Thornton 1

Amanda Thornton
Professor Iovannone
English 100
12 November 2012

What Kind of Sex (Education) Would You Like?

Fact: Life revolves around sex. You have sex to create babies, that
ultimately have sex to have more babies, whether you like it or not. For
parents to think that their child should not know or be educated about sex is
absurd. Sure, in society, sex is looked at as a taboo and scandalous thing, yet
almost everyone engages in it in their lifetime. Sex should be a topic that all
humans can talk about, and not feel awkward or embarrassed about. I
believe this taboo feeling starts as a child and continues into adulthood.
Comprehensive or abstinence-based sex education should be taught and
provided in public schools, regardless of parental consent.
Nowadays, sex is everywhere. Sex is on TV, in magazines, on the
internet, in advertisements, billboards, and is being talked about between
friends at school. More and more children are experimenting with sexual
encounters and thus contracting STDs, becoming pregnant, having abortions
and using contraception (Diller). I remember when I first heard about sex in
about 6th grade, and I had no idea what sex really was, or what you did to
do it. I come to find out from a high school teacher of mine that students in
the 5th grade were caught playing an oral sex game in the bathroom. To me,

Thornton 2

this is absolutely outrageous, because I didnt find out what oral sex even
was until high school. Children are getting more and more bombarded with
all of the media telling them that they have to be sexy and have sex in
order to be more grownup or to be looked at in a better way. All of these
things add up to one thing; more sex education in schools, even before the
children become sexually active, should be mandatory.
Sexuality education involves the process of acquiring knowledge and
forming beliefs, values, and attitudes about intimacy, relationships, and
identity. This education is a lifelong process and is instrumental in helping
people to establish healthy behaviors throughout life. (Omar, 184) Sex
education is a lot more than sitting students down and talking about
abstinence and contraception. One of the important points that should be
talked about is the emotional part of it; how it may change the way one
thinks or feels about certain things or certain people, and that having a good
grasp of who you are is the basis of having healthy sex. Young people are too
ignorant to the fact that sex isnt just something that you do; it involves all of
you, even your brain and thoughts. Your emotions are thrown in every
direction and some people are not mentally capable enough to have sex.
This is something that you will experience all throughout your life, not only
something you do as a teenager or when you get married.
Public Schools should offer a form of sexual education to all children. I
believe that this education should be as informative and blunt as possible.
Sex does occur between high school students and even middle school

Thornton 3

students, so everyone should be informed on the information. The general

population in schools will think many more students are sexually active then
there actually are. This might tend to have an underlying peer pressure to
jump on the bandwagon and have sex. In sex education, the students
should not be forced to think they must have sex, but be given the
information that teenagers need to know. There are three different types of
sexual education, these include comprehensive, abstinence-based, and
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs (Omar, 185).
In an article off the Minnesota State Majority website, it states that
parents overwhelmingly support the values and messages of true
abstinence education (The Heritage, 2). True abstinence education is telling
the students to abstain from all sexual intercourse and sometimes to abstain
from all sexual interaction. To follow up with this statement, it says that 79
percent of parents want teens to be taught that they should not engage in
sexual activity until they are married (The Heritage, 2). This is alarming for
the school population because the students that decide to go against what
they were taught might not know anything about safe sex. Those students
would miss out on learning about STDs, pregnancy, birth control, condoms,
and the emotional strain sex could bring on oneself. This could bring about
more cases of teen pregnancy, disease and promiscuous behavior. Also, they
may not know how to tell someone No, or be too embarrassed to report a
rape because it would be going against what their schools, parents, or
church teaches them. Students get very little education about sex in this

