Facts of the Potential Litigation
On August of 2011, Chancellor Dennis Walcott announced that all middle and high schools will be required to teach compulsory sexual health education as part of the core curriculum. Required Health classes focusing on human sexuality are provided as mandated at Edward R. Murrow high school. Some of the topics of this course include but are not limited to the following: HIV/AIDS, practicing of safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases, description of both male and female anatomical differences, birth control etc. In October of 2012, Mr. Anthony Leonardi and several other guidance counselors began receiving phone calls from parents of Muslim faith stating, that they objected to the sexual content being taught, particularly surrounding lessons on AIDS, pregnancy, and condom distribution, as it was a violation of their religious practice to learn such material. During the remainder of the school year two other students said that their parents objected to the learning of and being taught lessons of this type.
During November of 2012, a parent requested a meeting with the Assistant Principal of Physical Education to object to her child being taught this subject matter. The parent had requested that her child be allowed to “opt-out” of the class completely if the aforementioned content matter that she deemed as inappropriate (based on her religious and moral beliefs) was not removed from the course. Furthermore, the parent argued that the
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)
Human nature has shaped and developed many different social norms in our society, however, they also create many social problems when conflicting views come under scrutinization. Sexual education in America has been problematic since the late 1900’s because there is simply a lack of it. Sexual education has transformed over a hundred years, abated by the effect of religious upbringings and conservative outlooks. However, as evolved as it is today, it is still a national issue because of the ongoing struggle of comprehensive sexual education against abstinence, and in the midst of the two, students are still not being exposed to proper sexual health.
Web. 6 Sept. 2016. In this article, Stover discusses the negative side to abstinence-based education. He talks about how the idea of abstinence isn’t the big deal, but it’s the way it is approached because most times schools that teach abstinence-only education never include anything that teaches about sex in general or and how to practice it safely. Stover includes a quote from Planned Parenthood’s president Cecile, that claims "Abstinence-only programs keep teens in the dark and do nothing to help parents protect their children's health.” Even though teaching students that waiting until marriage is okay, they need to teach about contraceptives and safe ways to prevent pregnancy and disease just in case, according to Stover. He then continues by writing about the idea that because students do not receive the proper education regarding sexual activity, the numbers of teen pregnancy and disease in those students will start to rise, given the increase of sexual material available to students. Because they do not know the proper knowledge, most information referring to anything that is not waiting to have sex is disregarded. Stover addresses the issue of this concept being controversial, but exclaims that it does not have to be, if people taught students about human
Sex education, arguably one of the most controversial topics to surface in American politics over the past half century, poses a complicated problem to citizens and lawmakers alike. Following the AIDS epidemic and spike in teen pregnancy in the 1980s, lawmakers and educators began drafting and implementing more sex education classes and courses in public schools in an attempt to remedy the ever-growing issue. While few object to the idea in itself, the method and content of its teaching is highly controversial. Should we teach abstinence or safe sex? How early should children be exposed to this material? How effective are these classes? These are just a few questions surrounding the issue, which are often disputed.
Often, sexual education can go against an individual's moral or religious beliefs. Many schools do not teach abstinence only but teach safe sex, whereas many religious groups and families do not value intercourse before marriage. Teachers may input their own beliefs or morals into the subject matter rather than stick with the facts if they are not properly trained on how to conduct a sex education course. Sex education classes are briefly focused on during a health class or physical education. This is not a long enough period to educate students on such serious material. These arguments does not take into account the fact that students will be taught on subjects such as, sexually transmitted diseases, the reproductive system, sexually and birthing issues rather than the stuff they learn through peers, television or the internet. Many of the myths learned by students about sex swill also are discussed, such as not being able to get pregnant the first time. Classes for those of a younger group are separated by gender, saving embarrassment amongst students and teachers. Teaching sex education can have a major impact on preventing unplanned pregnancy and other sexual problems in adulthood.
