Sex Education Debate

Educate Them
In the debate over sex education, one thing is undeniable: the average kid today is immersed in sexual imagery. A generation that has grown up on the sordid details of the Starr Report, watched thong-clad teens gyrate on Spring Break cable specials, or see the cover of virtually any women’s magazine in the grocery checkout line is familiar with the facts of life. Young people face a barrage of confusing messages. Along with titillating images from the media, some kids are told to “just say no” to sex. Kids are becoming more sexually active at an earlier age. Adolescents usually derive information on sex and related subjects from sources like friends, books, the media comprising advertising, television, magazines and the internet. The problem is that these sources may or may not provide them correct and accurate information. As such, sex education will help in transferring authentic information, and in the process also correct any misinformation that they may have apart from adding to their already existing knowledge. Sexual education needs to be imparted at the numerous school levels and home to educate youth on the important facts about sex such as pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, contraceptives, peer pressures of having sex, and various other issues.
Even though the teen pregnancy rate has declined over the past few decades, the fact of the matter is that the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of the Western industrialized world (Guttmacher). It is true that the teen pregnancy and birth rate was much higher prior to 1980 (and especially in the 1950s and 1960s), but at the time young women were getting married and having children before the age of twenty. Most of the teen pregnancies occurring before 1980 were to married women; now most of today 's teen mothers are unwed. Of the approximately seven hundred fifty thousand teen pregnancies that occur each year, eighty-two percent are unintended, fifty-nine percent end in birth, and more than one-quarter end in abortion (Barber). Most teenagers do not plan to get pregnant, but many do. Teen pregnancies carry extra health risks to the mother and baby. Most individuals and couples want to plan the timing and spacing of their childbearing and avoid unintended pregnancies, for a range of social and economic reasons. In addition, untended pregnancy has a public health impact: births resulting from unintended or closely spaced pregnancies are associated with adverse maternal and child health outcomes, such as delayed prenatal care, premature birth and negative physical and mental health effects for children. Often, teenagers do not receive timely prenatal care, and they have a higher risk for pregnancy-related high blood pressure and its complications. Risks for the baby include premature birth and a low birth weight. Teen pregnancy has been called an "epidemic" and a national emergency. Stereotypes of teen parents abound are that most are uneducated, irresponsible, abusive, immoral, and destined to a life of poverty.
Milos Pesic is a single father and expert in the field of parenting who runs a highly popular and comprehensive parenting web site. In terms of education, teen parenting has become socially accepted for teenage mothers to stay in school. Unfortunately, an alarming eighty percent of them either choose or feel the need to drop out, and only fifty percent of teenage parents who had their first child during the early teenage years will finish high school before they reach thirty (Pesic). The result of this situation is that the children of these teenage parents exhibit lower cognitive development compared to their peers. These children have the tendency to become underachievers academically and are more likely to become school drop outs, too. Teen parenting statistics also point out that kids start to engage in sex earlier than most of their peers, and have a higher tendency to repeat their parent 's past of becoming teenage parents. Economically, teenage parents who are not able to achieve a high school diploma or finish a GED program will experience more difficulty in finding a secure and well-paying job. In teen parenting statistics, it shows women who had children after the age of twenty earn twice as much as women who were teenage mothers (Pesic). In addition, ten percent of teenage mothers are not receiving child support from the child 's father, and forty percent rely on various government assistance programs such as food stamps in order to get by (Pesic). Teens who receive formal sex education prior to their first sexual experience demonstrate a range of healthier behaviors at first intercourse than those who receive no sex education at all. This is particularly so when the instruction they receive includes information about both waiting to have sex and methods of birth control.
Dr. Melody Morton Nonomiya, a doctor at the University of New Mexico, conducted a study among teachers and parents on the comfortability of talking to children about sex. In their study of elementary and middle school teachers, Cohen found that teachers were least comfortable teaching about topics such as masturbation, and sexual pleasure and orgasm (Ninomiya). One could see how that would be an uncomfortable subject to teach, but that does not exclude the fact that it still needs to be taught. Although these topics were the least covered, there were a number of examples in which "uncomfortable" topics were covered by most teachers. Comfort is paramount, but other factors may be at play. For example, teachers struggle with making judgments about student maturity, experience, shyness, and knowledge while at the same time feeling vulnerable to controversy, and aware of possible parental complaints and of attracting media interest. In some cases, comfort may not affect whether a topic is "covered" but rather how it is taught in terms of depth, detail and critical emphasis. Feeling comfortable in teaching sexuality education is a decisive factor in a successful program. Forming partnerships with the local community and working with expert providers can help with this. Many teachers report that ongoing peer support, developed through cluster meetings or attending professional learning, can substantially assist with their level of comfort. Ongoing peer support can also be a terrific opportunity for resource and information sharing.
Humans are curious and young people are exploratory as an expression of their intrinsic curiosity. Peer pressure and the media have enormous influence in the lives of adolescents, and if we do not teach them about sex, somehow they would learn and maybe learn in a way that may have devastating consequences. Some elements of the mass media are biased and may not portray accurate reflection of reality. Sex education will serve as counterinsurgency to the war against family values by mass media. Children are more likely to make better and more informed decisions when adequately educated, and parents will feel more confident knowing that their children are aware of the realities around their reproductive lives. Although most parents work hard to prevent their children from premature sexual relationships, the reality is that it still happens and could happen in spite of threats and intimidation. Educating the child on the importance of protection as part of safe sex routine may serve a higher purpose of preventing sexually transmitted infections. Family involvement, family structure, parental values, parental monitoring, and parent-child communication are crucial factors influencing critical life choices and are a crucial part of teen pregnancy prevention. The closeness of family ties, parental preteen support, and especially mother-daughter relationships is associated with teens not having sex or delaying the onset of sexual intercourse, a lower frequency of intercourse, more consistent use of contraception by sexually active teens, and a reduced risk of teen pregnancy. Conversely, low parental support and involvement has been related to sexually permissive attitudes of teens and an association with sexually active friends. Parental monitoring is related to less frequent sexual intercourse lower sexual risk-taking and delayed first intercourse. Discussion of HIV and AIDS between parents and children also relate to a decreased likelihood of teens having multiple partners and unprotected intercourse. Furthermore, parents who participate in programs to improve communication do increase communication with their adolescents and report more comfort in doing so. In the 1980s and 1990s there was growing public acceptance for homosexuality as well as increasing peer acceptance of varying gender identities among adolescents. Many high schools, particularly in urban areas, have clubs for gays and lesbians, and the stigma of being different has lessened. Critics are concerned that such public toleration will encourage more individuals to become gay or lesbian. Studies show, however, that many preadolescents and adolescents who express nonconformity in gender identity do not continue to do so as adults. Others who conformed to traditional views in childhood broke away to identify themselves as homosexual or lesbian adults. There are still many unknowns in the complex study of the formation of gender identity (Bullough). It is essential that sexuality education programs are included in primary, secondary and special schools and are developmentally appropriate. Primary school programs should provide a essential foundation for programs offered in secondary schools. Sexuality education programs should utilize a whole-school learning approach. When school leaders and teachers adopt such an approach, they view student learning in the context of the whole experience of being at school, that is, in the classroom, in the school environment, in the way a school responds to critical incidents and the kinds of partnerships a school forms with the local community. Without destroying the fabric of the society or culture, it is imperative to teach young people about sex education in a way that not only reflects the values of the family and society, but also enhances the sustainability of a balanced culture. Having sex is a primitive, intrinsic, natural, human tendency that emerges in all of us at different times. One thing is certain: if we do not educate children on sex and sex-related issues, they will learn from other people or the mass media. Sex education is not only valuable as a developmental process in the life of a child, it arms the child with the tools to understand him or herself better in relation to the immediate environment and the threats that could emerge from such interaction. This is to say that young people would benefit incremental knowledge of the ability to protect themselves and alert people of the threats of sexual exploitation. Sex education provides young people with the information they need to understand their bodies and gender roles in positive ways. It is about better understanding of humanity, reproductive rights, and developmental changes such as puberty, menopause, aging, that could be experienced in the course of one’s reproductive life. It provides a safety net for young people whose lives are already by messages from the media that may not reflect core family values. Educating young people about themselves sends a message of self-appreciation, self-esteem and highlights the fact that the change they are experiencing or would experience is indeed normal.

