Why isn't sex education and aids prevention taught more ?

Question

We need tv spots to teach children and adults how they can catch sexual dieseases and how to be safe.

Answer 1

I know people who go overseas to bring about safe sex awareness to countries like PNG and South Africa. It's so sad that my country sees this as important, but not getting the message through at home. In public education it's a very clear and thorough message, but I have heard through girls who went to private school that they are basically taught nothing. I think it's disgraceful. I knew one girl who knew so little, she did not understand her own anatomy, and another who thought she was safe in a situation she cleary wasn't (she couldn't understand how she got pregnant).

I think it's a narrow mindedness of the issue which makes the government think there is no issue.

Answer 2

Hullo Cat.
This is a very intresting question and i think it should have featured in the best questions on YA.
Anyway, to better understand this you have to understand hos the people function and how they recieve, percieve and interprete information.
The reason why there is no more sex education in schools is because mostly we are all in denial. We think that if they dont tell our kids about sex, then they will not have sex. We are constantly in denial and we always tell ourselves that if we dont talk about it, then it wont affect us.


Take a look at the "ABSTINENCE PROGRAM IN SCHOOLS".

Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found.

Those and other assertions are examples of the "false, misleading, or distorted information" in the programs' teaching materials, said the analysis, released yesterday, which reviewed the curricula of more than a dozen projects aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Students who took part in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress.

Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes that were reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes. And they first had sex at about the same age as other students -- 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc.

The federal government now spends about $176 million annually on abstinence-until-marriage education. Critics have repeatedly said they don't believe the programs are working, and the study will give them reinforcement.

However, Bush administration officials cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the study. They said the four programs reviewed -- among several hundred across the nation -- were some of the very first established after Congress overhauled the nation's welfare laws in 1996.

Answer 3

Hi there,

That's a tough one. Part of the problem is that society is far too hung up on sex and for the most part, sex is viewed as bad unless performed under very strict parameters. Sex is fine IF you are a) married, b) straight, c) and completely open to the possibility of having more children that you are able to raise. Outside of those parameters, sex is bad, immoral. If you choose to live a sexually active life and have more than one partner you are a whore regardless if you are a man or a woman. And because of the differing views towards sex and healthy sexuality, many adults are far too uncomfortable talking about it with their children but are even more uptight if and when it is taught in schools. If children don't hear it from their folks and are not learning it in schools, the information that they do pick up from friends and from wherever else, it's not probably the best way to learn the birds and the bees.

Cheers.

Answer 4

It is sad, but, sex education is something that many parents do not want schools or t.v. to teach their children. Many, many parents believe that sex education should only be taught at home...............when the parents believe it is 'time' to do so. These parents, mainly, believe that teaching anything about sex 'awakens' their children to knowing about sex before they are old enough to need to learn about the dangers and safety measures that must be taken in today's society. For the most part, these parents have no clue as to the realities of HIV or AIDS, as they believe only gay people can GET these diseases.
You are absolutely correct in understanding that ALL students need to understand how sexual diseases are transmitted, as well as how easy it is to get pregnant! As long as parents deny that their children ARE sexual beings and as long as parents refuse to get educated, children will not be taught how easily sexual diseases are caught. The children will not learn how to prevent what they do not understand.
If it were up to me, how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases would be taught in every elementary school by grade 4. This is when I would have every classroom learn all the modes of prevention.
It still upsets me when I hear parents talking about how their child will not be likely to engage in sex, as long as they don't tell them about it. Being untaught never saved a single person from sexually transmitted diseases.
Your question is very valid!

Answer 5

I believe that it is due to the fact that people are not comfortable talking with children about sexuality. The problem with this is that children experiment on their own and do not fully understand the risk they are taking.

I agree that sex education and AIDS prevention should be taught to children. My husband and myself have discussed these things with our own children. I do not want my children to have babies while they are still babies, but more importantly, I do not want them to contract an STD that they will have to treat the remainder of their lives.

It is uncomfortable at first to talk with children about sex, but I believe the rewards of educating them are worth it. I think more public service commercials should be done to support AIDS research and prevention, and I believe that condoms should be placed in school bathrooms where kids can get them without embarrassment.

I am not an advocate of encouraging children to be sexually active, but I am also not ignorant enough to believe that they will wait until marriage.

Answer 6

Kids are taught about STDs- they just don't listen. i went through the same health/sex ed program as most of my friends from high school but now they all seem to have amnesia and act shocked when i tell them things i learned in class.
Survival of the fitest I guess

Answer 7

tell the president maybe he will do something about it!