Sex education

Sex education is education about sexual reproduction in human beings, sexual intercourse and other aspects of human sexual behavior.

Debate in the United States

Most parents in the U.S. feel that teenagers should remain sexually abstinent, but should have access to contraception. Ninety-five percent of adults in the United States and 85 percent of teenagers think it's important that school-aged children and teenagers be given a strong message from society that they should abstain from sex until they are out of high school. Almost 60 percent of adults also think that sexually active teenagers should have access to contraception. (Source: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy). A 1997 study found that about 48 percent of high school students are sexually active.

Related Topics:
Teenager - Sexually abstinent - Contraception - 1997

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In the U.S. some advocates including President George W. Bush have successfully worked toward the introduction of "abstinence-only" curricula. Under such instruction, teens are told that they should be sexually abstinent until adulthood and/or marriage, and information about contraception is not provided. Opponents argue this approach denies teens needed, factual information and could lead to unwanted pregnancies and propagation of STDs.

Related Topics:
President - George W. Bush - Abstinence - Curricula

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Some curricula are advocated on the grounds that they are intended to reduce sexual disease or out-of-wedlock or teenage pregnancy, but no abstinence-only program has ever been shown to reduce teen sexual activity, pregnancy, or STDs. A curriculum ostensibly aimed at reducing pregnancy among high school students, which advocates the use of condoms, could potentially lower the pregnancy rate. Proponents of this view argue that sexual behaviour after puberty is a given, and it is therefore crucial to provide information about the risks and how they can be minimized. They hold that conventional or conservative moralising will put off students and thus weaken the message.

Related Topics:
Condom - Conservative - Moral

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In turn, opponents of comprehensive sexuality education object that curricula which fail to teach moral behaviour actually serve to prevent children from making informed decisions; they maintain that curricula should include the claim that conventional (or conservative) morality is "healthy and constructive", and that value-free knowledge of the body may lead to unhealthy and harmful practices.

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In December of 2004 Henry A. Waxman, a United States Congressman from California, released a report that provides several examples of inaccurate information being included in federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs. This report bolstered the claims of those Americans arguing that abstinence-only programs deprive teenagers of critical information.

Related Topics:
December - 2004 - Henry A. Waxman - California

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The August 29/September 5, 2005, issue of The Nation reported that money from the Federal Government used to create high school abstinence clubs was being used to train "young abstinence advocates", who were being encouraged to engage in politics and support right-wing issues like overturning abortion. The article states that although the program's official language has been secularized, a list of its grant recipients "reads like a who's who list of the religious right."

Related Topics:
August 29 - September 5 - 2005 - The Nation - Federal Government - High school - Right-wing - Abortion - Religious right

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth are often ignored in sex education classes. This means that information about safer sex practices for oral sex and anal sex are not discussed nor are their different risk levels for diseases. Some people do not support including this additional information because it might be seen as approving of their lifestyle. Supporters of including LGBT issues as an integral part of comprehensive sexuality education argue that this information is still useful and relevant.

Related Topics:
Lesbian - Gay - Bisexual - Transgender - LGBT - Oral sex - Anal sex

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Supporters of comprehensive sex education programs argue that abstinence-only curricula that advocate that youth should abstain from sex until marriage ignore and marginalize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, who might not be able to marry their partner due to legal restrictions. Proponents of abstinence-only education often have a more conservative view of homosexuality and are against it being taught as a normal, accepted lifestyle, or placed on the same platform as heterosexual relations, and so they generally do not see this as a problem.

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