SEX EDUCATION

Sex Education

Schools and Sexual Education

“Each year, almost 750,000 U.S. women aged 15 to 19 become pregnant (Kost, Henshaw, Carlin, 2010)” Without educating students about safe sex and contraception the number of teenage pregnancies will continue to increase. With the rise of social media and readily available means of communication, teenage pregnancies have become more and more prominent in today's society. Why is there such a noticeable increase in teenage pregnancies and what can be done to reduce these numbers? The best way to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexual transmitted diseases is to not have sex. Some families are concerned about the fact the teaching sex education in schools is against their religious freedoms and parental rights. They feel that the education of sex and related topics should be taught to the students when the family thinks they are ready. They believe that government is interfering with child rearing when their child is taught such a sensitive matter in school. Sex education programs should not be mandated to encourage sexual activity, or increase peer pressure, but to promote safer sex and reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. Some taxpayers do not believe that they should pay for sex education programs. They demand that they should be given the option to determine how their tax money is spent. Sex education is important for adolescents, especially those who are impulsive and face peer pressure. These programs help clarify the students' individual, family, and community values, while teaching students the dynamics within a relationships, love, and about his or her future. The purpose of these programs is to help adolescents feel more comfortable with the topic of sex and to provide information about protection and instill knowledge based on liberal attitudes. Without government funding for sex education programs in schools, students would not have opportunities to educate themselves about sexual behaviors and safe sex. They would not know how to address the inevitability of engaging in sexual behavior and they would be uninformed about the dangers of unsafe sex.

Sex education has always played a role in our society. If it is not taught in schools, adolescents will discover an understanding of their own about sex through personal experiences, parental teachings, playground mythology, popular culture, and even pornography. Adolescents are not going to remain naïve about sex forever so why not properly inform them about sex? Students should have the opportunities ...