Sex EducationEssay title: Sex EducationTo Teach or Not to TeachToday many more teens are creating sexual experiences or beginning their sexual lives at a very young age. Some believe that the sooner they start having sex the faster and more quickly they will become an adult. Others believe it is a part of their lives that they are ready to deal with. Without the full knowledge of sex education, these teens are making somewhat uniformed decisions and are getting themselves into much more trouble than they thought possible. With so many viruses, diseases, and sicknesses out there, it is wrong to not inform students of what they could be getting into. Without enough sexual education in public schools we are letting teens explore a new world, alone, which could become very dangerous.
Sex education is the practice of attaining information and forming opinions and values about sex. It helps to develop adolescent’s abilities that allows for them to make knowledgeable decisions about their character, and feel positive and capable about acting on these choices. The aims of sex education include reducing the risks of negative effects from sexual behavior such as unwanted or unplanned pregnancies and infection from sexually transmitted diseases, and also improving the quality of relationships (avert).
Today young people are given inaccurate and misleading information when it comes to sex education. These teens are either being taught in an abstinence only program or a sex education program that is not sufficient. Teaching kids only about abstinence is not a very responsible approach by the schools or the government, neither is not giving teens thorough information. These programs are said to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases yet they do not teach how to prevent them. Most of the curricula involve telling young people to not touch each other and that abortions can lead to sterility and sometimes even suicide. What kind of information is that? We are sending these teens into the adult world without a sure way of knowing what is right.
Most evidence points to show that sex education programs can increase the usage of contraception, especially condoms, when young people do have sex. It also shows that most of these programs that provide thorough information do produce results. If the emphasis is placed on unprotected sex and the negative outcomes that can come from it, more teens will practice safe sex. On the other hand, programs that teach abstinence from intercourse do no have such success; they do not achieve slowing the onset of intercourse.
Majority of parents believe that some type of sex education should be taught in the schools curriculum. However studies show that they do not all agree on what sort of education is best. Fifteen percent of Americans believe in abstinence-only programs while 36% believe sex education should focus on teaching teens how to make responsible decisions about sex (source). Most Americans would like a program that teaches the basics, such as how babies are made, how to put on a condom, and how to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases; which contrasts with abstinence only education (source). A somewhat controversial topic that is sometimes taught in sex education is homosexuality. Many Americans believe that it is essential to talk about in the classroom but again they debate on what should be taught about it. Fifty-two percents want schools to teach “only what homosexuality is, without discussing whether it is wrong or acceptable” (source).
Successful sex education helps to improve young people’s skills in compromising, decision-making, assertion, and concentration. Sex education that works helps to equip young people with the skills to be able to distinguish between correct and incorrect information, argue an array of ethical and social issues, and different views on sex and sexuality, including diverse cultural attitudes and responsive issues like sexuality, abortion, and contraception.
Effective sex education should focus on four main topics: sexual development, reproduction, contraception, and relationships. Sexual development would focus on the maturity of each gender, puberty, and its physical and emotional effects. It could also include the teaching of sexual intercourse. The subject of reproduction would discuss how it occurs, how a baby is made and formed, detailed description of the reproductive organs of each sex and how they contribute, and also the process of birth. The different types of contraception would also be taught along with how they work, the effectiveness of each, how to decide which to use, and how to get them. Relationships would be another important topic that would show how relationships affect people and how it is important to have different types of relationships in one’s life. It could also teach how to make them last, how they are
HISTORY:
The first research in the world showing an increase in sexual penetration and contraceptive use occurred in Russia in the mid-1980s. The research began with a series of research projects which resulted in a publication of results and a book published in 1989 and an open-access textbook which was introduced in 1990 in part to address these issues. The main focus of this study was on the relationship between contraceptive use and teen pregnancy, as well as the effects of changing the social context and cultural changes affecting teenage girls and women. The study looked at the sexual attitudes and behaviors of a representative group of girls aged 12-19. The research program focused on what it means to be sexually active and of what it means to be a virgin in Russia.
In a 1999 book The Female Sexuality Journal, an important section of sex change theory was released by the Russian state’s Center for Reproductive Health in collaboration with the Federal Research and the University of Washington. In 1999 their work showed that girls who were still virgin under-10 were more likely than those who had not been, to experience sexual difficulties. In 2006 The Human Development Journal published another study of teenagers found in Russian that the “feminization” of the child by the mother may cause an increase in their risk of infertility by 40 to 75 percent. This was supported by data obtained by Russian researchers from the World Health Organization and Health Canada, with these girls as the most sexually active teen.
The study did not prove sexual orientation, but demonstrated that teenagers with a high degree of sexual desire and sensitivity did not increase their risk of sexual difficulties.
A number of recent studies have suggested the same things. In 2008 a randomized trial from Denmark conducted by the University of Copenhagen found that one in seven teenagers who were exposed to a controlled environment showed some form of negative sexual orientation, such as those who had had intercourse with men over the previous three years, did not give up their virginity at the time, and experienced increased sexual activity at more than twice the rate they had had. In 2012 a longitudinal study from India, conducted by the Social Science Research Centre, showed that more girls than boys showed higher rates or higher physical and mental health problems than did less well-off boys.
The researchers also looked at girls who were exposed to the same level of protection in the same education as girls who were under the age of 18. This indicates that at least part of the problem is related to the change in age, and also shows that this is not a scientific phenomenon.
In 2013 an open-access literature paper published in the BMJ on girls’ attitudes to sexual intercourse, “Sexualizing Youth: Factors Associated with Sexual Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Aggression “, shows that some factors are known to contribute to sexual initiation, but which tend to be more prevalent for boys. Researchers found that boys who had been exposed to the same level of protection in the same education did not take advantage of all of the advantages and disadvantages of being sexually active in order to become sexually active.
In 2014 a Swedish experiment showing that boys had to do a better job after having sex than girls (n=1740 boys) showed little correlation between their sexual and physical quality.
The most recent study to look at sex education showed a significant decrease in sexual aggression after the first 5 years of life for boys compared to girls.
In 2010 a longitudinal study revealed that adolescent children’s sexual preference and sexual attraction to one another changed according to their gender and was related to their family circumstances.
In 2014 a research survey from