Teen Sex Education Should Be Taught In Public Schools

In this era where information is at the tip of your finger tips and everything can be found on the World Wide Web, the subject of sexual education in the classroom and whom should be educating teens is a topic of discussion many parents and educators have opposing views on. Studies show that sexual education should be taught in public schools to give a sexually active generation the tools to protect themselves and their partners from sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) and teenage pregnancy. Opponent believe teen sex education should be left up to the parents or teach an abstinence only program. Let’s face it teenagers are sexually active. However, they are not aware of the full spectrum of STDs and are fed many myths associated with sex …show more content…
“Young people ages 15 to 24 represent 25 percent of the sexually active population, but acquire half of all new STDs” (State Policies on Sex Education, 2015). A 2012 study from the Guttmacher Institute revealed that teaching teens about sexual health and birth control reduced risky sexual behaviors, reduced teen pregnancy, and prolonged 1st time teen sex (How abstinence only Sex Ed is Driving Up STD rates, 2013). These risky behaviors often include oral sex or touching – which some teens do not associate with STDs. On AVERTs page on Sex, Fun, and Safety, their Article on STDs state “However, some STIs (e.g. Herpes and HPV) can be caught by touching the infected areas of someone 's body and then touching your own genitals (private parts)”. -See more at: http://www.avert.org/stis-stds-young-people.htm#sthash.LiBGNbQZ.dpuf. These are also some of the myths on sex and sexual education a lot of teenagers …show more content…
Among the many myths out there on sex are oral sex and STDs, the pull-out method, sex on your period, not getting pregnant on your first sexual encounter, and the famous “everyone is doing it”. Our society has become more open to sex – as seen on TV, movies, and advertising. However, that does not mean teens are doing it more. Per MaryJo Oster on her article on Five Myths about Teen sex, “As of 2010, the median age of first sex was 17.8 years old for females and 18.1 for males. Essentially, this means kids today wait longer to start having sex than they have in the past” (2015). http://www.childtrends.org/five-myths-about-teen-sex/#sthash.uLcSuczQ.dpuf The misconception about not getting pregnant on your first time is debunked on Planned Parenthood’s page (where teens are supposed to get some of this sex education – but not all are). They clearly state: “FALSE. You can get pregnant anytime you have vaginal (penis-in-vagina) sex. If you 're having sex without birth control, you can get pregnant — whether it 's the first time or the 100th time. It 's even possible for to get pregnant before you have your first period. Bottom line: if you 're going to have vaginal sex, use birth control to prevent pregnancy.” ((https://www.plannedparenthood.org/teens/sex/the-ten-biggest-myths-about-sex). Which leads us to