Sex Education

Mandatory Comprehensive Sex Education

Do we not instruct small children not to go near fire, water and other possible situations that they need to be educated about? Children do not have a perception of what could happen if they do and so we must teach consequences of action. The same goes with sex education because like the examples given, there are risks involved. When a child starts school lessons are taught according to the age and level of understanding. We teach the concept of mathematics by starting with numbers, we do not jump to algebraic equations. We don’t deny them the opportunity to receive age developmentally-appropriate, fact based math, language, science, and other topics. Why should this topic be any different? The same way sex education lessons should begin at an early age, starting with what is appropriate and onto more when the students are able to understand the topic and for awareness of protection and the risks involved in being sexually active.

On one hand it is said that many children know more than you would think on the subject and on the other fears are being voiced that talking about the facts would arouse an unnecessary curiosity. Kids are often exposed to information through movies, magazines, the Internet or their peers. It makes you wonder which would stir up more interest, ill-informed material gathered from unreliable sources or something taught by someone trusted and educated on the subject. The schools play an important role because there are many parents who are either uncomfortable talking to their children about the subject or are uneducated, schools are able to provide an accurate and helpful substitute.

Steve Siebold states a statistic in his articles that says, “ A new report from the Centers for disease control (CDC) says one in five birth to U.S teens ages 15-19 is not a first child.” Usually, it’s the result of poor education or lack of parental guidance which leads to carefree attitudes about engaging in sexual activity. Teenagers are hormonal and willing to take risks, so despite all the warnings, they still engage in unprotected sex. Since most teens are uninformed about when they are fertile and when they are not, they do not pay attention to when they’re likely to get pregnant. Having a baby as a teenager can be incredibly difficult; it can make it tough to graduate high school, and creates a huge barrier to higher education. In fact, an article in the Daily Post states, “only 40% of teen mothers graduate high school, and fewer than 2% graduate from college before age 30.” These statistics show the emotional and mental stress teen pregnancy can cause, as well as the resulting financial difficulties for both teenagers and their families.

However, pregnancy is not the only risk that comes from having unprotected sex. When someone has multiple partners or they are messing around with a person who has had multiple partners, they risk the chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. These diseases can vary widely in severity, with some being easy to cure, while others can affect a person for the rest of his or her life or be silently deadly. Because these can be so serious, it’s important that young people are properly educated on the risk of transmission, the details of each disease, and how they can be prevented by someone educated on the topic. When properly educated, it is far more likely that young adults will be careful and make the right choices when it comes to practicing safe sex.

The third reason sex education should be taught in schools is to offer guidance by someone other than family members or peers