Author Bob Smith once said, “In America, when we decide to ignore a subject, our favorite form of denial is to teach it incompetently. Familiarity without true understanding is not only the basis of our families but of our educational system as well.” Smith refers to the inadequate sexual education of teenagers in the United States. Sexual education is the instruction on issues about bodily development, sex, sexuality, and relationships. Comprehensive sex education teaches about abstinence, condoms, and contraceptives to avoid sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unplanned pregnancies. As well as, the skills needed to help young people explore their own values and options. Comprehensive sexual education should be taught in the United
When I signed for the human sexuality class, I was so excited to take the class and learn more about sex and gender in a psychological matter. What made me more curious to take this class two elements. Firstly, I have never taken a human sexuality class before neither in schools nor colleges. Secondly, we know that every culture has different beliefs about sex, and as I am an international student and have a different background about sex, I wanted to gain experience from other cultures that will make my thoughts to be more broadened and will extremely help me in my future career.
The Washington Post revealed a survey that stated that more than 1 in 5 female undergraduates at top schools suffer sexual attacks while in college.The survey revealed the top 27 universities with the highest sexual assault incidents.The university with the highest number of sexual misconducts was the University of Michigan. As current president of the University of Michigan you do not want to be acknowledged as the school with the highest number of sexual assault incidents; therefore something has to be done.The issue of sexual misconduct in the University of Michigan needs to be addressed, this issue needs to be taken seriously to protect the life of women enrolled in the this university. Sexual assault is an issue that cannot
When it comes to pornography society views it as something other then normal that should be excluded. However, due to the popular demand and increase in the people watching it I don’t believe it will be banned, or erased from society. Because the truth is we are living in a time were sexuality is acceptable, and should not be frown upon. So in conclusion, I don’t think that it is something bad, and I don’t feel that it is right fro people always discrediting a women in the industry. They like what they do and if they can live with themselves and their choices then who are we as a society to
The term “sex” is a common word used in any given convsersation, whether used directly or indirectly. Human sexuality surrounds us in the biological and psychological aspects of the world. In this course, we gained the knowledge of the origin of the sexual revolution, sexually transmitted diseases, roles of men, and women in society, and how culture influenced in the shaping of human sexuality, so I think anyone would benefit from taking Human Sexuality.
The US teen pregnancy rate is at 72.2%, which is larger than any rate in Western European countries. Sex education can solve the problem that we see, and possibly lower that rate. It can benefit kids by informing them about everything involving sex instead of sheltering them from the truth. Abstinence-only education is the other option that is typically used, but creating a program to cover everything and not exclude some children who have different beliefs is the overall goal. This program should be offered for all students as a mandatory course because of the amount of information that is to be gained by teaching about sex, relationships, protection, STD’s, and sexual orientation.
Ever since 1981 when congressed passed the Adolescent Family Life Act, which promotes chastity and self discipline, the percentage of teachers in grades 7-12 who teach abstinence changed drastically from 1 in 50 to 1 in 4 Dailard (2001). Although 9 out of 10 teachers believe that kids should be taught more about contraception 1 in 4 are instructed not to Dailard (2001). Teachers believe that these kids have a right to learn more about safe sex, but are either required not to talk about it, or are afraid of negative backlash from the community or parents. Teachers are also more likely to emphasize different topics today than they used to do in the 1980s. Today they talk about abstinence, STDs and resisting peer pressure, opposed to teaching the more controversial subjects such as birth control, abortion and sexual orientation.
There are many problems with having sex education in public schools. Religion plays an important part to the topic of sex education. Some parents feel that if the school gets to speak to their children about sex before they do, than important things about
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,
There are many states that do not provide the kind of sex education that New Jersey strives to convey to its students. It more often than not ties in with the religious right proclaiming that students are too young to be exposed to sexual material, and thus sexualized as a result. These fundamental groups oppose any suggestion towards a comprehensive approach. Instead, they ask that their children be taught after grade school and additionally, they steer towards ‘abstinence-only’ education. Instead of teaching students how to protect themselves, they teach that the only way to protect oneself is by abstaining from sex. The problem arises, then, when these students decide to have sex. They are unaware of how to conduct themselves responsibly, how to take precautions to prevent against unwanted pregnancy and disease. What kind of ‘education’ are students receiving when they are withheld crucial information?