Essay Example: Attitude Towards Sex Education

Adolescence is a vital stage in the life of every individual as it marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. According to WHO (2015), the term adolescence as derived from the Latin language means, to grow to maturity and it marks the period between the ages of 11 and 19 years old. During this period, individual experiences substantial behavioral, psychological, emotional, and physical changes. Sex education, therefore, is a vital requirement during this period. Sex education entails creating awareness on sex and sexuality in young people. Fonseca and Irwin (2013) observed that a comprehensive sex education encompasses a variety of topics on sex and sexuality with great care and precision. Some of the topics that an appropriate sex education should entail include human development comprising of sexual development, identity and orientation, relationships and dating, sexual behavior, sexual health, and the societal and cultural understanding of sex and sexuality.

According to Planned Parenthoods poll (2017), 93% of parents in the United States supports sex education in middle schools while 96% supports the program in high schools. Furthermore, the parents encourage diversification of sex education. According to this data, some of the highly suggested topics include the concepts of STDs, adolescence, healthy relationships, pregnancies, and sexual orientation. Additionally, numerous health-related governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including the American Medical Association (AMA), the Society for Adolescents Health and Medicine (SAHM), and American Academy of Pediatrics (APA) champion sex education in the United States.

However, deductive studies indicate that the majority of the youths do not have access to the necessary quality sex tutelage (Puyenbroeck, 2017). In 2014, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in its highlight of the School Health Profiles purported that less than a half of the public and private high schools cover the entire sex education course as required while just a fifth of middle schools completes the whole course as dictated by CDC. This means that the content of sex education that the adolescents receive is below the expectation.

A study by Guttmacher Institute noted that the number of youths obtaining formal sex education is declining. This means that, while several parents support the program, most schools are not adhering to the CDC stipulations of the content of the subject. Moreover, only a few parents have embraced their role of giving their children adequate sex education. Undoubtedly, most people support the opinion that children should have adequate sex education in school if the subject is as substantial as it seems. Another study by Global Journal observed that many teachers support the idea of equipping the students with adequate sex education by providing the program in middle and high schools. About 92.8% of teachers supported the idea. Cataldo (2016) states that most teachers supported the sharing of responsibility of sex education between teachers, parents, and the students to achieve the aim of the course.

Ideally, the middle school is the most appropriate level for sex education. For most individuals, sexual growth tends to commence during the early stages, however, recognizing the notable changes may take time. Early introduction to sex education, therefore, is the surest way of equipping the youths for the future experience of life and sexuality. Moreover, most teachers opine that sex education should include an infinite number of topics to avoid underrating some issues. Therefore, homosexuality, masturbation, and sexual identity are significant areas that should be prioritized.

Apart from teachers and parents, the students seem to register positive attitudes and high expectations towards sex education in schools (Gilbert, 2014). Most of them view sex education as a way of demystifying personal issues that parents rarely mention at home. Although some parents may discuss the subject of sexuality with their children, they tend to omit much of the content. Besides, parents feel that sex education is too sensitive topic to be shared with children. Therefore, they avoid it to protect their children by keeping away much from them.

According to Schalet et al., (2014) argues that these three parties have a concurrent opinion that the school offers the best opportunity for the children to receive adequate sex teaching. Additionally, all the three parties agree that sex education should include all the necessary aspects of life and sexuality.

Conclusively, sex education is an important element of every childs life, and every adolescent should receive quality sex education. When rated on a scale of 1 -10, the attitude towards sex education in the United States falls at 8/10. This is a positive attitude. However, parents have neglected their roles, and sex teaching is left for teachers thus paralyzing the affectivity of the program. Therefore, there is need to change this attitude and adopt quality methods of promoting sex education. This would facilitate the process of accomplishing the goals of sex education.

References

Barlow, M., Espey, E., Leeman, L., Scott, A., Ogburn, T., & Singh, R. (2016). Satisfaction with Sex Education in New Mexico High Schools: A Survey of College Students. The Journal of reproductive medicine, 61(3-4), 95-100.

Cataldo, M. (2016). Sex and young women: For pleasure, not shame. Redress, 25(1), 14.

Fonseca, V., & Irwin, M. (2013). Sex Education in schools. Sex Education.

Gilbert, J. (2014). Sexuality in school: The limits of education. University of Minnesota Press.

Lashof-Sullivan, M. (2015). Sex education in schools. Geo. J. Gender & L., 16, 263.

Rao, K. S., Ramya, K. S., Batchu, D., & Reddy, M. P. (2017). KEYWORDS Teenage Pregnancy, Socioeconomic Status, Sex Education, Antenatal Care, Low Birth Weight, Preterm Labour Apgar, Neonatal Morbidity. TEENAGE PREGNANCY AND ITS OBSTETRIC OUTCOME, (95747).

Rasmussen, M., Rofes, E., & Talburt, S. (Eds.). (2016). Youth and sexualities: Pleasure, subversion, and insubordination in and out of schools. Springer.

Schalet, A. T., Santelli, J. S., Russell, S. T., Halpern, C. T., Miller, S. A., Pickering, S. S., & Hoenig, J. M. (2014). Invited commentary: broadening the evidence for adolescent sexual and reproductive health and education in the United States.

Van Puyenbroeck, H., Elaut, E., & T'SJOEN, G. (2017). Online Pornography in Sex Education at School: A Flemish Survey. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 14(5), e276.

World Health Organization. (2015). Sexual health, human rights and the law. World Health Organization.