Just How Much Sex Education Are We Getting?

By: Jordan Barker

Sex education is something that most people take lightly. The funny thing is, it’s something kids and teenagers must know in order to make the right decisions when they are presented. I can remember my own sex education classes as I was growing up. I had three classes throughout my life, one in fifth grade, one in seventh grade, and one in ninth grade. As I was sitting through those classes, I could remember feeling weird and uncomfortable. I never wanted to go to the classes and I took them sort of as a joke. I had a lot of friends that would make jokes out of the topics we discussed so I thought it was funny and somewhat pointless. I really didn’t know just how important those classes were.

After being in the history of sexuality class, I understand how those sex education classes were needed and just how important they are. I believe every kid growing up should know what’s out there and what could happen with their body. I think if kids knew what could happen, there would be less teen pregnancy and STD’s happening in our world because the teenager would be informed. As I was doing some research, I found that there is a debate going on about whether sex education should be a mandatory in schools or whether it shouldn’t be discussed at all. Personally, I believe it’s an important topic that should be discussed at school as well as in the home by the parents. Its been said by some health professionals that kids with good sex education will allow them to gain a better understanding of their body and help them to build a positive attitude. Good sex educations allows kids to have better communication skills and build relationships easy as well help them resist pressure and the media. Bad sex education, or none at all, could expose kids and teenagers to abuse, exploitation, far, and even ill health. [1]

From that information and from personal knowledge, I decided to support sex educations in schools. While it may be a big debate, there are a lot of problems in this world that could be solved if people were just a little informed before they made their decisions. In my eyes, it can’t hurt to teach kids about things they will encounter throughout there time in school. It can only prepare them for the future with hopes that they will make the right decision when the time comes.

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[1] Atwal, Kay. Newham Recorder, "Big Debate: Should Children at School have Sex Education." Last modified July 10, 2013. Accessed March 30, 2014. http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/big_debate_should_children_at_school_have_sex_education_1_2272544.