Bettering Sex Education

Written By Layla Nicholson

Sex is an important, yet awkward topic of discussion. Although unlimited knowledge of this topic can prevent a substantial number of risks, schools are wary of educating students on all subjects. Some say these topics should stay out of schools and should only be taught at home, but not every student has that option. For example, the child may not have a solid parental figure available to them. Not only should schools teach sex education, but they should teach it comprehensively. Comprehensive-based education teaches students all the information without bias. In contrast, most schools that do teach sex education teach abstinence-only subjects, which disregards important information. These topics include contraceptives, STIs, pregnancy, and more. Instead, this type of education focuses mainly on sex after marriage. Although abstinence-only education is scientifically less effective than comprehensive education, schools do not plan on changing to a more comprehensive curriculum. (Blanton, 2019). Unfortunately, because of this decision, our children are in danger. Having inadequate knowledge of sex education could cause kids to develop STIs or even become pregnant. Sometimes people throw their morals onto their children and expect them to agree, but that may not be the case. Teens are known to be rebels; this is why it is important for parents to be better safe than sorry concerning their child’s sex education. All in all, teaching comprehensive sex education in schools should be the standard of society.

In most schools today, sex education courses are taught using abstinence-only curriculums. These curriculums are missing a large portion of sex topics, such as information on contraceptives, diseases, and pregnancy (Blanton 2019). This may be why the outcome of abstinence-only education is so poor. For example, a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that most students did not have positive sexual health outcomes after abstinence-only education (Blanton 2019). As time goes on, more and more teens experiment, and stopping it may not be an option. Unfortunately, teenagers will do what they what and probably won’t care about their parents' opinions. Statistically, most women are sexually active before the age of 15, making abstinence-only education insignificant (Cheedalla, Moreau, Burke, 2020). Due to a lack of knowledge, many teen pregnancies occur around this time. In a 2011 study, researchers found that around five percent of teens got pregnant while ten percent developed STIs (Carr, Packham, 2017). Although pregnancies were slowly decreasing in comparison to recent years, there was still a substantial amount of teenagers with diseases. How exactly do we solve this? One way to solve this problem is to implement a more comprehensive education in place of abstinence-only education. If the school wants to keep the main idea of abstinence, they can use an “abstinence-plus” curriculum. This type of education enlightens students on the topics of contraceptives and pregnancies all while encouraging abstinence (Blanton 2019). To get things straight, comprehensive education is not against abstinence. Waiting until marriage has several advantages such as increased trust between partners, 100% prevention of pregnancy, and help better the understanding of you and your partner's bodies. Unfortunately, participating in abstinence is normally forced upon children. It may be the morals of others, such as parents or teachers. Limiting the student’s knowledge to protect one’s own moral and religious beliefs can be harmful. If a student does not fully understand what they are at risk for, they could obtain an STI or pregnancy. In the end, abstinence-only education can be harmful rather than beneficial to students.

Comprehensive sex education is an extremely beneficial way to educate students. This type of teaching includes many different topics such as, “...human development, relationships, interpersonal skills, sexual expression, sexual health, and the ways society and culture influence understandings of sexuality” (Blanton 2019). Understanding these topics can not only prevent students from STIs and pregnancy but may also help them in current and future relationships. With the rise of domestic and sexual abuse through the years, students need to be able to identify the signs before it is too late. Being able to understand what is happening in a relationship can help identify problems so that students can find solutions. Whether that solution is to leave the relationship entirely or to communicate with the partner, depends entirely on the student. On the other hand, the United States’ pregnancy rates are among the highest in all the nations. One can’t help but question if this is due to the lack of proper sex education (Carr, Packham, 2017). Statistically, most US adults prefer comprehensive sex education over abstinence-only, despite their political views (Bleakley, Hennessy, Fishbein, 2006). So, why do schools teach abstinence-only topics? It is because the government does not have strict enforcers on what type of sex education schools provide to their students. Overall, having access to comprehensive sex education can help save lives by preventing risks.

Comprehensively teaching this uncomfortable topic can help future generations lower the rates of unwanted disease and pregnancy in teens. When a teen understands their body and the choices they can make, it affects the young adult's life in many ways. For example, children who receive this type of education can lower the chances of being abused in a future relationship, lower chance of conducting an STI or death from and STI, as well as lower the chance of depression as a result of an unwanted pregnancy/STI. All in all, providing comprehensive education on topics such as, “...human development, relationships, interpersonal skills, sexual expression, sexual health, and the ways society and culture influence understandings of sexuality” (Blanton 2019) is better for our children than abstinence-only education.

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  • Argument and Research — Argument/Persuasive Research Paper

Layla Nicholson
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