Sex education has not always been taught in American schools. In earlier years, the idea of teaching children about sex was very controversial. Many parents disagreed with the idea because they felt that it was their responsibility to discuss sex with their children. Now, as sexual activity has become greatly popular among teens, the fight whether to teach sex education has diminished into simple questions like what grade it should be taught in. Sex education is important because it informs teenagers of the risk of having a sexual relationship.
Most teenagers participate in sexual relationships. Speaking as a high school student, more than half of the students in high school are definitely involved in sexual relationships and sometimes more than one. The current generation promotes sex as the ultimate fun or cool thing to do. Often, times there is great pressure put on non-sexual teenagers to become in sexual relationships by their peers and society. Teenagers think of celebrities as Gods, making them their number one role model. This is not good considering the way celebrities portray themselves as lustful objects. The celebrities make it look cool to be promiscuous and give teenagers the okay to be that way.
Sex education is an important subject to be taught during teenage years. It is reported that everyday 8,000 teenagers are infected with a sexually transmitted diseases. In 2000, 240,000 girls 18 and younger became impregnated. Sex education about risks, preventions, and cautions can decrease disease and physical harm throughout young America. Emotionally, it helps to talk about sexual problems or relations with someone, decreasing suicide attempts. Several unplanned babies are born every year due to non-education. Sex education has the power to reduce teenage pregnancy, saving lives. Sexual relationships can turn into something life threatening and education can lessen the danger.
It is necessary for teenagers to be educated about the risks of sexual relationships. Most teenagers are engaged in sexual relationships because of celebrities and peer pressure. Teaching sex education is important because it causes the danger of death and disease to decrease. It also, decreased unplanned pregnancy and emotional problems. Sex education has helped some problems in America attempt to diminish.
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Sexual Education is ideally used to virtually exterminate the high rates of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and pregnancy among teenagers. Sex Ed is usually presented to high school students in the form of various lectures given to inform the students on practicing “safe sex”. Basic “use a condom every time” and “don’t sleep around” phrases are thrown around, as well as things about anatomy, decision making, communication, birth control methods, etc. (Sex Education, Wikipedia). Educational programs such as Sex Ed may look great on paper, but eventually eat up tax dollars and provide little change. Alacey Monconduit states “Sex education has the power to reduce teenage pregnancy, saving lives.” This “fact” is one we should take into consideration. Can sex ed really reduce teenage pregnancy significantly? Can it also lower the number of teenagers having sex? I believe the majority of sex ed curriculums will have little to no effect on the number of teenagers having sex, getting pregnant, and/or contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
Monconduit claims that peer pressure and celebrities are the reasons teenagers have sex. While these may be slight contributing factors, the teenage students I have asked repeatedly stated that they would not have sex based on what some celebrity has said. Teenagers primarily participate in sexual relationships for various reasons. These reasons include overprotective supervision, lack of reason to wait till marriage, inner drives, and a want for the sense of independence. (Why Teens Have Sex, Troubledwith.com) Children who have overprotective parents/guardians are more likely to rebel when the opportunity comes; therefore, or more likely to go against their parents wishes and have sex. Another reason teenagers don’t wait is because they feel like there is no need to. There is a pull between the curiosity and want for pleasure in adolescents and the morally erect thinking of the home and the church. One teenager stated “I always use to wonder why teens have sex when I was young…now that I’m 16 I have sex almost twice a week…its so wonderful.” This teenager has sex repeatedly because “its wonderful”, (Teens Having Sex, Mylifeteime.com) not because Paris Hilton or Angelina Jolie does it.
As sad as it is, kids do things in spite of what the authority figures in their lives say. As fifth graders in Ascension Parish we all went through the DARE program. This program is used to inform children in elementary, middle, and senior high school of the dangers and consequences of alcohol and drugs and how to “just say no.” It may not be something that our community wishes to bring into the public eye but teenagers have forgotten the life lessons learned in DARE and are drinking recreationally. With this failed attempt as a precedent, why would we choose to waste our tax dollars on something that will probably fail? An administrator can stand on their pulpit and scream till they are blue in the face about “safe sex” and using condoms and not have sex period but, the truth of the matter is: teens have sex because they want to, and that is not going to stop.
While Monconduit has a point, and sex education looks lovely on paper, there is no way teenagers are going to stop having sex. Sex education may educate teenagers on the safe ways to have sex but it will probably not significantly alter the number of teenage pregnancies. Teens have sex because they want independence, are curious, have overbearing parental figures, succumb to inner drives, and they have no reason to wait till marriage.
