FREE ESSAY ON SEX EDUCATION IN THE CLASSROOM

SEX EDUCATION IN THE CLASSROOM

Sean Marino
November 6, 1999
Contemporary Moral Problems T/TR 11:30-12:45
Final paper
Sex Education and the Classroom
In today's society there is an on going debate over sex education and its influence on
our children. The question is no longer should sex education be taught, but rather how it
should be taught (DeCarlo). With teenage pregnancy rates higher than ever and the
imminent threat of the contraction of STD's, such as HIV, the role of sex education in
the school is of greater importance now then ever before. By denying children sex
education you are in a sense sheltering them from the harsh realities they are bound to
encounter. Sex education has become an essential part of the curriculum and by removing
the information provided by this class we'll be voluntarily putting our children in
danger.
During the teenage years every boy and girl undergo major changes in the body that most
of the time need explaining. This underscores one of the most evident reasons for sexual
education being taught to students. Sex education can help children to cope with the many
changes caused by the onset of puberty. One such example is a female's first menstruation
and the uneasiness they feel. If this girl had been informed of this change prior to its
onset, then her ability to accept and understand it would be greatly enhanced. Hormonal
and physical changes in the body begin without warning and a child needs to know why
these changes are occurring. 
Lindsell 2
Students are taught about the anatomy of the human body and how and why it works the way
it does. Knowing and understanding how ones body works is a fundamental part any persons
life and ability to gain this knowledge should not be removed.
At the beginning of puberty hormones start rushing and all teenagers begin to experience
sexual urges. It's not something anyone, including a parent or teacher, can control. It's
a natural function of the body and has been since the beginning of time. With this
hormone rush comes experimentation among teenagers. They begin to explore their bodies
along with the bodies of other people. You can't prevent teenagers from having sex, no
matter what you preach. If students are having sex they might as well do it the safe way.
It's a way for schools to show that they actually care, says Shauna Ling-Choung (qt.
Richardson When sex_ B1). Students need the support from schools to know they have
somewhere to go for the good or bad. With sex education classes the students are taught
about various methods of contraception, including abstinence. By teaching the students
about the many types of contraception, the chance of contraceptives being used is greatly
increased. Many schools have recently begun programs to distribute condoms to students in
their schools in order to hopefully increase the use of condoms. A recent study shows
that the availability of condoms in schools did in fact increase condom use. Condom
access is a low-cost harmless addition to our current sex education programs (Richardson
Condoms in_ B8). When thinking of sex education for our children, the cliche' better safe
than sorry should immediately come to mind.
Along with teaching contraceptives to students the vital information of STD's are also 
Lindsell 3
taught. Currently, out of all age groups, teenagers have the highest rates of sexually
transmitted diseases, with one in four young people contracting and STD by the age of
twenty-one (DeCarlo). Included in the STD category is the HIV virus, which is spreading
at alarming rates among our teenage population. It is believed that at least twenty
percent of new patients with AIDS were infected during their teenage or early adult
years. And still some school leaders are trying to remove our best means of prevention of
the disease: sex education (Roye 581) Teachers are able to educate students with the
correct information on the many types of sexually transmitted diseases that exist in the
world today. False information about ways of contracting diseases, symptoms of and
treatments of STDs, and preventative measures are weeded out and students receive the
accurate information about sexually transmitted diseases. Protection of our children from
sexually transmitted diseases should start in the classroom where it can be assured that
the correct and critical information will be provided to them.
Nobody likes to be talked to like they are a child, and by denying teenagers sexual
education, schools are in a sense talking down to them. By teaching them the facts about
sex, teenagers feel a sense of maturity because it's a mature topic and they are fully
aware of that. Students get the feeling that the adults in their lives feel that they are
responsible enough to learn about this topic. Therefore bringing on more of a response
from teenagers. They know they are being treated as adults so they are going to pay
attention to what they are being taught and then act 
as adults and carry out what they were taught. Teenagers appreciate when adults treat
them as 
equals, and anyone will see that children will always respond better to this than to
being treated as a 
child. 
Lindsell 4
Much of the typical family structure in the United States and many other places in the
world have deteriorated over the last century. A good portion of parents today are
divorced and many of the families that haven't experienced divorce live with both parents
working full time jobs. Families today aren't like the family on Leave It to Beaver, a
sitcom that aired in the sixties; the mother isn't home all day baking and making sure
that the house is clean. Since family structure has changed, so have the way children are
being raised. Society cannot count on all parents to instill morals into their children
and teach them the facts of life or even the difference between right and wrong these
days. Parents just don't have the time for it. Recently the Vatican released a document
stating that  parents alone cannot give children the positive sex education they need to
develop healthy attitudes towards sex (Euchner). Another view on the subject taken by the
Nebraska Public School system is that sex education in today's society is to complicated
to be left to the varying influences of parental attitudes and haphazard environmental
exposure (Chaumont et al.). Besides, even if the parent were around more often then not,
the chances of a child approaching their parent about the bird and the bees is very
unlikely. These children need to have a place were the information on this touchy subject
is provided to them without them needing to ask. Kids don't go asking their parents, this
is the only way for them to find out answers because they are to embarrassed to ask
anyone else, says Pallodino, and eighteen-year-old from Virginia. (O'Hanlon B8). In order
for children to grow up with the correct information regarding sex, it is necessary to
have sex education provided to them in schools. 
Even though sex education seems as if it can do no wrong, there still remain many 
Lindsell 5
opponents, including many authors who clearly express their view, that are still against
it in our schools. There are many reasons why people feel like this, two of which are
they feel as if sex education does no good at all and another is that people feel that it
is influencing students to have sex. Ellen Hopkins, author of Sex is for Adults, says
that sex education does many great things , except for the one thing we want it to do,
make our children more responsible. (Hopkins 589). She feels as though the information
that students are receiving is not having any influence on them. The feeling that sex
education classes are influencing teenagers to have sex is a feeling that is shared by
William Kilpatrick. He states that as the statistics show, American teenagers are living
up to expectation. They are having more sex and using more condoms (Kilpatrick 597).
These two individuals, along with many others, feel that sex education is doing more harm
then it is good.
Teenage sexual activity has been raising steadily for more than two decades until now. A
recent survey shows the first drop since the nineteen seventies. In 1990 girls that had
engaged in sexual intercourse was at fifty-five percent, until 1995 when it dropped to
fifty percent. The percentage of boys engaging in sexual intercourse also dropped by five
percent. The use of condoms have tripled since the 1970's showing people are being safer
about sex (Vobejda et al. A1). A poll done by Reuter's show that eighty-two percent of
the people who participated in the survey supported sex education in schools (Yahoo).
Studies obviously show that sex education courses are helping today's teenagers to become
more responsible for their own actions.
The information that sex education provides teenagers is indispensable. Schools are meant

