Sexual Education: Research Final Comp II

Sexual Education: The Need for a Thorough and Consent Free Experience.

Michele Harvey

November 22, 2011

Comp. II

Research Final

South University Online 

       Parents spend every day working to teach their children the skills needed to become successful adults.  It starts with walking and continues through driving a car.  From a very young age, children begin to learn from their own actions as well as what they hear.  A parent will urge a child repeatedly not to jump on the bed, but it is not until that child is crying on the floor next to the bed that the lesson truly becomes clear.  It is human nature to learn by a process of trial and error.  Children often try things regardless of how frequently they have been explained the possible consequences.  It is with this in mind that the government, educational institutions and parents should approach the subject of sexual education.  Along with all the risks and benefits of the many personal choices they will have to make as they become adults, teenagers need convenient and limitless access to a thorough education regarding their sexuality and the responsibilities that come along with their choices.

            Since 1994, Congress has endorsed the abstinence-only until marriage program as the primary approach to sex. “This funding stream makes available $50 million annually for grants to the states to promote sexual abstinence outside of marriage” (Boonstra, 2010).  Taught in middle school and high schools, “federally funded abstinence only until marriage programs must promote abstinence and limit discussion of condoms and contraception except with regard to failure rates”(Duffy, 2008).  In support of the government funded program, organizations such as “The Silver Ring Thing” have been created to offer symbolic ceremonies that theatrically teach sexual morality culminating with abstinence pledges and purity rings that serve as daily reminders to teens of their decision to abstain from sex (Miller, 2009).  Despite the funding and the ceremonies, “a 2010 study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that about a third of sixth- and seventh-graders who participated in abstinence-only education reported having sex two years later” (Bell, 2011).  Although this method may work to influence some of the teens who participate, there is a large number who go on to have sex.  Abstinence is an important lesson to be taught.  However, it cannot be the sole source of sex education without leaving a large number of children at risk with no formal education on how to keep themselves safe from disease and pregnancy.

            The missing component in sex education appears to be with contraception.  In surveys conducted between 2006 and 2008, it was shown that over 84% of teenagers ages 15-19 had received formal training about STD’s, HIV and abstinence.  However, over one third of those teens said they had not received any formal instruction about contraception (Martinez, 2010).  This is the same logic as telling kids about cavities, without teaching them how to properly brush and floss their teeth.  At the age of 14, a teenager has the right to board a city bus, travel to the local family planning facility and receive a confidential and invasive medical procedure to be tested for a sexually transmitted disease.  This can be done free of parental involvement or consent.  The results of that test will also be confidential.  A teenager has the right to seek medical attention for consequences of sex, yet they must obtain a signed permission slip to attend sexual education classes.  It would only make sense that if the government acknowledges the teenagers right to privacy in regard to their health and well being, then they must take the same attitude with preventative education.  A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that “47% of sexually active teens admit to having had intercourse without a condom, and 34% say they have had intercourse with no birth control method at all” (Greenberg, 2011).  Teenagers must be allowed to seek and easily find answers to all of their questions regarding sex and the prevention of disease and pregnancy. 

Parents are becoming less reluctant when it comes to speaking to their children about sex related issues.  In 2006-2010, the National Survey of Family Growth conducted face to face studies with over 14,000 teenagers.  With this study, it was shown that “more than two out of every three male teenagers and almost four out of every five female teenagers talked with a parent about at least one of six sex education topics” (Martinez, 2010).  Parents need to be the first source of information for their children when it comes to sex education.  But even with the most involved parent, teens need access to alternate means of medically accurate information.  The Kaiser Family Foundation survey also discovered that “65% of teens cited maintaining secrecy from their parents as an important consideration in their decisions about sexual activity and contraception.' This indicates that perceived parental disapproval plays a role in young people's lack of access to information about safe sex” (Greenberg, 2011).

In October of 2011 the National Conference of State Legislature reports that, as of February 2011, 35 states and the District of Columbia allow parents to opt-out of sexual education on behalf of their children.  There are also three states that require parental consent before a child can attend (NCSL, 2011).  Regardless of whether the parental motive is cultural or religion based, they do not have to obtain the student’s approval to opt them out of the program.  This law needs to be reversed and the opt-out option needs to be given to the teenager.  They are the ones that need to make informed decisions regarding their health and to understand the importance of those decisions.  It should be their choice to discuss it with their parents, not left to the government or school officials to decide.

It is important that the government stop viewing comprehensive sexual education as anything less than a teenager’s right.  Comprehensive sexual education courses that include abstinence, contraception, disease and pregnancy should be mandated into schools free of the option to opt-out.  Parents should also be offered classes with accurate current sexuality information so that they can be confident in talking to their children about this sensitive subject. Teens need all the resources available to them in order to make informed decisions.  If they do not have access to the necessary tools, they will find answers elsewhere or by trial and error.  Sex education is as important to human development as learning to walk or drive a car.  As teenagers make important decisions every day, they need to be free to decide on how they receive a medically accurate sexual education.  They must be allowed to obtain this education free of guilt and the judgment of others, including their parents.