Sex
education is one of the most controversial issues in education and there had
been many debates over this topic. It may be the most debated topic that will
always have a divided opinion. Some people may agree and some may disagree. Most
people limit the sex education’s scope by taking it at its face value. It is
not just about sex, it involves other complicated issues like sexual health,
sexual reproduction, sexuality, and others that parents often feel awkward to
talk about with their children. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of schools
to take up this topic, to inform and to educate the students about it
appropriately and effectively. However, this is almost never taken in the right
spirit by parents and students themselves. They begin to state their own
opinion why it should or should not be taught in school. Although
sex education is considered taboo, it is necessary for it to be taught in
schools because: (1) it promotes safe sex, 2) it prevents the
sexually-transmitted diseases, and 3) it is indeed a need in case of parents’
absence.
According
to Witmer (nd), there are two types of sex education classes. The comprehensive
Sexuality Education tackles age appropriate topics about body image, safe
sex, contraceptives, etc. (Witmer, nd). Safe sex means to use measures such as
contraceptives, like condoms and birth control pills, in order to avoid
sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies when engaging in
any sexual activity. The second type of sex education is the Abstinence Until
Marriage, which emphasizes abstinence from all sexual behavior. Studies show that teaching sex education before youths
become sexually active can actually help them to stay abstinent or use
protection when they reach the stage of becoming sexually active. This
program does not tackle any information about contraceptives, STDs, etc.
(Witmer, nd). So, both of those sex education classes will promote safe sex among
sexually active individuals or teenagers.
“Having
sex education only encourages pupil to engage in sexual intercourse which lead
to sexual diseases and teenage pregnancy”. This argument, although attractive,
is flawed. The truth is that sex education does not encourage pupil to do it.
According to Bleakley(2006), in a survey conducted, only about 17 percent of
the respondents answered that sex education does encourage them to do “it” and
that the remaining 83 percent strongly disagreed. According to Masland(n.d.),
kids are becoming more sexually active at an earlier age. In America, there are
66 percent of high school students who have done it by their senior year. These
kids are in danger of sexually transmitted diseases. There is also a big
possibility for them to become pregnant and that is why sex education should be
taught to avoid these things from happening, so
that they can prepare themselves about the mysterious subject of sex as they
grow up. They would not have to be curious about it anymore if they would have
been properly informed in schools.
In
the case of the parents have not get any free-time to gather with their
children, sex education should be taught in school to them, so that they would
learn it from an educated and responsible adult instead of learning it from the
media or from their friends (Masland, n.d.). Students can now access any site
on the internet that contains adult content or pornographic materials. To avoid
any bad impact of it, we must put sex education into any subject matters in
schools. It is better for children to be informed earlier because they will
still know about it when they grow up as they will be more exposed to it
through their peers and the media (Cooper, n.d.). Some people say that sex
education teaches the students about how sexual intercourse is done, but the
truth is sex education lets the students know about the consequences and the
truth about sex. Students are also informed that it is only for unity and
procreation of married couples who are committed to each other. They are also
informed that they will know the true purpose of sex when they grow up as
adults.
Another
groups of
people believe that when it comes to sex education, it is beyond a doubt, that
their children should not be exposed to something as crude as sex in their
school because their religion does not permit it. It goes against their
religious beliefs and sentiments, and they do not accept it, on principle. This
groups must be open-minded to overcome these big problems caused by
misinterpretation of sex education. Problems like sexually-transmitted
diseases, teenage pregnancies, abortion,
baby-dumping, rape, molestations, and incest are better preventing instead of
curing, so the best way to do it by implementing sex education in school.
Remember, it is better to prevent those problems through sex education although
it is taboo for some groups of people or religions rather than neglecting those
problems and let teenagers having free-sex. Isn’t it more sinny to have a
free-sex instead of to attend a sex education class?
In conclusion, sex education is a
vital subject that must be taught to young children or adolescents. The
perception of having sex education only encourages teenagers
to engage in sexual intercourse which lead to sexual diseases and teenage
pregnancy should be corrected because based on the survey done by
Bleakley(2006), only 17 percent of the respondents answered that sex education
does encourage them to do “it”. Other perception about religious
beliefs and sentiments should be corrected as well because it is much more
effective to be open-minded in overcoming these big problems. Teenagers cannot
rely on media and on friends for information about sex, rather they need to be
properly educated about these things in school, in order for them to realize
the importance of safe sex, the risks of sexually-transmitted diseases
(STDs), and the need
in case of parents’ absence.