Alacey proposes an argument that sex education is important because it informs teenagers of the risk of having a sexual relationship. Although some of this statement can be considered true, the fact is that teenagers will not pay attention during a sex education course. Also, teenagers have their minds made up on what they want in their lives, and one simple course on sex is not going to change their views. In this generation, teenagers consider themselves to be older and wiser than their years, and they think they can handle an adult relationship. Sex education will not prevent teenagers from having sex or a sexual relationship because they will not pay attention to the course and material and they think they have a very high maturity level.
Celebrities and peer pressure are just one tiny influence on teenagers and why they have sex today. It is true that if a friend or a celebrity you look up to is promoting or having sex, then you are going to want to experience it for yourself. But, the fact is that not most high school teenagers are like that. When you get into high school about 75 % of all students become involved in relationships. The thought of love is immediately placed in to their heads, and they believe that being in a serious relationship means to exhibit their love for one another by having sex. Most teenagers know the risk of sex such as pregnancy and transmitted diseases, but they are willing to set aside the fear and risk of those things for the experience of love. Peer pressure is also a major aspect of high school, so it is understandable to assume that teenagers may have sex just to fit in. But, saying that most teenagers just have sex for popularity is a little far fetched.
An informative sex education course would help prevent very few students from having sexual relationships. In 2000, it is true that 240,000 teenage girls became impregnated, but about half of those girls took a sexual education course. It is a good thing for teens to be well informed of what they are exactly getting themselves in to. For those who actually do care about their health and their lives, they take sex education seriously and may just prevent them from becoming pregnant or can save their life from a transmitted disease. The fact is, most teens in high school have sex by the time they reach their junior year. In East Ascension High School alone, there are at least ten girls pregnant. The students all took a health class, and are still having sex and mature relationships. Sex education is pointless.
Teenagers consider themselves to be mature adults. Although most young adults know that is not true, it does not change the fact that teens think they can handle sexual relationships. Regardless of someone’s age, it makes more sense to talk about maturity, love and mutual respect than to send an absolute message that sex is unacceptable outside marriage.(Abstinence, Caplan) Peer pressure is only a small factor of having sex at such a young age. Most teenagers’ think that they are in love, and that it is all right to have a relationship that married couples do. They will ignore every piece of information given to them about the risks of sex because they already have their minds made up. Sex education will not prevent teens from having sex.
Alacey states a very good argument about sex education and how it can help keep teenagers aligned from making life-changing mistakes and endangering themselves. Well the truth is, teenagers do not take sex education seriously. They think of it as one big joke due to immaturity or personal embarrassment in front of their peers of discussing such subjects. Alacey also states that celebrities have a huge impact on teens having sex. Do celebrities really have that kind of effect on teenager’s personal lives? Survey polls show celebrities are not that big of a deal when it comes to influencing teenage sexual decisions. Sure, teens look up to celebrities and follow the next big trend they have going on, but sex is usually not one of them. Teenagers, themselves, make up their own mind to whether they want to experience sex or not.
Celebrities have a huge impact on teenagers in a way on what they say, do, and dress but they do not pressure teens to have sex. Media takes a toll on making celebrities look bad in the lust department, which makes teens change their perception on how they think about celebrities. Alacey states that celebrities make it look cool to be promiscuous and lustful and portray themselves as such. This is not the case, the general statement of celebrities would be considered all inclusive of the following types: sports celebrities, car racing celebrities, comedian celebrities, news celebrities, etc, which do not portray themselves as such. This is true in a sense they help decide how teens see themselves but having sex is a decision made on their own. Teens often let their hormones and emotions get the better of them and sometimes sway them into situations not normally in their personality.
A teenager’s decision for engaging in a sexual relationship is influenced by many things. Some of the possible influences could be overprotective guardians, lack of supervision, physical or mental abuse at a young age, the need for attention, peer pressure, and a sense of independence. In the case of an overprotective guardian, may result in the teen being rebellious. In the case of the lack of supervision of need of attention, it could be that the teen is reaching out looking for help in the wrong way thinking that this would give them the feeling of being loved. In the case of physical or mental abuse at a young age, the teen may need mental help in working out subconscious issues that can result in many different irrational emotions and feelings. In the case of a sense of independence, it may give the teenager a sense of being an adult and making adult decisions.
In conclusion, the case of sex education in some areas of the country has not affected or resulted in a decrease of teenage pregnancies according to recent studies and surveys. It has more than likely reduced the chances of sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS from being spread to a degree. Looking back in history, teenage pregnancy in the 1940s and 1950s seem to be less than the present. This may have been due to more interaction between the children and the parents around sex education, which in present day, does not seem to take place very often. In the case of sex education classes, the teenager’s immaturity and embarrassment leads to not fully comprehending the class subject matter, which gives teenagers a false sense of security on the subject matter of sex education. Overall celebrity influence, good or bad, has not resulted in increase of teen pregnancy. The teenager’s emotional background, personality, ability to resist peer pressure along with decision-making abilities has the greatest influence on teenage pregnancy.
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