Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Argumentative essay: Sex education in school.

Good Essays
504 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Argumentative essay: Sex education in school.
The first step is improving sex education: Argumentative essay.

In the U.S, more than 750,000 girls ages 15-19 become pregnant every year. More than 80

percent of these are unintended pregnancies, according to dosomething.org. That is a great amount

of teenagers that could have potentially dodged a bullet with a little more sexual education. Will a lack

of sexual education continue to play a role in the overwhelming amount of teenage mothers in America?

In my opinion of course it will. Just like the article states, sex education is rising in American schools,

and this is in favor of my argument on how I greatly support this upward movement my reason is we

are just falling way behind! Further thought out and well presented sex education will reduce teen

pregnancy and spread of sexual diseases.

How exactly will better sex education in the states lead to fewer sex incidents within the sexually

active community? Simply by education. Lack of education in anything will not give you positive results.

Although it is said that there is no strong proof that teaching sex education will have any effect on

teenagers and young adults, there is proof. Ex. Hechinger writes "Analysis in sex education in Sweden,

Holland, France, Great Britain and Canada show us lagging far behind" (143). Reading the article and

noticing the particular countries mentioned, I went to research. The countries mentioned are up to par

with America as far as development and economy go, but fall way behind when it comes to all things

sexual! We not only have higher teenage birth rates, we also have higher sexually transmitted diseases

and lower use of oral contraceptives. The statistics and education don't lie. I would have personally

benefited from a more well put together sex education class and many other young lady's would agree.

(Rodriguez 2)

I'm sure now the reader is wondering if there is a deeper reason for my argument. Yes there is.

I am teen mother, I am a statistic, one of the person that adds on to the lack of sex education in

America. One of the many teenager girls that had a lack of sexual education. I thought it could never

happen to me just like in the article, ex, Hechinger writes "They believe 'It can't happen to me'." (144).

It wasn't arrogance or ignorance it was my lack of understanding and me not wanting to ask

questions related to sex. I now ask myself how many pregnant teenagers had the same questions I did?

Lets follow in the countries listed in the article's foot steps, in fact we have already started, considering

sex education has increased dramatically in the last 5 years. Let it keep rising! I stand by my

argument, lets give these confused teenagers the knowledge to rely on, just like Sweden, Holland,

France, Great Britain and Canada have. They are statistically doing better the article speaks on it and

so I stand by my argument. I give my full support to the growth of sexual education, I wonder if Laredo

agrees with me?

(Rodriguez 3)

Hechlinger, Fred M. "The First Step in Improving Sex Education: Remove the Hellfire."

Reading and Writing Short Arguments.Ed. William Vesterman. New York:

Mayfield Publishing, 1994. 143-146

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    (AGG) Imagine living in a world where you wake up everyday and could lose a loved one at any point. (BS-1) Najmah is shaped by early losses from a strong to shocked girl. (BS-2) The loss of her family drives her to find them, later regaining strength. (BS-3) The decisions Najmah makes are based off of loss. (TS) Therefor, Najmah was shaped by loss in the novel “Under the Persimmon Tree.”…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Quercetin Lab Report

    • 2791 Words
    • 12 Pages

    A natural polyphenolic compound Quercetin was extracted from widely available and consumed plant Allium fistulosum which has shown promising chemo preventive and chemotherapeutic activities in cancer. In this study, quercetin is encapsulated and loaded onto PLGA (Poly lactic glycolic acid) microspheres using double emulsification methodology for improving its efficiency in cancer therapy. Quercetin is extracted and purified using chromatographic and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. PLGA-heparin (PLGAh) and PLGA-heparin-quercetin (PLGAh+Q) loaded microspheres were characterized for morphology using scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The PLGAh and PLGAh-Q microspheres were tested for its cytotoxicity against MCF-7 lines.…

    • 2791 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    LUT1 Speech Outline

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages

    B. Thesis statement: Research suggests that comprehensive sex education programs should be implemented in public schools because they decrease sexual risk behaviors in adolescents as well as the rate of unplanned teen pregnancies.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sex Education Dbq

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sex instruction is critical, however numerous amounts of students complete sex education classes with a mutilated perspective of sexuality and without a decent comprehension of contraception and safe-sex practices. Schools without sex education, leave children confused and often misguided. Students are left to learn through their parents about sex, who could, in turn, be misinformed themselves by never having taken a course in sexual education. Without sexual education classes, little is accomplished leaving a defective and contorted, one-sided point of view of safe sex such as abstinence. The lack of knowledge also can lead to an increase in teen pregnancy, and the spread of sexually transmitted disease, Sexual education should be taught to…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Health Current Events

    • 2576 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Some teens didn't learn about sex education and this have caused a huge issue. According to CDC, teens around 15-17 never spoke with their parents and guardians about sex and more than 80% of sexually active teens didn't receive sex education. This is a problem because the teen who's pregnant will less likely to graduate in high school or earn GED. Birth rates among teenagers will increase even more from 1999, because the CDC estimated that every week, nearly 1,700 teenagers gave birth.…

    • 2576 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Essay About Sex Education

