Do you agree that there is too much emphasis on sex education in school?

Question

I don't know about where you are...but I'm in Australia and to me it seems that these days they concentrate on the wrong things. I know so many young school age kids who don't know their times tables yet have been taught how to put a condom on. (Using a banana in class) I think this is just a bit wonky...what do you think?

Answer 1

Sex education is important and kids need to learn it. I do agree however that the whole education system has gone wonky! I also live in Australia and it disgusts me how little my partners daughter is learning in the key areas. She had the same homework for 6 months and when I questioned this with her teacher she took out her anger on the child! Remember though it is better that kids learn sex ed than not at all!

Answer 2

I'm guessing that in America girls don't get the HPV vaccine? I am a teacher in Australia and I have taught health. I always mention Cervical Cancer & by relation HPV, but then I'm a science teacher as well. When I teach reproduction I always talk about pap smears as well. But I would imagine that the awareness of HPV in general would have improved over the last 2-3 years because the HPV vaccine which protects women from some but not all strains of the virus. It is administered to I think year 7 or 9 students and the parents have to sign the form & send it back to get the vaccine for free. Unfortunately it's most probably the fact that people don't know that cervical cancer has an underlying viral link that means people aren't very aware of HPV. Most people think you just get ALL cancers from nowhere. Keep talking to people though and encouraging your female friends with your story. I am the pap smear police amongst my friends, always checking people are up to date because I have a friend with cervical cancer. EDIT: Oh my God I cannot believe that doctors said that the vaccine was dangerous. The stats in Australia alone would disprove that. Thousands of Aussie school girls get the Gardasil HPV vaccine every year for the last 3 years or so.

Answer 3

Considering the number of teenage pregnancies in the US, I don't think there is too much emphasis on sex education here. It would help if students also remembered their math lessons, but they probably find the sex education more interesting, therefore more memorable.

Answer 4

No. I think they don't teach it enough. My state has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the south. In sex ed here they throw you a brown bag full of condoms and say 'have fun'. Giving the kids a BAG full I think they are saying 'use them on many people, not just one person'. That's terrible. I was smart enough to wait until I was 19 years old to have sex and I am still with the same person. I made that decision on my own, not with the sex ed teacher's help. I gave the condoms to my friends who apparently didn't use them because they all now have 3 year olds!

Answer 5

I agree that is a sad state of affairs when sex ed is more important than math, etc. But if you look around, there are a lot of children having children!! There has to be sex ed to help keep these kids from multiplying, Yes, the pun was intended.

Answer 6

I see it as trying to teach a young person about healthy safe sex and how not to become a mother or a father at 14. It's an intelligent option that they can choose to listen to and learn from or not.
Good students become pregnant the same way as ignorant ones
The choice is really theirs.

Answer 7

Teen Pregnancy
Teen pregnancy is a concern to many people throughout the world. Many efforts have been made to educate youth about sexual activity and birth control. The slowly falling teen pregnancy rates in the western industrialized world have shown that these efforts have been of some use, although the numbers are far from perfect.

Even though the United States is among those countries with a falling teen pregnancy rate, it still has by far the highest rate of teen pregnancy throughout the western industrialized world.

In 2000, the total number of teen pregnancies in the United States was 821,810 (84 pregnancies per 1,000 people). Compare this with Canada whose total rate of teen pregnancies for 2000 was 38,600 (38 pregnancies per 1,000 people). Many other western industrialized countries, such as Sweden and France, have even lower teen pregnancy rates than Canada. When compared to other countries, it easy to understand why the United States is considered to have a serious problem when it comes to teen pregnancy.

In the United States, the 18 - 19 year-old age group has the highest rate of pregnancy followed by the 15 - 17 year-old age group. However, 15 – 17 year-old pregnancy rates dropped by as much as 23% between 1992 and 2000, while the rate for 18 to 19 year-olds only dropped by 11%.

Teen pregnancy is viewed to be the cause of many problems. Teen mothers are more likely to not finish high school or college. Additionally, it is estimated that as much as 80% of unwed teen mothers end up welfare. Compared to 25 years ago, pregnant teens are also far less likely to be married.

A child born to a teenage mother is also seen to be at a disadvantage in society. Newborns of teen mothers tend to have a lower birth weight. As they get older, they are more likely to do poorly in school and have a greater chance of experiencing abuse and neglect. It has been found that sons of teenage mothers are more likely to wind up in prison. Daughters of teen mothers have an increased risk of experiencing a teenage pregnancy themselves.

Preventing Teen Pregnancy
It has been found that teens who have a good relationship with their parents are less likely to experience a pregnancy. Good communication between parents and their children is the key to ensuring children make the right decisions when it comes to their sexual activity.

Education is also vitally important in helping youth know about their options when it comes to sex. Teaching teens about using contraception each and every time they have sex is imperative to healthy sexual relationships.

Abstinence should also be taught along with contraception so that youth understand they have the right to choose. Teaching teens that it is okay to say "no" to sex until they are ready will help to curb the numbers of teen pregnancies.

STD's and Teens
-In the U.S., 1 in 4 sexually active teens become infected with an STD every year.2 Some common STDs are chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital warts (also known as HPV - human papillomavirus), and herpes. (Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996).


Still think there is to much emphasis on sex education?

Answer 8

would u rather ur kid having sex unprotected with all kinds of hookers or be taught about protection and stds and the consequences of having sex as a kid

Answer 9

wow! yeah they definitely do not do that here in the U.S. i dont have health until next semester but i'm sure i wouldda heard about condoms on bananas. we do more on stds. like the study ABOUT them

Answer 10

yeah that does seem to be a bit much i mean to learn that stuff you should have at least passed algebra