Essay/Term paper: Sex education: does it really work?

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Education

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 schools. "Nine in 10 Americans agree: Schools should teach kids about
sex" (Shapiro 56). What Americans disagree on is what form of education should
be taught in schools. I believe that parents should be offered the opportunity
to come to the sex education class's with their children, so they can learn what
information their child is receiving. That way the schools could act as a
beginning point for the parents and child to talk about sex comfortably in their
home. It would also solve the problem of parents who disagree about what should
be taught.
I believe that their should be two different levels of sex education for
children of different age groups. Children under the age of 16 should only be
taught abstinence. This would slow the trend of 13, 14, 15 year olds having sex.
It would also decrease the numbers of teen pregnancy because these girls are
the most likely to become pregnant. Teen girls of this age group are also more
likely to get a sexually transmitted disease, because they are more likely to
have sex with older more experienced teenagers. In a survey 75% of women had
first intercourse with a partner older than themselves, and 51% of these
partners were already sexually experienced (Sex Education 900). Teaching
abstinence to these young teens would encourage them to say no. I also think
that teens over the age of 16 should be taught condom and AIDS education. This
would allow older teens that engage in sex the protection they need. It would
decrease the threat of AIDS and pregnancy. The key to the age separation is
that at some time eventually nearly everyone has sex. By not teaching teens in
school about AIDS and birth control they would not have received much of the
information they need to know about the risks of sex and how to protect yourself.
First abstinence training needs to be taught in school at the age of 10.
This is a young enough age that all the children should be in the program before
they make and uneducated decision about sex. The children should be taught some
type of abstinence training every year at least and once a semester would be
better. The classes would have to be 30-40 minutes long 5 days a week for about
2-4 weeks. That would be enough time to make the programs effective. These
classes should teach the young teens how to say no to an over aggressive partner,
what the risks of having sex are, and how healthy relationships work. This
would provide the young teens a way to examine their relationships and determine
the quality of them before they have sex. One boy told Sheehan this, "I'd like
to hear more stories....how they met....how they kept the love alive" (Sheehan
11). This proves that many teens want to learn about relationships. They want
to learn about what makes a good relationship and how to maintain it and this is
the perfect age to start teaching these skills to the young teens.
The second part of sex education should include AIDS and condom
education. This program would be taught at the age of 16 and up. I think these
classes should also be taught once a year because at the high school level it
is harder to find time for sex education classes. This program should be 4
weeks long and 45 minutes a day. It should be taught very interactively not as
a lecture. There should be a lot of time devoted for discussion of the issues
covered each day and for questions. There should also be a private councilor
available to the students that need it. The AIDS education portion of the class
would discuss how AIDS is spread. It should also discuss the effects AIDS has
on your body when you contract the disease and teach people to be sensitive to
people who have AIDS. Along with AIDS education condom education must be taught.
Condoms use is the only way that AIDS can be prevented sexually besides
abstinence. Without good condom education AIDS will spread out of control by
sexual intercourse. The condom education program should stress that condoms are
the best contraceptive devise for most teens sexual patterns. Condoms prevent
the spread of disease, and they also prevent pregnancy. Condoms education
should also stress that condoms are not 100% effective. "Changes in temperature,
rough handling or age can cause the latex to weaken or become gummy, it is
important to store condoms properly and handle them with care" (qtd. in
Whetstone 98). The program should teach teens the proper way to use a condom
and the proper way to store them. This would decrease teen pregnancy and
sexually transmitted diseases too. I also think that the relationship aspect
that would be taught to the earlier age group should also be taught to this age
group. The teens at this age would already have a good idea of what they would
like in a relationship and the program could go more in depth that way. This
step of the sex education process would really focus on getting teens ready to
handle a sexual relationship in their adult lives. This program would not just
include condom and AIDS education but it would include life skills.
In conclusion I feel that sex education should be taught in schools at
the age of 10. Some teens are having sex at age 12 or younger so sex education
needs to be taught at a very early age. Sex education should include abstinence
training for teens under the age of 16 and condom and AIDS education for teens
over the age of 16. The abstinence portion of the program would discourage
teens under the age of 16 from having sex. This is the highest risk group for
the risk of pregnancy and the spread of disease. The second part of the program
would teach older teens the relationship skills they will need in the future and
stress condom use and AIDS education. Together the 2 parts of this program with
produce the desired results that other sex education programs in the past have
failed to produce.


Works Cited

Gibbs, Nancy R. "How Should We Teach Our Children About Sex?" Time 41 (May 24
'93): 60-6.

Shapiro, Joseph P. "Teenage Sex: Just Say 'Wait'." U.S. News &World Report
115 (July 26 '93): 56-9.

"Sex Education in Schools: Peers to the Rescue." Lancet 344 (Oct. 1 '94): 899-
900.

Sheehan, Sharon A. "Another Kind of Sex Ed." Newsweek 120 (Oct. '94): 10-11.

"The Effects of Three Abstinence Sex Education Programs on Student Attitudes
Towards Sexual Activity." Adolescence 26 (Fall '91): 631-41.

Whetstone, Muriel L. "How Safe Is Safe Sex." Ebony 49 (July '94): 96-8.

Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe. "The Failure of Sex Education." Atlantic Monthly 274
(Oct.'94): 55-80.