Thornton 4

method. Abstinence is a choice, but it is better to be abstinent and educated,

then clueless.
Abstinence-plus or abstinence-based sex education programs
emphasize abstinence from sexual intercourse and delay of sexual debut but
also provide information on contraception and protection against
STDs(J.Wanzer, 118) This type of education is widely excepted. It
compromises and allows the students to know about contraception and
diseases passed though sex, but also teach that abstinence is an option for
everyone. This way, students know both sides of the story, and are not just
hearing that they should never have sex.
Comprehensive curricula to provide evidence-based information on a
wide array of specific sexual health issues including HIV/STI prevention and
contraception, as well as abstinence from sexual activity (Omar, 185). This
type of teaching can also include homosexuality and transgender
information. These are two topics that are looked at as abnormal or
unusual in todays society, but children should not be blocked from these
topics. This might even help bullying issues in the school itself, if more
students are more aware of gays and transgender people. This type of
education is most informative and covers all bases of sex education. Parents
have objected to comprehensive sex education curricula because they often
provides youth with information concerning contraception, abortion,
masturbation, and sexual orientation (Brough, 411) Parents want to shelter
their children from the real world issues and facts. This is surprising since

Thornton 5

they brought this child into the world, with all knowledge of the good, bad
and the ugly that goes on. The students will have a greater knowledge and
will touch on the topic that it is an emotional act as well as a physical one.
Some say that a school is not the place for sex education (Diller).
There are some parents that believe that sex should be taught and talked
about only in the home. Each family has their own morals and rules that
need to be set for the child that may not be taught in schools. The
disadvantage to this method is parents never talking to their child about sex.
When this is the case, the child never gets the information he or she needs in
order to lead a healthy successful sex life. Another outcome is that parents
will not be talking enough about contraception, the consequences of sex, and
about sexually transmitted diseases. The parent can be just as uninformed or
uneducated as their child. In order to educate their child effectively, the
parent needs to seek out the correct information.
There is a provision schools have to follow in order to teach sex
education in some states. The school has to have the option for the parent
to have their child excused from any sex education requirements within a
public schools curriculum (Brough, 410). The public schools notify parents
concerning any sex education that will be given in that public school
(Brough 410). This is a positive only because it allows the parents to be
informed on what their child is learning about. If the parent decides to opt
their student out of the education, they should have a backup plan on talking
about what would have been taught. Although, Opt-out provisions do not

Thornton 6

guarantee that a childs parents will provide similar instruction, nor does it
presume accurate, up-to-date information will be given to a child by a
parent (Brough, 410) The child can be left out of the class and on the
information. The parent is further sheltering their child from the real world. If
they decide to not allow sexual education to be taught to their child, what
else are they hiding them from?
Sexual education is an important staple for schools to educate their
students about. Whether it is an abstinence-based or a comprehensive
curriculum, the children are getting the right information that they need to
know in order to stay safe and have a healthy, happy sex life. Parents need
to open their mind to having their child knowing about sex and possibly
being sexually active. They should want their child to have enough
information and make the right decision for their life. Turning a blind eye to
sex will not make the hard consequences and the physical act go away. This
is a real life topic that everyone runs into in their lifetime. The best thing to
do for children is to provide them with all of their options and inform them on
the issues that come along with being sexually active. Schools should
provide this education without the need for parental consent in order to
protect their student body.
Works Cited

Omar Martinez, et al. "Sexuality Education In Florida: Content, Context, And

Controversy." American Journal Of Sexuality Education 3.2 (2008): 183-209.
Education Research Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.

Thornton 7
J. WANZER DRANE, et al. "Public Opinion On School-Based Sex Education In South
Carolina." American Journal Of Sexuality Education 4.2 (2009): 116-138.
Education Research Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Brough, Keith. "Sex Education Left At The Threshold Of The School Door: Stricter
Requirements For Parental Opt-Out Provisions." Family Court Review 46.2
(2008): 409-424. Education Research Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Diller, Rita. "Sex Education: Why It Is Wrong." American Life League.Web. 15 Nov.
2012.
The Heritage Foundation. "Comprehensive Sex Education." Minnisota Majority. Web.
15 Nov. 2012.