenagers who are sexually active is gradually increasing. Since the fact is that teens are participating in sexual intercourse, we need to teach them how to have sex safely. Schools need to teach a form of sexual education that will fully cover how to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases and infections, because the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs contain inaccuracies and flaws, the popular opinion differs from state policies, and the government and tax payer’s money could be better allocated to a different cause. Ultimately teaching proper sexual education will help to lower the teenage pregnancy

As the SIECUS studies have shown, and from the information gathered from the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health Study Sex College tour, students leave comprehensive sex education classes and workshops with more knowledge, better resources and with less shame about their desires. Despite my obvious biases towards comprehensive sex education I truly believe that the current system is creating the exact issues that pro-abstinence groups are trying to prevent. Due to their use of shame and scare tactics, teens are avoiding communication with sexual/romantic partners, not turning to adults in times of need, unknowingly contracting STIs and infecting others and feeling all-around ashamed of the sexual desires. This is a system that turns an eye away from preventative measures like birth control and condoms, as well as demonizes people who become pregnant and vilifies those who have abortions. But most importantly it makes people scared to explore what they want sexually, even more afraid to ask for what they desire and completely unable to respond to issues where their consent was given. These are all issues that can be avoided if children in kindergarten through twelfth grade were provided the information they needed to understand their bodies and more importantly how to use them, and take care of them. Our culture expects people to automatically know what to do, how to protect ourselves and be our own sexual advocates, but cringes at the idea of actually teaching those skills. Nothing will change until we decide that people who are asking the questions are old enough and prepared to actually hear the

In the article “Sex Education Promotes Understanding and Study” by both Deborah Lee and Maureen McMachon claim sex education is good and should be promoted, both authors are for sex education. Throughout the article both Lee and McMachon agree that having sex education can prevent life-threatening consequences such as, STD’s and creating a new life. Also, both agree that parents of the students are not fulfilling their obligations of teaching their child about sex. In the article (p.6) Lee and McMachon say, “Parents are becoming more lenient about the concept of sex education in schools” this is saying that parents are relying on schools to talk about sex to their children. To add, the authors believe the students can fight peer pressure from

     By offering both sex education and abstinance as an alternative, schools are giving the children mixed messages. They are saying that if a young person decides to have sex it is okay as long as they use some form of birth control, none of which is 100% effective. Children are constantly confronted with sex in our society today. Sex is portrayed in many different ways, but rarely as something to be cherished, treated with respect, and practiced within the bounds of marriage. Schools are fighting a losing battle if they are trying to teach that some types of sex are okay as long as the individual uses protection. Which types are kids supposed to practice? Who are they supposed to look to as a role model? Jerry Springer, daytime soaps, NYPD Blue? Anytime they watch TV sitcoms and commercials they see sexual acts; and they also hear erotic language on the radio, and see indecent public displays of affection. Isn?t this enough? Parents can?t control the things that their kids do unless they lock them up for eighteen years. But they can control, somewhat, what is being taught to their kids at school. Parents should want to know what their children are subject to at school, and the

There have been a lot of awful comments of having an abstinence based program in schools. When compared to sex education in each state it’s taught differently in each state so most kids don’t have the same understanding when it comes to sex. Comprehensive sex education is one of the programs that can be taught instead of abstinence only until marriage programs. That particular program teaches kids about being abstinent also of what can happen after having sex. The negative side of the debate wants sex education to be taught in schools and not abstinence. Teens in public schools should be able to know their options such as abstinence and the ways it can

The topic of sex education conjures up much controversy regarding what should be taught, how it should be taught, or if it should be taught at all. The overarching goal of including sex education in public school curriculum should be to promote a lifelong healthy sexuality, and with this goal comes the hope that the inclusion of sex education in public schools will delay sexual activity. According to an article by David J. Landry, Jacqueline E. Darroch, Susheela Singh, and Jenny Higgins, “men and women in the United States typically begin having sexual intercourse during adolescence at a mean age of 16.9 years for men and 17.4 for women” (Landry, Darroch, Singh, & Higgins,

Abstinence Only programs are ineffective because they are censoring and excluding important information to students. While Comprehensive Sex Education programs have been proven to be more effective. There was 1.5 billion dollars going into Abstinence Only programs when there was no funding for Comprehensive Sex Education programs until the Obama Administration proposed a budget that removed funding for Abstinence Only programs.

