Free Essays on Sex Education

Teens today are faced with the mass media advocating sex subliminally, while our education systems stress abstinence. It is all too fishy. Since Mary Ware Dennett’s essay for her two sons in 1915 , to set facts from fiction, times have changed in the ways we communicate to our children about â€Å"how babies are born†. With access to over a thousand websites on the web and pictures that scream of sex research (and content, might I add) to answer all of their unanswered questions, the topic is readily available to the young and adolescents. The information collected by the mind of a child can influence what he or she may posses psychologically in their future. Like they say, â€Å"Curiosity kills the cat!† As such a touchy subject might be, it would be straightforward to say that teens and children alike are getting mixed messages these days. One concern of parents is: teaching their children how to make decisions, watching them make one is another. Schools are helping to teach children the basics of childbearing and sexual education. This subject may be the most controversial of them all. Nonetheless, it is one of the most important types of information that adolescence (and preadolescence) will learn in their school career. Sexuality education help lower the risks of teen pregnancies and the spread of disease. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main aspects behind sexual education in our school-based programs in the present. But is our education system really working as hard and effectively as our society would like them to? Main idea behind sexual education There are two main ideas behind sexual education, the prevention of STDs and teen pregnancies5. Though, the rate of teen pregnancies has dropped, it is accepted into the lives of over one million women each year2. STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) are most common in the United States, affecting 30 million people2. Since 1981, when AIDS (... Free Essays on Sex Education Free Essays on Sex Education I held a notice from my 13-year-old daughter's school announcing a meeting to preview the new course in sexuality. Parents could examine the curriculum and take part in a lesson presented exactly as it would be given to the students. When I arrived at the school, I was surprised to discover only about a dozen parents present. As we waited for the presentation, I thumbed through page after page of instructions on the prevention of pregnancy or disease. I found abstinence mentioned only in passing. When the teacher arrived with the school nurse, she asked if there were any questions. I asked why abstinence did not play a noticeable part in the material. I was shocked by what happened next. There was a great deal of laughter, and someone suggested that if I thought abstinence had any merit, I should go back to burying my head in the sand. The teacher and the nurse said nothing as I drowned in a sea of embarrassment. My mind went blank, and I could think of nothing to say. The teacher ex plained that the job of the school was to "teach facts," and the home was responsible for moral training. I sat in silence for the next 20 minutes as the course was explained. The other parents seemed to give their unqualified support to the materials. "Donuts at the back," announced the teacher during the break. "I'd like you to put on the name tags we have prepared and mingle with the other parents." Everyone moved to the back of the room. As I watched them affix their nametags and shake hands, I sat deep in thought. I was ashamed I had not been able to convince them to include a serious discussion of abstinence in the materials. I uttered a silent prayer for guidance. My thoughts were interrupted by the nurse's hand on my shoulder. "Won't you join the others?" The nurse smiled sweetly at me. "The donuts are good.""Thank you, no." I replied. "Well, then, how about a name tag? I'm sure the others would like to meet you." "Somehow I doubt that," I replied."W... Free Essays on Sex Education Teens today are faced with the mass media advocating sex subliminally, while our education systems stress abstinence. It is all too fishy. Since Mary Ware Dennett’s essay for her two sons in 1915 , to set facts from fiction, times have changed in the ways we communicate to our children about â€Å"how babies are born†. With access to over a thousand websites on the web and pictures that scream of sex research (and content, might I add) to answer all of their unanswered questions, the topic is readily available to the young and adolescents. The information collected by the mind of a child can influence what he or she may posses psychologically in their future. Like they say, â€Å"Curiosity kills the cat!† As such a touchy subject might be, it would be straightforward to say that teens and children alike are getting mixed messages these days. One concern of parents is: teaching their children how to make decisions, watching them make one is another. Schools are helping to teach children the basics of childbearing and sexual education. This subject may be the most controversial of them all. Nonetheless, it is one of the most important types of information that adolescence (and preadolescence) will learn in their school career. Sexuality education help lower the risks of teen pregnancies and the spread of disease. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main aspects behind sexual education in our school-based programs in the present. But is our education system really working as hard and effectively as our society would like them to? Main idea behind sexual education There are two main ideas behind sexual education, the prevention of STDs and teen pregnancies5. Though, the rate of teen pregnancies has dropped, it is accepted into the lives of over one million women each year2. STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) are most common in the United States, affecting 30 million people2. Since 1981, when AIDS (... Free Essays on Sex Education Sex education is the process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships, and intimacy. It is also about developing young people’s skills so that they make informed choices about their behavior, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices. Young people have a right to sex education because it is a way of helping to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Sex education seeks to both reduce the risks of potentially negative outcomes from sexual behavior and to enhance the quality of relationships. It is also about developing young people’s ability to make decisions over their entire lifetime. If sex education is going to be effective it needs to include opportunities for young people to develop skills, since it can be hard for them to act on the basis of only having information. For example, being able to communicate, listen, negotiate, ask for and identify sources of help and advice, are useful life-skills and can be applied in terms of sexual relationships. Other important skills include being able to recognize pressures from other people and to resist them, deal with and challenge prejudice, seek help from adults – including parents, guardians and professionals – through the family, community and health and welfare services. Sex education that works also equips young people with the skills to be able to differentiate between accurate and inaccurate information, discuss a range of moral and social issues and perspectives on sex and sexuality, including different cultural attitudes and sensitive issues like sexuality, abortion and contraception. Young people can be exposed to a wide range of attitudes and beliefs in relation to sex and sexuality. These sometimes appear contradictory and confusing. Young people are very interested in the moral and cultural structure... Free Essays on Sex Education Sex Education â€Å"Ignorance is bliss/‘tis folly to be wise,† ends the poem An Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, written by Thomas Gray in 1747 (Gray). As it was true for the time, his statement continues to live on in American society. Everyday people look ignorantly away as murderers, molesters and terrorists threaten humanity. Ignorance is over-powering, like cancer is to the body, slowly taking over and destroying everything it can latch onto. How long will we let this continue? Every sixty seconds a child dies of AIDS in the world and each year in America one million teenage girls become pregnant. Another twelve million people become infected with a sexually transmitted disease in the United States alone (United States). Not all of these problems can be cured, but there is a way to control these occurrences. Sex education programs in public schools throughout America are not comprehensive. With the public limitations on what can be said or shown to students, t eachers have found it difficult to teach informative lessons on sex education. Also, more open-minded attitudes and the availability of contraception within schools are needed for a decrease in pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease infections among teenagers. Comprehensive sex education programs in public schools are continuing to be ridiculed and banned. In 1998 at Kanai Peninsula, Alaska, Homer High School sex educators were told that they were no longer allowed to â€Å"display† condoms in the classroom (â€Å"Condoms put†¦Ã¢â‚¬  15). The school was trying to follow suit with the other schools in the district. Many people disagree with not allowing teenagers to see condoms at school, seeing that â€Å"about half of all teenagers between the ages of fifteen and nineteen have had sexual intercourse† (Jakobson 47). How can teenagers use the proper contraception when they have no idea what it looks like? Not only are teenagers having intercourse at...