Lenondre King

FIQWS

Professor Barrick and Professor Ryder

12 December 2019

 

Word Count: 2277

 

Improving Sexual Education

Sexual education was originally made to aid youth attain the information and necessary skills to make proactive decisions about sex throughout their lives. These programs strive to delay sex until adolescents, specifically teenagers, are older and more mature, to use condoms and contraception until they are ready to have children, and to reduce the frequency of sex and number of sexual partners. However, only 24 states in the United States require sex education, ultimately hindering the interpretation of sex for teenagers. High school is one of many primary sources where teenagers access information they will eventually use later on in life. So, what happens when this information is not distributed properly by states? The inconsistent teachings of sex education leaves teenagers clueless of the advantages of developing safe and healthy sex habits.

Contraceptives are used for plenty of reasons and is taught with sex education. Contraception helps an individual to control when they want to and when they want to stop having children. It helps an individual plan their pregnancy to make sure their baby gets the best care during and after birth. According to Brody, “Teens today get much more information about sexually transmitted diseases in school health ed classes than they do about pregnancy prevention.” He suggests that high school sex ed classes are not emphasizing the importance of every single factor that could result from unprotected sex. Davis says norms are littered throughout society from childhood.” If we don’t stress the importance of contraceptives from young, children are going to develop the same bad habits from their teenage years to adulthood, and could eventually make life changing decisions, just because, they were provided every ounce of information from a high school sex ed course.

Majority of high school seniors have already engaged in sexual activity and “…teenagers who are inadequately informed about pregnancy prevention…are more likely to become pregnant than those told about birth control options…” (Brody). Contraceptive knowledge encourages safe sex and unwanted pregnancy. Babies born to teenage women are more than likely to be underweight and have a higher mortality rate.  It also reduces the development of reproductive cancers, slows down population growth. This is significant because, overpopulation makes services such as food, shelter, education and health less accessible than it already is. The lack of sex education has a direct relationship with the lack of contraception techniques used amongst teenagers in the U.S.

 

Abstinence is used for addicts to avoid in certain potentially negative behaviors, in this case, sex. One goal of abstinence education that is to delay sex until teenagers are more mature to handle the outcomes of it, or in other words, to abstain from sex. It can help teenagers stay focused in school and hobbies, increase trust between partners, etc. However, according to Barna, abstinence education is unnecessary and less effective than sex education in the United States. There was a study in which abstinence-only programs effect on birth rates were compared to that of sex education. In the end, it was shown that “abstinence-only programs had no effect on teen birth rates in conservative, liberal and moderate states.” The lack of sex education provided to teens in the country ultimately is damaging the mindset of teenagers, as knowledge of abstinence is not contributing to helping them make healthy decisions.

Sex addiction is very difficult to cure with abstinence because, it does not work with every individual. Some individuals may take the idea of abstinence in a different way and may use outercourse as an alternative. This is very disadvantageous as it may spread STDs and if sperm gets into the vagina during outercourse, pregnancy could still occur. In addition, teenagers using outercourse to avoid a pregnancy don’t have alternative birth controls ready, and if they suddenly decide to have unprotected sex, it can lead to a pregnancy and STDs.

The image above from Barna’s article shows the stress of a high school teenager who is abstaining from sex. Due to the fact that sexual abstinence may not work for all, it can hinder a teenager’s social experience at school and the workplace. Also, it may bring arouse to other sexually related addictions, that sex education could prevent or have more effect on, such as, mutual masturbation, manual stimulation, anal sex, etc that in every way could still result in STDs. In “Autobiography/Anti-Autobiography” Barlett says “…why do you talk like that? And children grow up knowing this is ordinary…” Children say ‘why do you say that’ in order to find out if what you’re are saying is just or not, to find a reason to say it, use the information in their everyday language, and teach it to others. Having sex education, a requirement for all high schools in the U.S to teach teenagers, would not only prevent the drawbacks of abstinence, but also promote a healthy living environment, that would spread past our nation as the years go by. Numerous accounts prove that teens need sex education as it has a more impactful effect on how an individual operates in the social environment from their teenage years and beyond.

