Faga Sexual Education
Sex in the dark:
Implementing Sexual Education in Schools
Final Essay
The idea of Sexual Education in schools is a controversial and frightening topic that is barely addressed. It evokes strong passions an prejudices which bring out two opposing views: whether sexual education should be taught in schools or if it should be left to parents to deal with at their own discretion. Either way, it has been proved that most children are left in the dark about subjects relating to sex causing them to rely on inaccurate information seen in the media. This paper will address the points brought up by author Brian Fraga against sexual education in schools and will also argue against …show more content…
The article implies that the sexual education curriculum should include lessons on “abstinence, purity, resisting sexual pressure and avoiding high-risk situations” (Fraga, 2011). In my opinion, preaching to students about the importance of abstinence and forcing them to believe that sex before marriage is sinful, is absolutely absurd. We cannot stop children from being curious and wanting to explore because it is a natural human behaviour. Telling our children to simply abstain without giving further information about sex will only increase their curiosity; this is human nature and it is normal behaviour. Therefore, abstinence-only programs are rendered ineffective and even inaccurate because they exclude the discussion of important sex ed topics such as contraceptive methods. As specified by researchers, 80% of the abstinence only curriculum contained false data on the effectiveness of contraceptive methods as well as religious beliefs which were tried to be viewed as scientific facts (Kendall, 2013). Nevertheless, author Brian Fraga claims that “educators also have a responsibility to ensure that teenagers who are choosing to have sex understand the potential consequences of their actions and know how to keep themselves safe”. Although I disagree with his initial statement claiming that abstinence plays a major role in the curriculum, I strongly agree that teachers are responsible for teaching at least the basics of sexual education as it is crucial for children to know about and thus practice safe sex. According to Vaughn, moral norms should be impartial and should apply to everyone equally no matter their religion or beliefs (2). And since education is a prime source of knowledge, it would help children make judicious choices about what is right and what is
Implementing Sexual Education in Schools
Final Essay
The idea of Sexual Education in schools is a controversial and frightening topic that is barely addressed. It evokes strong passions an prejudices which bring out two opposing views: whether sexual education should be taught in schools or if it should be left to parents to deal with at their own discretion. Either way, it has been proved that most children are left in the dark about subjects relating to sex causing them to rely on inaccurate information seen in the media. This paper will address the points brought up by author Brian Fraga against sexual education in schools and will also argue against …show more content…
The article implies that the sexual education curriculum should include lessons on “abstinence, purity, resisting sexual pressure and avoiding high-risk situations” (Fraga, 2011). In my opinion, preaching to students about the importance of abstinence and forcing them to believe that sex before marriage is sinful, is absolutely absurd. We cannot stop children from being curious and wanting to explore because it is a natural human behaviour. Telling our children to simply abstain without giving further information about sex will only increase their curiosity; this is human nature and it is normal behaviour. Therefore, abstinence-only programs are rendered ineffective and even inaccurate because they exclude the discussion of important sex ed topics such as contraceptive methods. As specified by researchers, 80% of the abstinence only curriculum contained false data on the effectiveness of contraceptive methods as well as religious beliefs which were tried to be viewed as scientific facts (Kendall, 2013). Nevertheless, author Brian Fraga claims that “educators also have a responsibility to ensure that teenagers who are choosing to have sex understand the potential consequences of their actions and know how to keep themselves safe”. Although I disagree with his initial statement claiming that abstinence plays a major role in the curriculum, I strongly agree that teachers are responsible for teaching at least the basics of sexual education as it is crucial for children to know about and thus practice safe sex. According to Vaughn, moral norms should be impartial and should apply to everyone equally no matter their religion or beliefs (2). And since education is a prime source of knowledge, it would help children make judicious choices about what is right and what is