The Importance Of Sexual Education In Public Schools

Great Essays
Sexual Education has been encouraged to be a part of public school education since the late 1800’s. It is a program that is supposed to help young adolescents understand their body, promote abstinence, types of contraception, the risks of engaging in sexual activities, and how to prevent diseases or pregnancy. However, many parents fight this program because of their beliefs that teens should stay abstinent till marriage, and learning about sex will increase their urge to have sex. Depending on what the state requires to be taught and what a school district wants, a student will either receive one of the two styles of sexual education. The two styles are comprehensive and abstinence only. While they both stress the importance of abstinences, …show more content…
Due to parent’s having concerns that their child will become sexually active too early, they are putting their children at risk of not being prepared for dealing with how to properly handle what is expected to happen during their teenage and young adult years. Abstinence only sexual education is believed to be the best form of sexual education by many parents, but in reality it can cause a number of negative effects on teenager’s sexual knowledge and their abstinence. Abstinence only sexual education’s main focus is to inform teenagers that they should remain abstinent until they are married. Abstinence only sex education typically does not include any type of information on the reproductive system, contraception, preventing diseases and pregnancy, or how to have sex safely. Most abstinent only programs have also been proven to be “biased”, based on religious beliefs, include false information about the effectiveness of the use contraceptives, masturbation, and abortion. They also tend to “distort” information on the risks that come with having sex to prevent teens from having sex. An example of schools giving false information to students is in the movie Mean Girls. In this movie the coach teaching sex education starts of …show more content…
Unlike the effects of abstinence only sexual education, comprehensive has more of a positive effect on a teenager’s sexual outcome. Comprehensive sexual education has been proven by multiple studies to be the most “effective” form of sexual education. The focus of comprehensive sex education is to teach teenagers that abstinence is the best method for avoiding getting a STD and preventing pregnancy from happening. In some states, comprehensive sexual education teaches about the use of condoms and contraception to lower the chance of getting pregnant and of receiving an infection with STDs, or HIV. Many of the courses help teens develop interpersonal and communication skills and help them “explore their own values, goals, and options.” Comprehensive sexual education tells teenagers that engaging in sexual activities is natural and a part of life, while still explaining that abstinence is the best option in order to prevent pregnancy or disease. This form of sexual education also provides teenagers with the proper factual information they need to know about when it comes to those awkward topics like sexual orientation, masturbation, and abortion. Teenagers need to know everything there is to know about sex so they are not left in the dark and confused on anything, and with comprehensive sexual education teenagers are getting that. When teenagers are learning all that they need to in comprehensive

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Abstinence-only education also allows for STD rates to flourish. This rise in pregnancy and STDs leads to income generated for the healthcare business in the United States.…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Criticizers of abstinence-only curriculums think that abstinence-only programs are ineffective at reducing the initiation of adolescents participating in sexual activities. Rather than research showing that abstinence programs are not effective, there are simply few studies that have examined the impact of abstinence-only education on student sexual behavior (Denny & Young, 2006). The studies that are available show that abstinence-only curriculums are effective in increasing knowledge and decreasing sexual behavior. The following section will present studies that examine abstinence-only sexual education. Family Action Model for Empowerment (FAME), an abstinence-only program, was created for parents and teens to develop more open communication, be able…

    • 1395 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Abstinence-only sexual education has been around for a while now and is focused, generally, on one of two types of messages regarding sexual activity: abstinence only or comprehensive sex education. Abstinence-only messages relay that sex should be delayed until marriage for a multitude of reasons including religion, teen pregnancy, and the spreading of sexually transmitted infections. However, there are many false claims in these programs in order to further push teenagers into accepting abstinence as a life choice. The effects of not only the programs but societies opinions on this personal choice range in various negative ways. Sexual education teachers and school administrators are eagle-eyed on what they allow in classes and criticized…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abstinence-Only Education

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Harmful Inaccuracies of Abstinence-Only Education For many reasons, including both moral and financial, “Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage” sexual education programs are taught all across America. These are programs that emphasize abstaining from sex until marriage, and generally tell students that this is the most effective way to avoid pregnancy and diseases. These programs often do not teach about other forms of contraception, with the belief that abstinence should be enough. Unfortunately, these programs are still taught despite the mounting evidence showing that not only are they ineffective, but actively harmful to the student’s health.…

