Sex Education --
Perhaps one of the most controversial issues arising today is that of sex education in America's public school system. In today's world, where information travels at the speed of light and mass media is part of our everyday lives, teenagers are more exposed to this world than ever before. In this country, teens have access to television, newspapers, and of course, internet. Sometimes, teenagers can misinterpret what they see in the media regarding sex and make unwise decisions, such as having unprotected sex. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and teenage pregnancies is a growing problem in the U.S. Every year, one million girls aged 15 to 19 become pregnant each year in this ...
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is ineffective when it comes to lowering teenage pregnancies and STDs because sex education programs leave out important information, teachers who teach it are unqualified, and because teenagers are more greatly affected by their parents, peers, and popular media than by their teachers.
There is a myth that sex education provides teenagers with good and important information. Sex education supposedly gives students the means to make responsible and wise decisions. Pamela DeCarlo, from the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, is a firm believer in sex education, and believes it must be taught in order to reduce the spread of STDs and teenage pregnancies (DeCarlo).
According an article in USA Today, however, Congress passed in 1996 a legislation allocating two hundred and fifty million dollars to fund sex education programs. These programs excluded medically accurate information about birth control and STDs (Schools Skimping… 13). These programs cannot possibly hope to ...
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in a training workshop, and their school has a sex-education program" (Whitehead). It is unsettling to think of how just anyone can teach a program. Workshops cannot possibly provide teachers with enough skill and expertise to adequately educate teenagers about sex. Workshops, at most, would only cover the basics, which would put teenagers at a loss if they ever wanted to know something that was not taught in the workshop. It seems that sex education is not taken very seriously, considering that math and English teachers need degrees in their respective subjects in order to teach it, whereas sex education teachers need no such requirement.
Until sex education teachers are more ...
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Sex Education --. (2004, June 7). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sex-Education/9075
"Sex Education --." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 7 Jun. 2004. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sex-Education/9075>
"Sex Education --." Essayworld.com. June 7, 2004. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sex-Education/9075.
"Sex Education --." Essayworld.com. June 7, 2004. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Sex-Education/9075.
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