Technology is dramatically advancing and altering every aspect of human interactions. Since the first computer was built, the quality of information and its deliverance has been much easier. Without them, medical information would not be attainable. As a result, certain high schools want to introduce computer- and internet-based programs in their sex education lessons to “influence several variables related to the prevention of pregnancy, STDs, and HIV in rural adolescents (Roberto).” Online activities such as flashcards, jigsaw, and crossword puzzles are all concentration games that are “more effective than traditional lecture-based intervention for adolescent pregnancy prevention (Roberto).”

Computer and internet-based programs would offer numerous amounts of advantages in sex education in high schools. Being online, health information could be accessed anywhere, at any time, and reach anyone. This is particularly useful in times where the lecturer is unavailable, due to sudden circumstances. In addition, “educational materials may be regularly updated and upgraded…(Roberto).” In this day and age most teenagers have their smartphone attached to them as if it her another limb. Having easy access to constantly updated information of sex ed would drive individuals to learn more and more and finally stop repeating history of attaining this important, valuable from the dark ages.

The use of language is another form of expression that can be used to unveil the effects of sexual education provided to teenagers. However, Paul Sebastian takes a more realistic approach in his poem “Sex Education”. He describes how the inconsistent teachings of sex education drive youth to be “’taught’ by the media, peers’ experiences…” Its pertinent that teenagers get taught sex education at some point during school or they will be misguided by information obtained from sources such as television, the internet, their friends, etc. However, the education system does not know “what to teach, how to teach, and who to teach”. Educators put an over emphasis and primary focus on the common knowledge of STD and pregnancy prevention, but don’t acknowledge what the teenager actually wants to learn about during sex ed. They don’t know ‘how to teach’ because, too little attention is given to each individual student. In the American education system, currently over 8% of employers are complaining that they’re interviewing job applicants with high academic qualifications but have very limited life skills levels. This hinders the ability for a teenager’s knowledge on sex education to be as broad as possible.

Sebastian goes on to say, “Genuine questions answered, knowledge centred / Entitle young to ignorance, comfort and to be modest”. Building a relationship with the student is an important part of the education process because, it always trusts between the teacher and student and a comfortable setting in which the teen can ask genuine questions that they would want to be answered. Life isn’t as stressful for teens compared to adults but can still be dangerous. Keeping them in the dark about sex due to inadequate sex education may result in adult’s predacious behavior towards them. Also, teens are very ‘ignorant’ but become ‘modest’ when exposed to proper sex ed.

To expand on the “genuine questions” to be answered, Sebastian discusses how sex has lost its meaning in today’s society. Schools aren’t teaching about “sexual orientations”, “moral, spiritual attitudes and responsibilities”, or “the effects and dangers of pornography”. Pornography, for example, has cheapened sex more and more over the years and made it an animalistic activity. Moving from one partner to the next is just a reason to disregard the responsibilities of sex. This shows the incompetent schooling and how educators don’t take into account of how someone really feels about sex since they are teaching what they want to teach and not what the student wants to learn.

Some sex educators take a holistic approach to teaching. In one scenario, Vernacchio describes how he drops a Question Box where students can feel safe asking any questions about human sexuality. The questions range from simple to downright technical. Students asked “why is sex so good?”, “When is someone emotionally or physically ready for sex”, or “How can you tell if a guy likes you?” Kids often ask “Why is sex so good because they don’t want to highlight and deepen sexual pleasure and want to know if their comfortable enough to enjoy that experience. Teens ask, “How can you tell if a guy likes you?” because their anxious to know about what people think about them. Teens ask, “Can you use a balloon as a condom?” because, they aren’t confident enough to acquire condoms on their own. Being ready for sexual intercourse means being able to handle everything that comes with it. Finally, kids usually ask “When is someone emotionally and physically ready for sex?” because, they aren’t ready to become sexually active and can’t talk to their partner about the matter on a serious note. Adolescence is when sex really starts to get serious and there’s a lot of tough topics to talk about, whether it be dating, contraceptives, STDs, etc. The biggest benefit of teaching teens about sex is that they have been empowered with the knowledge to be able to make the right choices, but also have the right to ask questions at their own comfort.

