A classroom provides a forum for teen-agers to discuss sex with each other with the supervision of an adult not their parents. This is important because at this age children want to separate this part of their lives from parental control. Sex, then, becomes a sensitive subject for them to discuss with their parents in anything other than a clinical manner.
Sex education for teenagers, if offered as an elective, can provide a forum for young people to safely discuss the impact of sex on their lives. The classes could go beyond the basics, the mechanics, and provide insight to this complicated topic. There are aspects of sexuality that many young adults simply cannot discuss with their parents.
Because school is a large part of teen-agers' lives, it is a logical place to give them the extended education necessary for their sexual maturity. Because school is a large part of teen-agers' lives, it is a logical place to give them the extended education necessary for their sexual maturity.
Teen-agers need safe havens, forums in which they can express themselves without fear of judgment or retribution. They also need someone to whom they can turn to for honest answers and accurate information. This would be the role of the teacher. The teacher would not serve as a surrogate parent, but rather as an impartial advisor, one who can remove religious, cultural, and personal beliefs from the curriculum while at the same time respecting those of the students. The schools of today offer broader curricula, a wider spectrum of education than ever before. The inclusion of sex education is a natural outgrowth of this approach of school as an institute of life learning rather than a factory for factual regurgitation. Offering such classes is a positive addendum to the task of educating this nation's children.
Sex education should focus on the reproductive aspect of sex rather than the