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Should schools teach more about sex education? Would it help boys and girls be safer? Would there be less Sexually Transmitted Diseases or more? “The truth is if teens learned more about sex then there would be less teen pregnancies and less STDs.” ("5 Reasons Schools Should Adopt LGBTQ-inclusive Sex Ed.") I think teen pregnancies are unfortunate and teens should really think more about the consequence and how it can affect your life. “Most students, however, do not receive any instruction until 9th or 10th grade, by which time many have already became sexually active.” ("Implementing Sex Education.") “Ages 15 to 24 makeup 25 percent of the sexually active population, but acquire half of all new Sexually Transmitted Infections which is about 9.8 million new cases a year.” (“FACTS ABOUT SEX EDUCATION.")…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Teen are the most vulnerable for high risk pregnancy as read in this article; In 2009, a total of 409,840 infants were born to females aged 15–19 years, for a live birth rate of 39.1 per 1,000 females in this age group. Nearly two-thirds of births to females younger than age 18 and more than half of those among females aged 18–19 years are unintended. The U.S. teen birth rate fell by more than one-third from 1991 through 2005, but then increased by 5% over 2 consecutive years. Data for 2008 and 2009 indicate that the long-term downward trend has resumed. Teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States are substantially higher than those in other Western industrialized…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Secretary

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to an article in the New York Times, “The birth rate among teenagers 15 to 19 in the United States rose 3 percent in 2006, according to a report issued, the first such increase since 1991. The finding surprised scholars and fueled a debate about whether the Bush administrations abstinence-only sexual education efforts are working” (Harris, 2007).…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comprehensive Sexual Education What has happened to today’s society that we are opposed to condoms because they might entice sex? When has allowing our youth to practice unsafe sex over safe sex been okay? We often think because we supply kids with condoms, birth control, and talks, that we are giving them permission to have sex, when in fact we are merely trying to protect them from STDs and pregnancy. We do not need to scare kids, but we do need to provide them with information about safe sex practices and what can happen if they do plan to explore their sexual urge. Facts are the most important thing we can offer those select few of youth who wish to engage in sex. Since when has providing information been a bad thing? Shouldn’t the youth know what they are doing and what can happen before they do it? Most schools and education environments that do encourage any sort of sexual education, teach kids to “just say no”. The one main problem with this “abstinence only” education is that it denies those who do say “yes” information, instead of providing other acceptable options other than abstinence. Throughout time, ratings have shown that teaching the abstinence only education doesn’t affect the rates at which teenagers decide to have sex. Though comprehensive sex education doesn’t stop kids from having sex, it does however teach them how to participate in safe sex. Teenagers in today’s society are not stupid. When they are told by teachers that abstinence is the only way that they will not get a STD, they know they are being lied to or misled. Giving teenagers’ information about the risks of different types of sexual behavior can help them make informed decisions about sex. The most effective programs are not the ones that try to divert teens from sex completely but rather the ones that try to steer teens away from dangerous sexual behaviors. Most teens who do not have the correct information on risky sexual behaviors veer away from vaginal intercourse, and…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Also there has been fifteen year drop in teen pregnancies and STDs, but it is not because of contraceptive sex education. “Meanwhile, a large body of research reveals the real key to reducing teen sexual irresponsibility: parents' willingness to discuss their sexual values with their kids. If schools did away with sex education classes and instead sponsored seminars to help parents become better sex educators at home, it's clear that teen pregnancies and STDs would decline” (Castleman). Parents are able to encourage safe sex with their children and sexual responsibility. Teenagers are more likely to listen to their parents than their teachers about sexual activity. Castleman also explains that the fifteen year drop in teen pregnancy and STDs is not because of either sex education classes but because of the parents. It is clear that parents are the only one able to get through to their children not expensive sex education programs. Programs should be developed where both parents and teenagers can attend so parents know what is being told to their children and teenagers can discuss what they have learned with their parents. With programs like this the parents and teenager can decide what is best for them whether it is abstinence or the promotion of safe sex. DeWitt quotes the Advocates of Youth, “This basic human right…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    We’ve all been through the routine of the abstinence-only sexual education class. The fun of ditching the usual science lecture, slowly killed by high-pitched voice of a curly-headed old woman (usually with a golden, Christian cross hanging gingerly across her chest) rambling on and on about the dangers and horrors of premarital sex. After an hour or so of mildly intimidating slides, signed virginity pledges, and reiteration after reiteration of the “joys” of waiting to have sex until after marriage, we go on our way; some of us are affected, but most of us feel as much catharsis as if we’d just watched the evening news.…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Abstinence-Only Sex Education system, they are taught not to be involved in any sexual activity until after marriage. Educators of this system are often known to exaggerate the dangers of sex and often include biased data about sexually transmitted diseases and birth rates in order to scare teens in hopes to prevent them from being involved with sexual intercourse.…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An End to Ignorance

    • 2748 Words
    • 11 Pages

    (3)Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Sex Education in America: A Series of National Surveys of Students, Parents, Teachers and Principals (Summary of Findings) September 2000. Web. 20 Feb. 2012.…

    • 2748 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I believe that our society in America will continue to talk about sex, especially through entertainment sources; and this is why it is important to talk about the importance of safe sex with teens to decrease the pregnancy rates throughout our…

    • 185 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    “2008 – According to a study by the CDC, one in four girls between ages of 14 and 19 has a sexually transmitting disease (STD) – the most common being human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer, followed by chlamydia and trichomiasis. Approximately 50% of African American teens have at least one STD, compared to 20% of white and Mexican American teens” (“Sex Education in Schools: Timeline”).…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays