Should Sex Education Be Increased in Schools in an Attempt to

Abstract
Many may argue that Sex education should begin at home, that parents ought to be the primary instructors of sex education for their children. It should be the parents who take advantage of every opportunity to teach this subject to their children. From the beginning of a child’s life, they learn how to respond to affection, show love, and how to react in different types of relationships. Children even learn about their sexuality when their parents speak to them, change their clothes, play with them or teach them their body parts. As they progress from children to adolescents they continue to learn about their sexuality. However, some parents are very uncomfortable about talking about sex or sex education. They are either too embarrassed about talking about the extreme topic of sex, afraid of providing to much information to push their children to act on what they have told them or shy of not knowing the answers to the questions that their children might ask. While research has shown that parents and children have a range of discomfort levels when it comes to discussing sexuality, honest, open communication between parents and children through childhood, pre-teen, adolescent and young adulthood can help young people to mature into sexually healthy adults. School-based sex education complements and supplements the sex education children receive from their families. Therefore, due to the necessity of school-based sex education, it is in my opinion that sex education be increased in schools in an attempt to curb many of today’s problems that exist in young adults. It needs to be a part of the curriculum for students in school, taught in the various middle schools and high schools for a number of reasons. Through a school mandated sex education program, it affirms the ideas of students building a strong foundation, decreasing teenage pregnancy, making students aware of Sexually Transmitted diseases and preventing them from occurring, and teaching about abstinence, which is the best way and to inform the students about sexual orientation.
With all the confusing thoughts and feelings surrounding sex, and with all the adolescent hormones, they need a safe outlet to explore those thoughts and feelings without being judged. They need a place to ask questions and get adequate answers, and unfortunately, many parents aren’t prepared to provide this information to their children. Such advantages to being in a class setting could be that classes are gender

exclusive. This could save embarrassment amongst students and teaches them only what is necessary to know based on their gender (Anderson, 2002). The primary goal of sex education in the schools should be to help young people to build a foundation as they mature into sexually healthy adults. These courses should assist students in understanding a positive view of sexuality, provide them with information and skills about taking care of their sexual health and help them make the right decisions. This course should also help students to develop relationships and interpersonal skills and help them to exercise responsibility regarding sexual relationships including addressing abstinence, pressures to become prematurely involved in sexual intercourse and the use of contraception and other sexual health measures. Teenage pregnancy is very rampant in today’s society, therefore, sex education needs to be implemented in middle school and high school coursework to make pre-teens and teenagers aware of the consequences of unprotected sex. Each of these pre-teens or teens have already gone, or will go through puberty, and therefore need to be very well educated in to what can occur if they are sexually active, even if it is just one time. Sexual education would not stop teenage pregnancies but it indeed reduces them. “After declining steadily from 1991-2005, birth rates for 15 to 19 year olds increased significantly between 2005 and 2006 for all races and for Hispanics. The increase continued, with both the number of births to teens and teen birthrates rising again between 2006 and 2007 for all groups except for Hispanics. In 2007, 445,045 live births occurred to mothers aged 15-19 years a birth rate if 42.5 per 1000 women in this age group. The Hispanic and non Hispanic black teen pregnancy rates are three times higher than the non-Hispanic white teen pregnancy rate” According to (CDC Data & Statistics, 2010). The reality is that pre-teens and teens need and deserve information about abstinence and contraception. Sex education in school would teach that sex is a natural, normal part of life. Abstinence from sexual intercourse is the most effective method of preventing unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Sex education courses, when implemented into middle school and high school, should be designed to promote knowledge about human development and reproduction, therefore making students aware of the consequences of all types of sexual activity, as well as to promote

young people’s respect for and appreciation of themselves. This implementation, of sex education, would help to reduce teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, which is getting increasingly common in today’s society.

References
Anderson, Deanna. "Pros and Cons of Sex Education in School." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. 2002. . "CDC Data & Statistics | Feature: Teen Birth Rates Rose Again in 2007, Declined in 2008." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 5 May 2010. .

References: Anderson, Deanna. "Pros and Cons of Sex Education in School." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. 2002. . "CDC Data & Statistics | Feature: Teen Birth Rates Rose Again in 2007, Declined in 2008." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 5 May 2010. .