Essay on Sex Education Does It Really Work

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Sex Education: Does it Really Work?

Roy Peters

"Forty percent of today's fourteen year old girls will become pregnant

by the time they are nineteen" (qtd. in "The Effects" 632). This statistic may

indicate that the sex education programs in the United States are not

controlling the effects of sex by teens. "The United States has the highest

teen pregnancy rate of developed countries" ("The Effects" 632). I believe

that the people of this nation need to look at the current sex education

programs and see if they are properly addressing the problems that sex education

was intended to stop. The three major reasons why sex education is taught in

our schools are: 1) to discourage teens from having sex at younger and younger

ages; 2) to stop the spread of AIDS and other STDs; and 3) to prevent teenage

pregnancy. I believe that the sex education programs being used today are not

effective at controlling these three problems. Today's sex education programs

are abstinence based. "Washington has spent some $31.7 million developing

abstinence only curricula" (Shapiro 56). By looking at the problems sex

education tries to solve, we can improve the sex education programs by putting

the problems in order of importance. This will prove that teens having sex at a

younger age is the reason for the failure of sex education in this country. To

counteract this problem abstinence should be taught to children under the age of

16. Then when the children reach the age of 16 they need to be taught AIDS and

condom education.

AIDS and other STDs are an important reason we have sex education. AIDS

education is supported in all fifty states: "Sex education is only formally

required or recommended in 47 states" (Gibbs 61). This shows that AIDS

education is considered more important than sex education. AIDS can be spread

by the transfer of bodily fluids such as blood or semen from an infected person

to one who is not. This includes sexual activity, intravenous drug use, and

blood transfusions. Many people are still contracting AIDS through sexual

contact even though there has been a nationwide awareness program. It is a fact

that "2.5 million teenagers are affected by sexually transmitted diseases each

year" ("The Effects" 632). This statistic does not take into account AIDS cases.

That is a large number of teens that are missing the message about safe sex and

abstinence. This shows how poorly our current system of sex education is

working. Because if it was effective, these numbers would be much lower than

what they are. Condoms can prevent the spread of AIDS sexually, but the use of

condoms requires a change in one's sexual habits. "Once patterns of sexual

intercourse and contraceptive use are established, they may be difficult to

change" (qtd. in Whitehead 69). "One survey shows that among sexually active 15

year olds, only 26 percent of boys and 48 percent of girls had sex education by

the time they had first intercourse" (Shapiro 58). This is one reason that

AIDS education has not been totally successful. It relies on sex education to

stress condom use, but many young teens are forming their patterns of

contraceptive use or nonuse before they are educated enough to make the right

decision.

Another major problem sex education tries to solve is teen pregnancy.

"American teenage females experience about one million unplanned pregnancies

each year" ("The Effects" 632). "About thirty-seven percent of teenage

pregnancies end in abortion and about fourteen percent in miscarriage"

(Whitehead 73). The social consequences of teens having children are great. If

a teenage mother does not finish high school or become married there is a

seventy-nine percent chance that the mother and the child will be poor

(Whitehead 73). Teenage girls have greater control over their fertility today

than they had in the past, and yet the percentage of births to unwed mothers

continues to rise (Whitehead 73). This shows that sex education has failed to

slow the rate of teen pregnancy.

Teens in this country are having sex at a younger and younger age. "In

1970, five percent of fifteen year old girls and 32 percent of seventeen year

old girls reported having had sex; by 1988 the figures had increased to twenty-

six percent of fifteen year old girls and fifty-one percent of seventeen year

olds" (Whitehead 72). Another survey by the Centers for Disease Control also

came up with similar numbers. They reported 40% of 15 year olds reported having

sex in 1993; but in 1970 only 10% of 15 year olds reported having sex (Shapiro

57). This shows how dramatic the increase of young sexually active teen girls

is. This may not seem like a problem at first glance, but when you look at the

circumstances surrounding young girls having sex the problem becomes clear.

"The younger a girl is when she begins to have sex, the more vulnerable she is

to its risks. She is less likely than an older teenager to be in a steady

relationship, to plan her first intercourse, or to use contraception" (Whitehead

74.)

As a result, girls who had their first intercourse at age fifteen or

younger are almost twice as likely as eighteen year olds to become pregnant

within the first six months of sexual activity (Whitehead 74). Some researchers

believe that teenage girls are at greater risk for STDs than adult women because

their cervical lining is not yet fully mature and is therefore more vulnerable

to pathogens (Whitehead 73). These facts indicate that young teens engaging in

sex are not protecting themselves properly. This proves that teens having sex

at a younger age are more vulnerable to AIDS and pregnancy.

Summarizing, I feel that sex education does not effectively protect

teens from the consequences of having sex. I also feel that because teens are

having sex at a younger age than ever before, they are outrunning the sex

education programs. These programs were not designed for teens that are having

sex at the age of twelve. This causes sex education to fail because many teens

are having sex before they are receiving sex education in the high schools.

Also, many of the sex education programs are abstinence based, and teens are

having sex. Without proper knowledge of how to use a condom, many teens are

left unprotected from diseases and pregnancy. To solve these problems a number

of changes in the sex education system need to be made. Sex education needs to

be taught in schools at a younger age. Sex education also should teach teens

how to use a condom and teach AIDS education.

First, sex education needs to be taught in schools. Many parents do not

know the facts about AIDS or diseases. Having parents teaching their children

sex education at home is only going to put strain on the parents, and it will

leave some teens uneducated about sex. Many parents would choose not to teach

their children about sex education, because they feel uncomfortable talking to

their children about sex. Public opinion agrees that sex education should be

taught in...

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