Sex Education in American Schools Essay

Sex education for American youth has been a topic of discussion across the nation since the early 1980s. Teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease are two major problems throughout the U.S.. Sexually transmitted infections have been an ongoing problem for American people since World War I. To combat the growing teen pregnancy and STI rates, the U.S. established organized sex education. Since sex education has been integrated in schools across the nation, it has been heavily influenced by religion. The federal government has funded abstinence-only education programs for over a quarter century. Abstinence-only

The First World War initially called “The Great War” was a European conflict fought between 1914-1918. The war started with the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie during a public visit to Sarajevo. The assassin, Gavrilo Princip was a Serbian insurgent who detested Austro-Hungarian rule. This assassination plunged the majority of Europe into conflict with one another due to a delicate system of alliances establish years earlier. While there is little doubt that Princip’s actions helped to initiate the conflict, growing tensions among European powers would have undoubtedly lead to war later on.

During 1920s, U.S. schools began to incorporate sex education to their courses. A 2002 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that “58% of secondary school principals describe their sex education curriculum as comprehensive programs provide factual information about birth control, sexual transmitted disease, and continue the message to children about waiting to have sex.” (Johannah)

The role of educating students about the importance of healthy sexual relationships has fallen hard and fast on public schools. School aged boys and girls are not receiving information from their parents on what decisions they should make in regards to sex. Parents are finding this topic of conversation too taboo to breach and as a result, students are getting what little information they are receiving from school. Less then half of school aged adolescents talk to their parents about sex and abstinence (Smith, 2005).

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

While in high school, most teenagers between the ages 13-17, will have attended at least one sex education class. Instead of using the “Abstinence- Only” approach, schools should consider on teaching students the “Safe- Sex” approach to increase their knowledge on potential health risks involving sex. Increasing their knowledge not only increases their awareness, but lets them use their knowledge in the real world and let them form their own decisions, whether they be bad or good.

Modern era sex education programs in the United States began in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a result of the AIDS/HIV epidemic. With the introduction of curricula teaching safe sex and the effectiveness of contraception, other curricula refuted these ideas thus creating a conflict about sex education in the U.S. Sex education in the U.S is divided into two categories: abstinence-only and comprehensive, the former being the most implemented among states nationwide. Abstinence-only programs stress the importance of abstaining from sex until marriage, fitting the “traditional” set of American morals. Covering more than just abstinence, comprehensive sex education programs not only teach students about the options they have when it comes

According to a poll done in 2006 that recorded the “Adult and teen preferences for type of sex education needed,” 14% percent of the adults interviewed thought that teens should get more information about abstinence, 8% that they should get more information about birth control, 73% that they should get more information about both abstinence and birth control or protection, 4% didn’t know, and 1% refused to answer. For teens (12-19), 7% percent thought that they should learn more about abstinence, 9% that they should learn more about birth control, 56% that they should learn more about both abstinence and birth control or protection, 22% didn’t know, and 7% refused to answer (“Adult and teen preferences,” 2010).

Religious groups and parents argue abstinence only is all students need to be informed of in school but studies show that students sexually activity is not reduced by abstinence-only programs. The United States Department of Health and Human Services released a study in 2007 of

Sexual education seems to have always been a controversial topic in America. A large part of that is due to most of America holding dear to it’s heart strongly conservative views while also seemingly contradicting that by blatantly adding gratuitous sex scenes to the most basic of TV shows and by slapping obscene titles on the front covers of magazines that sit at checkout at the grocery store. So if sex is everywhere, why isn’t anyone talking about it? In particular why is nobody educating teens on it? Although the latter question may seem like a bit of a stretch it still rings true in many ways. Many college students in America are often confused about their own body’s anatomy or even how sex is supposed to work with another partner. This is largely in part because a majority of American teenagers are taught abstinence only sexual education, or do not receive any sex ed at all. This is unacceptable in a country as advanced as America; at the very least we should leave students feeling confident about themselves and their sexual decisions as well as teaching students proper ways to protect themselves during sexual activity through the use of a comprehensive sexual education program.

The argument that cannabis or marijuana is bad for you has been around since the early 1930s. In fact, prior to this time period cannabis and hemp was widely used and produced for many sectors of the economy as well as recreational consumption. In 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act was passed by congress; effectively criminalizing all uses of the plant. Since this time cannabis has been a topic of discussion and argument. Recently, the US has seen a few states legalize cannabis while others continue to charge and persecute citizens for it’s use. The article titled “The case for marijuana legalization just got stronger” by Christopher Ingraham was written at the tail end of 2015. The article, published by The Washington Post, claims that despite the

In life people tend to compare their actions to others going through the same thing. Doing this can give people a temporary sense of comfort knowing that they are not alone in their sin or wrongdoings. This action of comparing separates successful people and unsuccessful people. Those who achieve success don 't need to make excuses as they know it will get them nowhere, as people who don 't reach success make up reasons why they are this way. If people live out this lie they are becoming a victim, this mentality that they are average and no worse than others can actually make them bitter and unsuccessful. In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne a puritan society is plagued by hypocrisy and sin. The three main characters Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, and Arthur Dimmesdale are all endowed with a deep underlying sin. Out of the three Dimmesdale is the worst sinner in the town because he is a coward for not admitting his sin. Dimmesdale is not only the most complex character in the book but his way of self pity and guilt give a sense of confusion among the other characters.

As children grow, they accumulate knowledge over the years about a variety of subjects to prepare them for the future. Children learn from parents, schools, life experiences, what they watch and other influences around them, and it can be either positive learning or negative learning. There is one subject that is difficult to teach and have control over because of misunderstandings, lack of teaching, and publicity. Sex education has been a major debate for children under eighteen, because there are some parents that want it taught in schools and others that do not because of different reasons. There are currently eighteen states and the District of Columbia that require schools to provide sex education and thirty-two that do not require

Coinciding with the onslaught of the new millennium, schools are beginning to realize that the parents are not doing their job when it comes to sexual education. The school system already has classes on sexual education; these classes are based mainly on human anatomy. Most schools do not teach their students about relationships, morals, respect, self-discipline, self-respect, and most importantly contraceptives. Everyday students engage in sexual activity, many of them with out condoms. This simple act jeopardizes these students' futures and possibly their lives. An increasing amount of school systems are starting to combine messages involving abstinence from sexual activity,

Controversy is rampant regarding the sexual education of grade school children. Some insist that it is prudent to educate children on this subject beginning as early as kindergarten. Others strongly disagree that earlier education has any effect at all on teen sex and pregnancy and, therefore, abstinence should be the focus. Lastly, we have those who believe advocating abstinence is appropriate, but agree that a more in depth sexual education is also necessary for those who are going to have sex anyway despite our best efforts to teach them otherwise.