With children getting pregnant and the STDs we have in our world today, we cannot continue to rely on parents to talk to their kids about sex. Some parents were never taught themselves and are uncomfortable with the subject matter to begin with.
The advantage is that our youth will at least have the education necessary to make an informed decision regarding sexual activites and sexual identity. While many will still choose to take risks, they will at least be informed of methods that may be used to reduce the risk of contraction of STDs or causing pregnancy.
Cons
Appropriate sexual education can have an impact on preventing sexual problems in adulthood.
Sex education taught in one school is not the same as that taught in the other. The attitudes of parents, educators or religious leaders in different communities lead to variations in the subject matter being taught in different countries, states and even schools.
In general, not everyone is going to agree with sex education in schools. Some parents believe it is their right to provide sex education to their children. Others believe the schools do not have a right to talk to their children about sex. However, with the number of sexually transmitted diseases and the high rate of teen pregnancy, today’s children need all the sex education they can get.
Cons: Some teenagers will use sex as a method of rebelling against their parents, showing they are adults, and sex education may inadvertently encourage this by treating a teenager like an adult instead of like a child.
Teens are often in the middle of confusion when it comes to their bodies and their feelings, and sex education tends to encourage sex to figure things out. In the words of some of the sex ed I got, "You won't know if you're bi unless you try it and find out you're bi." This can trap a person in a cycle of behaviors that they wouldn't have engaged in if left alone.
It can cause an over familiarity with the body of the opposite sex, and encourage exploration.
If taught wrong, it can encourage pornography addictions.
If taught wrong, it can discourage abstinence attempts, or justify them by saying "well, no one stays a virgin anymore."
For one thing, sex education is an effective way to birth control and lesser teen pregnancies. It is reported that more than 50% of American teenagers lose their virginity by the age of 17 according to the sex education in schools statistics. It is also a fact that more than a million young teen aged girls become pregnant every year in America. Obviously, the percentage of teenage pregnancies in America is many times more than any other westernized country. Therefore, sex education seems to be very important.
The disadvantage of not educating our youth about sex is that they will be unsure of the changes that occur in their bodies. Without knowing exactly how or why their body works the way it does, many will experiment without the proper education or knowledge of the risks associated with sexual activity.
Other
Classes are gender exclusive. This saves embarrassment amongst students and teaches them only what is necessary to know based on their gender.
No doubt, girls and boys will be given them tips on how to engage in safe sex and be aware of the various birth control methods. Besides, they will also understand the importance of abstinence so that help in bringing down the rate of teen pregnancies. They train them on using different methods of birth control, and also the dangers of teenage pregnancy.
In addition, AIDS has killed millions of people and millions more are waiting helplessly for death. Another of the advantages of introducing sex education in schools is that it can reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases as well as HIV infections among the youth. It is said that one in every four new HIV infections is found in people who are under 22 years of age. By proper sex education, to some extent, such new infections can be controlled. It is only through sex in schools that students will get proper and honest information about sexually transmitted diseases.
For another thing, there are some of the arguments against sex education in schools. Students tend to look at it as a subject of ridicule, and even don’t attend the classes. In another case, many groups of people believe that their children should not be exposed to something as crude as sex education in their school days due to their religion does not permit it. There is no denying that goes against their religious beliefs and sentiments. It becomes very hard to argue with people, when they bring religion to the forefront. Sometimes, students may listen to the lecturers going on and on about safe sex, but in the end, engage in unsafe sex. Curiosity can make them foolish steps which they will undoubtedly regret later.
Religious Views
Many parts of America feature very strong religious communities that have a substantial say in many areas of local life, including on the state boards of education. As a rule, religious groups oppose the teaching of sex education in schools as they believe it encourages children to have sex before they are ready. The viewpoint is if values were taught in school teenagers would wait until they are mature enough to settle down before engaging in sexual activity.
Social Views
The social views on this issue come from a very similar standpoint to those of religious people. In this case the standpoint is that schools should not get to choose when children are educated about sex, it should be left for parents to decide to tell children about it.
Reduction in Pregnancy
The teenage pregnancy rate in America has been a constant problem since the late 1980s. The view of many pro-sex education advocates is that teaching children about sex encourages safe sex. This is often followed up with the ever-popular idea of handing out condoms in schools. This idea has some scientific merit, as teen pregnancies have been reduced since sex education became mandatory in schools.
Reduction in STIs
Along with reducing teen pregnancy there is also a hope educating children about safe sex will reduce the spread of sexual transmitted infections such as chlamydia, syphilis and AIDS. Advocates of sex education see this going hand-in-hand with teachers educating students about the dangers of drinking, smoking and drugs.