Parents talking to their child about sex is never easy, but over recent years, more and more parents are practicing the “new age” and “support” approach instead of denial. The “new age” approach consists of the parent making clear to their teen that sex is a good thing and nothing to be ashamed of but carries potentially dangerous effects. The “support” is when the parent makes clear that their willing to be there for their teen whenever they needed help on sexual education. In this day and age, the lack of consistent sexual education causes parents to teach their child a majority and foundation of sex ed that they will use as they encounter numerous partners in the future. One parent, Sally Feldman, expresses her ideology of how she isn’t in denial and feel worried of her teen daughter having sex as she’s told her the do’s and don’ts of sexual intercourse, but feels stressed as peer pressure in school, along with inconsistent teachings causes her daughters mind to be clouded when making important decisions regarding sex. “Concern about the content of teenage magazines is usually to panic the rise in teenage pregnancies, and this time coincide with the story of Michelle Smith, a fourteen-year-old who had an abortion without telling her mother” (Feldman). Simple and easily accessible items such as magazines can cause a teen, about to undergo sexual intercourse, to quickly make a rash decision potentially leading to controversial decisions like abortion. “No one is thrilled little girls are worrying about their figures at five, their boobs at ten, swapping kissing techniques… and considering their first vaginal tuck as their period begins.” However, if the teacher in class won’t teach it to them, who will? They are justified to learn from where ever they can, but the actions leading after that aren’t always going to be deemed justifiable as they could have just interpreted the information in a nonsensical way that could have been heavily avoided if they just had the proper teachings in a sexual education course. Barlett says “I was taught to walk… and if I couldn’t walk fast enough it was my problem and I was left behind.” The ‘walk’ in this case is the road to learning sex education. In the midst of that journey the teen would be ‘left behind’ due to inconsistent teachings of it, in addition to the peer pressure involved with having sex due to school, television, magazines, and so on. Training parents to become approachable mentors would save a lot of youth and improve the sexual education system. Training courses would give adults the tools with which to become sexual-health mentors to teens, enabling them to communicate effectively with the kids on the topic.

Age acts a medium that provides the foundation of knowledge of matters that we will used for many years to come, as in this case sex education. This act has received great importance over the years by teens and parents, but not as much from the education system. The teens that received this knowledge are left in confusion due to incompetent teachings if the subject, ultimately leadings to regret of making the wrong decisions later on in their lives. As we go on with our lives, it is important to know the lack thereof, so we don’t consistently make the same mistakes for the next generation.

 

Works Cited

1. Barlett, Jennifer. Autobiography/ Anti-Autobiography. pp 7-15. Accessed 24 Nov. 2019
2. Barna, Mark. “Abstinence education failing US teens.” The Nation’s Health, May 2019, p. 3. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A586902867/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=86b7da53. Accessed 24 Nov. 2019.
3. Brody, Jane E. “Contraception, With Teenagers in Mind.” New York Times, 20 Feb. 2018, p. D5(L). Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A528156627/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=fd27b5be. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.
4. Davis, Lennard J. “Constructing Normalcy”. Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness, and the Body, by Lennard J. Davis, Nota, 2016, pp 9-27. Accessed 24 Nov. 2019.
5. Roberto, Anthony J., Carlyle, Kelle E. and Zimmerman, Rick S. “The Short-Term Effects of Computer-Based Pregnancy, STD, and HIV Prevention Program.” Communication Quarterly, Feb 2008, Vol. 56, Issue 1, p29-48, 20p, 3 Charts. https://web-a-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=a1fa331c-2f33-42a3-9229-2258c18dc2b7%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=32708720&db=hus. Accessed 28 Nov. 2019.
6. Sally, Fredman. “Why I’m Glad My Daughter Had Underage Sex”. Humanist; Nov/Dec 2004, vol. 64 Issue 6, p7-10, 4p. https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=68cf4b12-433a-4772-9ba6-41af4493d3eb%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=14835610&db=hus. Accessed 24. 2019
7. Sebastian, Paul. “Sex Education”. https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sex-education-3/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2019.
8. Vernacchio, Al. “What teens really want to know about sex”. For Goodness Sex: Changing the Way We Talk to Teens About Sexuality, Values, and Health. https://blog.ed.ted.com/2016/03/14/what-teens-really-want-to-know-about-sex/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2019.