Sex Education in Schools

A. School-based sex education provides information about human sexuality, protection, along with the values and attitudes about sex, and cultivates interpersonal skills that will enable students to counter the pressures of sexual involvement.

B. Sex education is challenged by parents and religious groups who claim that sex education promotes sexual behavior.

C. Sex education should be mandated for the following reasons: a) provides accurate information to students; b) decreases risky sexual behavior; c) minimizes the adverse consequences of risky sexual behavior; and d) ensures social equality.

II. Sex education in schools constitutes a valuable source of information for young people.

School-based sex education counteracts the misinformation about sex from media and peers.

School-based sex education provides students with a wide variety of information on human sexuality: HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), abstinence, basics of reproduction, birth control, abortion, sexual orientation, along with communication and decision-making skills.

Research showed that students' knowledge of human sexuality is positively related with school-based sex education.

III. Sex education is effective in decreasing risky sexual behavior.

Research studies indicated that students who received sex education delayed the initiation of sexual intercourse and

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education programs play a critical role in decreasing the likelihood of teenagers contracting STDs. According to Kirby, 25 percent of sexually active teenagers contract at least one STD per year. In the case of STDs such as AIDS, which are incurable, the importance of sex education in deterring risky sexual behavior is evident (Emerging Answers 3-4). The provision of comprehensive sex education programs in secondary schools thus acknowledges the fact over 65 percent of teenagers will have engaged in sexual activity before they graduate from high school. In other words, teenagers are still likely to be exposed to the possibilities of teen pregnancy and STDs. Therefore, even though sexual activity among teenagers has decreased, this fundamental reality still constitutes a considerable problem that needs to be addressed (Kirby, Emerging Answers 3). The continuous effort to educate teenagers about their sexuality is especially critical in the light of the fact that the population of teen girls is likely to increase by almost ten percent between 2000 and 2010. With the expansion of this population, Kirby explained that the decline in the rate of teen pregnancy would not necessarily translate into fewer teen pregnancies and bi
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Approximate Word count = 5517
Approximate Pages = 22 (250 words per page)

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