Works Cited
Guttmacher. “Facts on American Teens’ Sources of Information About Sex.” Guttmacher
Institute. Web. Feb. 2012 <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-Teen-Sex-Ed.html>
Pesic, Milos. “A Look at Teen Parenting Statistics.” Enzine Articles. Web. 15 June 2007.
Barber JS, Axinn WG and Thornton A, Unwanted childbearing, health, and mother-child relationships, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1999, 40(3):231–257.
Ninomiya, Melody Morton. "Sexual Health Education In Newfoundland And Labrador Schools:
Junior High School Teachers ' Experiences, Coverage Of Topics, Comfort Levels And Views About Professional Practice." Canadian Journal Of Human Sexuality 19.1/2 (2010): 15-26. Academic Search Complete. UMUC Database. Web. 2 May 2012.
Lederman, Regina P., and Tahir S. Mian. "The Parent-Adolescent Relationship Education
(PARE) Program: A Curriculum For Prevention Of STDs And Pregnancy In Middle School Youth." Behavioral Medicine 29.1 (2003): 33-41. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. UMUC Database. Web. 2 May 2012.
Bullough, Vern L. 1976. Sexual Variance in Society and History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. UMUC Database

Cited: Barber JS, Axinn WG and Thornton A, Unwanted childbearing, health, and mother-child relationships, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1999, 40(3):231–257. Lederman, Regina P., and Tahir S. Mian. "The Parent-Adolescent Relationship Education (PARE) Program: A Curriculum For Prevention Of STDs And Pregnancy In Middle School Youth." Behavioral Medicine 29.1 (2003): 33-41 Bullough, Vern L. 1976. Sexual Variance in Society and History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press