SEX EDUCATION Essay Research Paper Thesis

SEX EDUCATION Essay, Research Paper

Thesis: Sex Education should be taught in middle schools to make our children aware and help

them with decisions in the future.

Audience: All District #150 Personnel

Sex Education should be taught in middle schools to make our children aware and help

them with decisions in the future. When children enter middle school many of them are going

through adolescent changes. This school district needs to help educate these hormone raging

teens about sex education. Not only will this program teach sex education, it will also give teens

the chance to ask questions and receive help if they are in a sexual situation. District #150 makes

up about three quarters the schools in Peoria and if you make room for a sex education program

to help your students, many other schools will follow your example. You can help stop teen sex

at an early age with guidance. With a sex education program in your curriculum, you will see

success in the students lives and notice a change in attitude toward the opposite sex.

As you walk down the middle school hallways, you see more young teenage girls that are

pregnant. Many of these girls knew the chances of getting pregnant without using a condom, but

really they didn?t care. According to Faye Wattleton, ?the staggering rates and devastating

consequences of teen pregnancy in America are well document? (Wattleton 51). It seems clear

that many of the girls are unaware of the results of having unprotected sexual intercourse. These

girls and even young men should be given the opportunity to learn about the outcomes of sex.

When a teenage girl is making out with her boyfriend and things start to grow intense, most just

go along with sex because they think nothing will happen. With this program you can help

decrease more than ?1,000,000 US teenagers becoming pregnant each year, intentionally?

(Donavon 28). Helping find the answer to a problem is a start, but solving the task takes time.

Pregnancy is a major effect when young teens have unprotected sex but diseases also are

being transferred between parties. With the HIV/AIDS virus and STD?s like Gonorrhea,

spreading throughout the state, District #150 middles schools should be aware of the symptoms.

When I was in middle school we had a very small discussion on sex education. Truthfully, I

remember very little because the program was very brief When I entered high school we had a

little better explanation about diseases but I was still clue less. Maybe if we taught these middle

school students the effects and showed the pictures of affected people, they might actually

consider using protection. Debra Haffner states, ?95% of adults want HIV/AIDS education to

their children? (Haffner 54). I talked to a teacher, Candace Walrath, at Broadmoor Junior High,

and she has her students do an STD activity. Two students, male and female, are given a half

glass of water. Each student pours their half into the partners cup and vice versa, ?sharing body

fluids,? just like unprotected sexual intercourse (Walrath). Then the student break up and

performs the experiment with a different partner. The more information you teach about the

diseases caused by unprotected sex, the more teens will think before having unprotected sex.

Diseases can change the minds of young teenagers but there are many different types of

protection they should be aware of so there is an option if sexual intercourse happens. I know my

high school health teacher told me about condoms and birth control but most teens are scared to

ask about these contraceptives. Young teens think that if they ask about condoms or birth

control, questions about having sex will come to the adult?s mind. At Planned Parenthood free

condoms are given to sexually active teens and even birth control methods. Places like these are

good for these teens because ?confidentiality,? is a must with sexual active teenagers. (YM,

?Love?). Your school can help by making the students aware of these places. Even if your

program shows a teem how to use a condom, telling them places to get them will lead to a higher

use of protection. A YM survey states that ?41% of teens don?t know why they didn?t use

protection? (YM ?Love?). Students need to know their options so they can use protection.

Teach these students that if they do decide to have sex, there are ways to prevent

diseases and pregnancy but where is the respect in a sexual situation. Respect is a factor that

teenagers really don?t understand. Any girl can say no to sex and a guy should respect that

decision. He tries to change the girl?s mind and usually, in the end, the girl gives in to his

persuasion. At Broadmoor Junior High, Candace Walrath teaches her students that ?respect

comes before sex,? and I agree with her (Walrath). If teens give respect, they usually get it back.

Also personal hygiene gives a teenager respect for themselves. ? What we haven?t done in school

is talk about the serious reasons for taking care of yourself: This is your body and it?s wonderful;

cherish it and make good decisions for yourself , ? (Glazer 358). Respect is the most important

part in a relationship and teachers should promote respect for others and themselves. Respect

makes you feel good inside and helps build maturity. If students are taught aspects of respect,

they will start showing respect.

Respect is received when someone understands your decision but when abstinence is the

answer, sex education is successful. Everyone knows abstinence is the best answer to sexual

intercourse. One girl stated in a YM survey that ?she?s afraid to get pregnant,? (YM 51). When

abstinence is presented as a key to safer sex, many ignore the issue. Abstinence needs to be

taught after all the effects of unprotected sex. More teens will think about waiting to have sex

after seeing what can happen to them physically and mentally. Abstinence is ? the only certain

way,? to avoid pregnancy and diseases (Shin 28). Even if a teenager has had sex, you can still

convince them to practice abstinence. Just because a teen has already had sex doesn?t mean

abstinence isn?t a solution. It is! Every program has abstinence, so should yours.

Sex education should be taught in every District#150 middle school to make the children

aware and help them with future decisions. You can help decrease the pregnancy rate, teach kids

to be aware of diseases, present them with types of protection, show them respect is a must, and

always promote abstinence. Sex education programs are becoming a part of more middle school

curricula and if you start a program many will follow. ?Students who take a sex education course

are less likely to cause a pregnancy,? (Donovan 28). The idea of a sex education program in your

middle schools is a good decision.

616

Donovan, Patricia. ?Sex Education in American Schools: Progress and Obstacles.? USA

Today. July 1992, 28-30.

Glazer, Sarah. ?Sex Education: How Well Does it Work?? Editorial Research Reports.

June 23, 1989, Vol. 1, No. 23, 338-339.

Haffner, Debra. ?Sexuality Education in Public Schools.? Education Digest. Sept. 1992,

53-57.

Shin, Annys. ?Abstinence-only Programs Get the Big Bucks.? Ms. News. Jan. 1998, 28.

Wattleton, Faye. ? American Teens: Sexually Active, Sexually Illiterate.? Education

Digest. March 1998, 51-53.

Walrath, Candace. Interview February 3, 2000. Broadmoor Junior High, 7th Grade.

YM Magazine.? The Love and Sex Report.? February 2000, 50-53.