Sex Education

Sex education is an important topic to look at in the education system because it affects the way our teens think about sex during middle school, high school, and for the rest of their lives. What kids are taught about sex will affect the choices that they make about their sexual partners and the way that they choose to be safe about having sex. It is an important part of the education of a teenager that should be included in every school’s curriculum, as well as a part of the things that every parent teaches their child. (Facts on American Teens' Sources of Information About Sex n.p) Because of the danger that can be associated with unsafe sex, it is absolutely vital that every teen knows the facts about safe sex before they begin having sex.

Sex education has a huge impact on teenager’s knowledge of condoms, contraceptives, sexually transmitted infections, STDs, and pregnancy. Therefore, the learning of this could mean the difference between catching a disease from a partner, or being capable of making sure that you are safe and getting pregnant, or having the power to know how not to. (Educating Teenagers About Sex in the United States n.p) All of these things are vital for teens to have information about in order to ensure that they are capable of making good choices about sex. This is extremely important for the safety of our teenagers, as well as keeping the uprising in teen pregnancies and STDs under control.

The educators who teach our children about sex have it in their power to lower the rates of both STDs and teen pregnancy by teaching children not only about abstinence but about condoms and different types of contraceptives as well. Teaching abstinence is not a particularly effective way of educating teenagers about sex. (Abstinence Only Vs. Sex Ed. - Effectiveness & Statistics n.p) Practically speaking it is entirely impossible to convince an entire group of teenagers to never have sex until they are married, so teaching them about safe sex before they begin having sex will ensure that the teenagers who do have sex in high school will have the knowledge required to avoid the dangers that can be associated with sex. (Teen Pregnancies Highest In States With Abstinence-Only Policies n.p)

Among many other important things associated with this very important topic, this essay will explore what the majority of schools are teachings the nation’s children. We will take a look at what age students who receive sex education begin to get their education, as well as the exact statistics of the number of teens that were formally taught about methods of contraception other than abstinence before the first time that they had sex. This will give us a look inside American schools, and let us see exactly what children are learning, and when. This essay will also take a look at what age students begin to be taught about sexual education, and what methods teachers are using. This will allow us to take a look at what is currently being done and what could be done better to prevent teenage pregnancy. The essay will also explore data on whether teaching children about abstinence, or teaching children about safe sex and contraceptives is a more practical and reliable method of teaching. This will allow us to take a look at what should be taught to children in schools to give them the best education possible and prevent the problems that come with teenagers that are not educated about sex. Figuring out the solution to this issue is a vital part of bettering out society.

Works Cited

"Educating Teenagers About Sex in the United States." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db44.htm>.

This article details the age and percentages of children who receive formal sex education, as well as the percentages of those who claim to receive an education from their parents. This will help to establish whether or not children are receiving education about sex before they begin having sex. Information of this sort could give us a better idea of whether teens are being educated about sex early enough.

"Facts on American Teens' Sources of Information About Sex." Facts on American Teens' Sources of Information About Sex. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-Teen-Sex-Ed.html>.

This article details the amount of teens who report having received sex education, both formally and at home. This will help to establish what our teens know, and the areas where our education system might be lacking in this area.

"Abstinence Only Vs. Sex Ed. - Effectiveness & Statistics." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/abstinence-vs-sex-ed>.

This article details the benefits and disadvantages of both teaching abstinence and teaching children about safe sex, and looks at which is more practical in today’s society. This will also help us to develop a better idea of what the best way to go about teaching teens about sex actually is, and what would be more effective to reduce teen pregnancies and STDs

"Teen Pregnancies Highest In States With Abstinence-Only Policies." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/04/10/461402/teen-pregnancy-sex-education/>.

This article details the statistics about abstinence teaching vs. teaching about safe sex and contraceptives and the effect that this has on the number of teenage pregnancies in the United States. It will help to establish what the best method of sex education is for our schools.