Sex education provides the youth with the skills and knowledge needed to practice safer sex behavior, refuse sex, and engage in positive youth development programs. The positive youth development programs provide the youth with motivation and confidence to gain and utilize the skills listed above. The federal government invests $1.5 billion dollars in abstinence-only programs, which have been proven ineffective among the adolescent population (Advocates for Youth, 2009). Nevertheless, there has been proposed budgets to create funding for programs that have been proven effective in reducing teen pregnancy, delaying sexual activity, or increasing contraceptive use (Advocates for Youth, 2009). limit the youth with information that is contradicted through the media everyday.

The girl looked down at the pregnancy test, seeing those two straight lines, almost staring into the scared eyes of the sophomore in high school. One time, one mistake, and the girl’s life would be changed forever. In order to prevent devastating situations like this from happening, students need to be properly educated. If this girl would have learned how to safely use a condom or alternate forms of birth control, this crisis may have been averted. Teenage pregnancy and STD’s can be prevented if educated properly. Since comprehensive sex education leads to declining pregnancy and STD rates, school’s sex education curriculum must incorporate a more comprehensive based focus.

Since comprehensive sex education has little funding but a plethora of support, it could be alleviated through advocates spreading awareness through the community through social media and communication to enlighten individuals on the topic. Therefore, developing a potential curriculum could become possible for local school boards to approve. Many supporters of comprehensive sex education believe that it should start from kindergarten until 12th grade. By doing so, instructors can use behavioral goals and age-appropriate language that is understandable and coherent for the respective age group. Also, there is a large amount of time to cover the necessary topics on sexuality, reproduction, sexual organs since this curriculum would occur for nearly thirteen years of the student’s life. As mentioned earlier, the state and school board direct the type

When debating about sexual health education in public schools, the question arises: How much should children be educated about sex? Abstinence-only education teaches students that sexual intercourse outside of marriage is wrong and encourages them to abstain from it. Comprehensive sexual

Sex, it is seemly the main focus in American society. In fact, 95% of Americans have sex before marriage, (Lawrence 3). It is all over television, in books, and frankly, all over the internet. Whether it is wanted it or not, it is only natural that American youth are so curious about sex. So why are school systems leaving students in the dark about what they hear about or see every single day? Is it not the job of school corporations to educate the children? Schools need to implement sex education courses to give medically accurate information, educate them about smart sexual decisions, and to prevent these young adults from engaging in sexual activity as early.

Let 's talk about sex. Stances on comprehensive sexual education vary, whether it be from religious beliefs or past experiences, different views are held throughout. "It is in the interests of society in general... for every secondary school pupil to be in receipt of sexual education” (Cumper 16). The phrase ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’ applies heavily on the topic of sex education, the idea of a pregnant and STD ridden 15 year old tends to frighten a million times more than the thought of proper contraception use and safe sexual encounters. Although the likeliness of a parent wanting their teen to engage in sex remains extremely low, most would prefer the latter. Comprehensive sexual education should be implemented in all schools

That said, it is important to provide accurate and honest information regarding the nature of sex in American culture. Even if parents and guardians refuse to speak about sex with their children, it is unlikely that their children will remain ignorant about sex for long. Whether or not the information they receive is medically accurate, culturally appropriate, or even legal, on the other hand, is heavily dependent on the savviness of the child, and is ergo left to chance. It is thus the responsibility of the educator to provide the kind of information that will

I was a senior in high school at the age of 17 when I had my son Zachary. Up until that moment I lived just as my other classmates did. I played the sax in the school band, football games on the weekend and hit the books on Mondays. Although I wouldn’t trade my son for the world, I wish I would have waited after college and a degree to raise him. The only thing my parents ever told me on the topic of sex education was “Mijo, debes de tener relaciones sexuales” simply meaning don’t have sex. My schools sex Ed class or lack thereof, was a faded memory at best. I was taught close to nothing about contraceptives, STD’s and HIV, but if I had there would be no doubt the last 6 years of my life would have been much less complicated.