“Sex Education Classes Should Be Taught in Schools”

 

·          Sex Education classes should be taught because it can help with the teen pregnancy problem. According to an article titled Teen Sex by Jane Friedman teen pregnancy rates have declined in the time since abstinence only programs have been started. In 1990 the pregnancy rate reaches an all time high of about 117 girls to every 1000 girls ages 15 to 19. In 1996 President Bill Clinton signed The Welfare Reform Act providing federal funding for public school abstinence-only Sex Education and then in 2000 the teen pregnancy rate hit a new low of only about 84 girls out of 1000 girls age 15 to 19. (Friedman, 2005)

 

·          According to the article titled Teen Sex by Jane Friedman some of the kids who are involved in these programs will tell that these Sex Education programs really have benefited them in some ways. According to Ashley a ninth grader in a small private school in Washington, D.C. says with quiet assurance that she favors comprehensive sex education because she wants information about contraception and the risks of intercourse. (Friedman, 2005)

 

·          Not only do the Sex Ed. Classes teach about how not to get pregnant they also teach about the things like how to keep away from the sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS and Herpes. This is something that needs to be taught to the children of the next generation because sometimes they do not really understand how badly that these diseases can actually be and how they harm them, their family and their partner. They also need to be taught that they can get these diseases from other people and they need to make sure that they can honestly trust the person that is telling them that they do not have it. In the book Health and Sexuality Education by Steven P. Ridini, Jane Alexander responded to the way that people reject sex education programs and she said this “I am a little appalled at the negative attitudes I am seeing. As a public school I feel we have an obligation to provide information on timely issues such as AIDS. We can’t close our eyes to the problem. Other towns are way ahead of us in their programs on AIDS. We have the responsibly to move forward. Our task is to teach prevention without condoning sexual activity.

 

·          According to the article The Schools Highest Calling there have been “A surge of self-destructive behaviors such as premature sexual activity {we have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates and the highest teen abortion rate in the developed world, according to a 1989 United Nations study), alcohol and drug abuse, and youth suicide {which has tripled in the past three decades)”. Sex Education programs also teach about these things they are not just about sexual topics they also talk about the prevention of diseases and also about their self esteem that would ultimately help with the amount of teenage suicide. (Lickona, 1997)

 

·          There is an HIV/AIDS epidemic right here in Georgia. According to the Georgia Department of Human Resources this epidemic is continuing to grow. “The total number of cumulative AIDS cases reported by the end of 2004 was 27,821. The state had the seventh highest number of AIDS cases in the United States and the eighth highest rate of AIDS cases per 100,000 people in 2004.” These are startling statistics. Our next generation needs to know about this so that they can try to do there part to not make this epidemic continue into their generation. But without Sex Ed programs who will teach the kids who their parents will not teach them their selves.

 

·          An article by Paul Trad says this, “Adolescent pregnancy is an issue that warrants the attention of developmentalists. The problem not only burdens individual teenagers and their newborn babies, but its widespread prevalence affects all strata of society and has begun to take a toll on welfare resources. Statistics help place the problem in perspective. Teenage pregnancy rates in the U.S. are at the highest level among Western nations. An estimated 96 per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant each year. However, the reasons are not fully understood. Some proposed explanations include lack of knowledge about birth control, cultural differences that place esteem on adolescent motherhood, the teenager's sense of insecurity or impulsivity, dependency needs, and attempts to assert independence.” This is true if we as schools can show ways to prevent this then we can save lots of other resources in the long run. Teenage pregnancy is a big problem for every one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Friedman, J (2005).Teen sex. CQ Researcher. 15, 32.

 

Georgia Department of Human Resources. (2006). AIDS in Georiga

 

Lickona, T (1997).Educating for character. The schools highest calling.

 

Ridini, Steven (1998). Health and Sexuality Education. Westport Connecticut: Bergin and Gaarvey.

 

Trad, P (1999).Assessing the patterns that prevent teenage pregnancy. Adolescence. 34