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    When teens are educated about birth control and have access to it, they are more likely to use it with their partners. On the other side of the board, many believe that abstinence-only education is the best way to keep kids from having unplanned pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections. Abstinence-only programs are geared to prevent teens from engaging in sexual activity. This type of education uses scare tactics and false information to keep kids from partaking in sexual activity.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abstinence-Only Sex Education Everyone remembers that one-day in middle school when you had to sit through the embarrassing abstinence education talk. The dreaded abstinence only education programs are all about doing whatever possible to abstain from sex. They don’t have to teach about STD’s or the possible outcomes if you do choose to have sex. A larger majority of states in the US don’t require the information be medically accurate when given to students.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Having comprehensive sex education has been proven to be much more effective than the alternatives. Out of the comprehensive programs, “more than 60% reduced incidence of unprotected sex” (Kirby 2007). Programs that teach sex education in its entirety teach the students and children protection, so that if they do choose to have sex, they can prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unexpected pregnancies. While the parents and teachers cannot do anything except influence their child’s decisions in whether or not to have sex, they can give them the accurate education so that they can be safe while doing so. Further studies have illustrated that “young people who have good quality [sex education] that starts early are more likely to choose to have sex at an older age…”…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Despite the lack of funding for comprehensive sex education in the United States, there has been much support for it because it would provide exclusivity within health courses in middle and high schools. Comprehensive education would be efficient because it teaches all aspects of contraception, medication, treatments, abstinence and addresses the diversity of the student body by including students who have different gender and sexual identities. By addressing the universality of students and establishing a more holistic approach towards sex, it provides teenagers with accurate and applicable information pertaining to their reproductive health. Thus, lowering a majority of the student’s chances of contracting STIs, HIV, having an unintended…

    • 1054 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In modern sex education abstinence is the core foundation of teaching for 25 states in the U.S.. According to the Guttmacher Institute, nineteen states teach the importance of sex only within marriage, while thirteen states stress the negative outcomes of teen sex (Week 2, Lesson B). These teachings restrict important knowledge of sexual health. For those individuals who do not wait until marriage, the lack of knowledge can have heavy repercussions. However, regardless if an individual practices abstinence or not, abstinence-only sex education does not provide the necessary information for a person to lead a healthy sex life due to the exclusion of vital information about intersex conditions and failing to give women correct and full information…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Schools all over the United States teach teens about human anatomy, sexual reproduction, abstinence, and some comprehensive methods to avoid unwanted teen pregnancies. Even though most parents agree with schools teaching their children about the consequences of sex, “public discussion indicates that there is little agreement about what forms of sex education should be taught in schools” (Kendall). Many studies bring attention to the fact that while most schools throughout the country teach abstinence-only lessons when it comes to sex education, these lessons do not have much impact on their decisions to have sexual intercourse before marriage. This also means that it does not lower the number of sexually transmitted diseases or infections…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sex education can teach teens how abstinence can be healthy and help prevent…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A study of abstinence only education in relation to pregnancy rates in 48 states across the U.S. was performed in 2005. A positive correlation was found in the level of abstinence taught and pregnancy rates, from an article by David W. Hall, Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, published by PLOS One on October 14, 2011. 2. Second, students aren’t informed about STDs, HIV/AIDS, and other possible sex related health complications. a.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many experts in the healthcare field have stated numerous times that sexual education is extremely crucial in the school systems. Sexual education in schools needs to be addressed because it could deter HIV/AIDS; it will decrease teen pregnancy, and it can also help young people make wise decisions. Without the input of sexual curriculum the world would slowly deteriorate with one preventable incident at a time. Imagine hearing the words, “Mom, the doctor said I am positive for HIV/AIDS” leave your child’s mouth.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abstinence-only classes are not as effective as comprehensive sex education classes because most students only hear the fact that condoms are not 100% effective. Therefore, they use condoms less often, which in turn can lead to diseases and pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education throughout public school can show students how to prevent HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy. Sexual activity among teens cannot be eliminated, but a difference can be made by implementing sex education as a required curriculum in public schools as early as elementary school. The sex education classes can take the place of parents who do not know how to communicate with their children or are not around enough to keep them on the right path.…

    • 1800 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to The Science of Psychology, “Two research reviews found that abstinence-only programs do not delay the initiation of sexual intercourse and do not reduce HIV risk behaviors.” (King, 2014, p.…

    • 1124 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays