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Christopher Bailey

Mrs. Mohr

Rhetoric and Composition II

20 November 2018

Sexual Education: The Secret We Don’t Talk about

Sexual Education. Those two little words make some people squeamish. Talking about

sexuality, and our ability to teach it, can vastly improve our nations sexual health. As of 2016 a

little less than half of all pregnancies in the united states are intended (Paṅkaja 24). The other

fifty one percent of these are unwanted, unintended, or unplanned (Paṅkaja 43). Additionally,

the adult population of the United States sees higher rated of HIV infection than the Germany,

France, and the Netherlands combined (Family Planning). Our schools teach our children how to

read, how to count, and many other valuable life lessons. School is considered to be the place

where children are considered the most impressionable. Despite that being agreed upon by most,

many adults believe that that same place shouldn’t be allowed to teach our children sexual

education. Instead referring to the abstinence, even though it doesn’t stop their options to do

otherwise, the availability of such subjects due to the internet, and the parental right to choose

being in denial about teaching it. Of the 50 states, only 22 teach something other than

Abstinence only, and of those, only 11 teach of save sex practices (Family Planning).

The United States has invested billions of dollars into the abstinence method of sexual

education even though it has been proven not to work. Students who receive abstinence
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education are more likely to transmit infection, more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy,

more likely to start sexual onset earlier, and more likely to feel shame that impacts their future

sexuality, than students who learn how to make the right decisions regarding sex (Sex

Education). Many organizations of public health professionals are completely against abstinence

only teaching. These include; The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American College of

Obstetricians and Gynecologists, The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, The

American Medical Association, The American Public Health Association, and The National

School Boards Association. According to Section 510 (B) of Social Security Law for Separate

Program For Abstinence Education the term “abstinence education” means “an educational or

motivational program which means; (A) has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social,

psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity; B) teaches

abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age

children; (C) teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-

wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems; (D)

teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in context of marriage is the expected

standard of human sexual activity; (E) teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of

marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects; (F) teaches that bearing

children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child’s parents,

and society; (G) teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug

use increases vulnerability to sexual advances; and (H) teaches the importance of attaining self-

sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity” (Sex Education). Essentially the law is saying

that sex should only take place in the context of marriage or things could happen that result in the

poor wellbeing of anyone involved, and their families, in the long run. While some people will
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point to this law to be the reason why people should abstain from sexual intercourse out of

marriage, the law fails to address several key things. How to handle your body as it goes through

abstinence, shows that abstinence isn’t applicable or practice in marriage, and also how to deal

with a partner who is practicing abstinence and you’re not. The best course of action instead of

abstinence is empathy, information about the body and its functions, and open communication

without fear of guilt to questions.

Another reason why we should teach our children about sexual education is that the

knowledge is out there are easily accessible by anyone at any time. The internet has made the

idea of sex a much more common and prevalent thing in everyday life. A lot of people think that

parental controls are enough to filter out what their children will be able to see. Despite this

believe, even youtube shows graphic scenes of nudity and sexual education. The general

consensus is that most of the videos containing sexual education that are on youtube are actually

very educational, Kate Blackman, whom is a board member on the State policies on sexual

education said that it also leaves a sense of “unguided learning that can result in a false

understanding of how sexuality actually effects children” (Kirby 21). Children do not have the

emotional or cognitive development required in order to deal with seeing such images (Kirby

65). This will result in children watching more and more videos to further understand what they

are seeing. This can result in the children developing a warped sense of what sexuality, and or

intimacy, really is as their search for knowledge can lead them to pornographic sites (Kirby 45).

“Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of education and history at New York University, worries

that many adolescents are learning about sex via pornography on the Internet. Online porn and

misinformation can best be countered by accurate online information, said Zimmerman, who

praised initiatives that enable teens to ask questions and get answers from health educators via
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text message” (CBS). Even though sex surrounds us in all aspects of life, it seems that most

adults are very uncomfortable about talking about it.

The parental right to choose is the biggest contender on why sexual education shouldn’t

be taught in our school. Parents feel it’s either inappropriate for children at a young age to learn

it, that having learned about it will mean that they will do it sooner than they normally would,

and also that religious beliefs have a large part to play in why they don’t want sexual education

in schools. “Kathryn Russell, a grandmother who formerly worked for the Omaha school

district, said the proposed curriculum "rapes children of their innocence." It was another critic in

Omaha, Jesse Martinez, who used the "pits of hell" reference, calling elements of the course

material "garbage” (CBS). “ The state of Mississippi has a firm “Just Say No” policy. The facts

present themselves though as they are also number one in the country state wise for pregnancy in

children, number two in the country for chlamydia in children, and also number 7 in the country

for HIV in adults (NPR). Studies conducted by Planned Parenthood show that “students in

Europe and America are starting to have sex around the same age but students in the United

States are two times more likely to get pregnant then in Spain, three times more likely than in

France, and fifteen more times than in Switzerland” (68). “Not everyone, though, is keen on

teaching near-babies how babies are made. Primary-school teachers would feel “vulnerable and

uncomfortable” if asked to cover such a sensitive subject, says one teaching union. It would

“seriously undermine parents”, who are the proper source of such information, says the Family

Education Trust, a traditionally minded charity. Worse, there are doubts that more, or earlier, sex

education would in fact work as billed. An overview of the evidence on the relationship between

extra sex education and teenage pregnancy, published in the British Medical Journal in 2002 and

hotly contested ever since, found that the more meticulous the research, the less likely it was to
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find any effect at all” (Economist). Other parents are going so far as to say that “Comprehensive

sex education is pornography under the guise of education, the group contends. The values that it

promotes are ones that most parents would never agree with” (CBS). Most parents against

sexual education will say that sexual education in school will only push the idea of sex into our

children’s heads. The fact of the matter is that sexuality is pushed into children’s heads in every

aspect of our culture. The aim of sexual education is to take all of these messages and turn them

into understanding so that your child can process what they are hearing easier. Another big

reason why parents decide not to teach their children about sexual education is because the

parents feel squeamish when talking to their children. “If you are putting your comfort level

above your child’s understanding then you aren’t really putting the child first” says Planned

Parenthood (121). People on the comprehensive side of sexual education feel that “push(ing) for

comprehensive sex education is the right for students to learn more about sexual behavior”

(Kirby 23). While these parents are pushing for little to no education being taught to our young,

countries in Europe are pushing for younger ages to be taught. “Backed by sexual-health and

children's charities, a cross-party group of MPs is trying to change all that. In an open letter to

the government, published in the Daily Telegraph on August 26th, they call for all sex education,

not just the mechanics, to be made compulsory, and to start much earlier. That, they say, could

help to cut the number of British teenagers who become pregnant: at 40 per thousand girls under

18 each year, Britain's rate is outstripped in the developed world only by America's”

(Economist).

The good news for the education departments around the country is that the “HIV fear”

has cause more schools to shift their approach on how to handle sexual education. This “fear”

started in the 1980’s when HIV rate drastically increased in the country. CBS has also said that
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maybe things aren’t headed in the right direction as “Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of

education and history at New York University, worries that many adolescents are learning about

sex via pornography on the Internet. Online porn and misinformation can best be countered by

accurate online information, said Zimmerman, who praised initiatives that enable teens to ask

questions and get answers from health educators via text message”. This is championed as the

beginning time for the divided between sex educators (NPR ). Some wanted to follow the older

approach that was championed in the 1960’s, but others saw a need to change due to the

increasing rates of HIV and the new found sexual spirituality of teenagers of the time.

With the facts previously mentioned, it’s obvious that students at a young age are going to

explore their sexuality at young ages. No amount of saying that we have the right to choose how

our children are taught, abstinence in schools, or hope that our children won’t learn from the

internet can stop these things from happening. The fear of these thing happening is totally

founded and real, but only a comprehensive, understanding, and open approach to learning at a

young age can allow these children to be able to have the skills necessary for when the choice is

presented to them. This process is best done in a unified front, so all children have the same

basic understanding of how things work, and this is best implemented in our school system. This

means that teaching our youths about sex education should be our schools responsibility.
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Work Cited

Aror ̣ā Paṅkaja. Sex Education in Schools. Ocean Books, 2008.

Blackman, Kate, and Samantha Scotti. State Policies on Sex Education in Schools,

www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-policies-on-sex-education-in-schools.aspx.

Kirby, Michael. Sex Education in Schools: Study Materials B, Ages 15-19. Daniels Pub.,

1994.

“Never Too Young to Learn; Sex Education.” The Economist (US), 30 Aug. 2008.

Parenthood, Planned. “What Is Sex Education? | Sex Ed Definition and QA.” Planned

Parenthood, www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/for-educators/what-sex-education.

“Schools to Teach 21st Century Relationships and Sex Education.” GOV.UK,

www.gov.uk/government/news/schools-to-teach-21st-century-relationships-and-sex-

education.

“Sex Education in America.” NPR, NPR, 24 Feb. 2004,

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1622610.

Sex Education in Schools. Family Planning Association, 1992.