to educate our children in not just one topic but all topics. Why would anyone on the
state Board 
Lindsell 6
of Education not want to cover something comprehensively? Do we take that approach with 
history or math? says Denice Bruce of Wichita, Kansas (Associated Press). Sexually
educating our children is just important if not more important than math or history
because sex education can mean the difference between life and death of your child. 
Lindsell 7
Works Cited
Board refuses restriction on sex education in schools. Associated Press. February 1996:
n. pag. Online. Netscape. 29 March 1998.
Chaumont, Michelle; Galing, Samantha et al. Sex education in Nebraska Public
Schools. Online. Netscape. 28 March 1998.
Does Sex Education Work. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. Online. Netscape.
29 October 1999.
Euchner, Charlie. The Vatican Endorses Sex Education in Schools. Teacher Magazine. 
December 1983: n. pag. Online. Netscape. 1 April 1998.
Hopkins, Ellen. Sex Is for Adults. Rottenberg. 588-591.
Kilpatrick, William. Sex Education. Rottenberg. 591-602
O'Hanolan, Ann. It's a Fact of Life, Va. Youths Say: Sex Education Belongs in Schools.
Washington Post 14 June. 1997: B8.
Poll: Americans Favor Sex Education In Schools. Yahoo News-Reuters. Online. 
Netscape. 29 March 1998. 
Richardson, Lynda. Condoms in School said not to Affect Teen-Age Sex Rate. New 
York Times 30 September. 1997: B8.
Richardson, Lynda. When Sex is just a Matter of Fact. New York Times 16 October.
1997: B1.
Rottenberg, Annette T., ed. Elements of Argument. Boston, Ma: Bedford Books,
Lindsell 8
1997.
Roye, Carol F. Protect Our Children. Rottenberg. 581-582
Vobejda, Barbara; Havemann, Judith. Teenagers Less Sexually Active in U.S. 
Washington Post. 2 May. 1997: A1
Lindsell 9
Sex Education and the Classroom
Steffanie Lindsell
A. Mammary 
Contemporary Moral Problems T/TR 11:30
Final paper
Steffanie Lindsell
November 2, 1999
Contemporary Moral Problems T/TR 11:30
A. Mammary
Thesis:
With teenage pregnancy rates higher than ever and the imminent threat of the contraction
of STD's, such as HIV, the role of sex education in the school is of greater importance
now than ever before.
Sources: