Sex Education NOW!
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Kids & Teens Deserve Accurate & Unbiased Sex Education NOW!
Abstinence-only programs and a lack of discussion about birth control methods and prevention of disease transmission have left many teens and young adults at risk of unwanted pregnancies and various sexually-transmitted diseases.
The best thing that could be done would be to provide access to technically-accurate and honest sex education. I think the education needs to come from outside the home, so that kids get more and better answers and I think our government needs to get off their religiously-blinded backsides and keep their moral opinions out of education if they really want to reduce teen pregnancies and slow the transmission of STDs.
Sex education doesn't lead to more sex, it leads to safer and more responsible sex!
What do you think?
The Sex Ed Debate and Info You Should Know
- The Birds and the Bees
- The Pros and Cons of Abstinence-Only
- YOUR TURN TO WEIGH IN!
- The Consequences of Bad (or No) Sex Ed
- WHAT SHOULD WE BE TEACHING?
- Recommended Sex Education Books for Children
- RELATED NEWS: FODDER FOR ARGUING MORE
- Take a look at the Sex Education Debate
- Sex Ed Books For Teenagers
- Are You Ready To Talk?
- Sex Ed Info for Teens and Young People
- So... got anything else to say about it?
- LOTD
The Birds and the Bees
how we get the info that we know
The Pros and Cons of Abstinence-Only
- Survey: Fla. Teens Believe Drinking Bleach Will Prevent HIV - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando
- ORLANDO, Fla. -- A recent survey that found some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy has prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state. Wednesday, April 2, 2008.
- Oral Sex Among Adolescents:Is It Sex or Is It Abstinence?
- The reports in the popular press that oral sex has become widespread among adolescents cannot be confirmed or refuted because the data to do so have never been collected. Moreover, adults do not really know what behaviors teenagers consider to be "sex" and, by the same token, what they consider to be its opposite, abstinence. All of this leaves health professionals and policymakers without the means to effectively address these issues.
- Study Casts Doubt on Abstinence-Only Programs - washingtonpost.com
- A long-awaited national study has concluded that abstinence-only sex education, a cornerstone of the Bush administration's social agenda, does not keep teenagers from having sex.
- The Failure of Abstinence-Only Sex Education | New West Network
- With some American churches now hosting the Horrors of Hell rather than Halloween, one would assume that American teenagers would have more respect for sin and fewer instances of sexually transmitted diseases. But just as with President Bush's tactics in the War on Terror, fear alone is not doing the job.
- AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: The Expensive Failure of Abstinence Education
- The Bush administration's point man for conservative -- and often morality-driven -- social policy, such as abstinence-only sex education, has resigned. But only time will tell whether his programs remain federal policy.
- Abstinence Education - Let's talk about sex
- Cowed by the dominance of conservative religious lobbying organizations in the Republican Party, Bush has decided that it ought to be against the law for public schools to teach teenagers anything about sex other than the reasons that they shouldn't have sex. That's really all that abstinence-only education is: Adults nagging teenagers not to have sex, then not saying a word about how to handle it if they do have sex.
- McCain to Preach Abstinence in S.C.
- Most presidential candidates are trying to get people to say "yes." Republican Sen. John McCain will be encouraging South Carolina students to say "no."
- Abstinence Only
- You and your faith partner have chosen a path of mutual love and adoration through physical respect.
YOUR TURN TO WEIGH IN!
How do YOU feel about sex education versus abstinence-only?
What do you think about sex education? Do kids do best when told the facts or is telling them to "just say No" the way to go?
What I think was the best part of what I learned in my sex educator training was to take my own beliefs out of the discussion. I was there to answer questions and provide the best and most up-to-date information available, not challenge someone on their morals or tell them what was right or wrong. I might tell someone that they were contemplating something with a high degree of risk, but I never said things like "Eeew, that's gross!" or "People like you shouldn't be allowed to act that way" which is unfortuately what a lot of people face when they are just trying to ask a question. And a lot of the questions were about non-PV (penis-vagina) sexual practices, something that many parents are not about to discuss with their kids, and which kids don't want to ask their parents about.
Ever wonder why Florida teens think that drinking bleach will prevent HIV, or that drinking Mountain Dew or smoking marijuana can prevent pregnancy? It's because they are being raised and schooled by adults who are themselves totally ignorant of the facts and realities of sex and birth control.
(If you chose to make a comment or contribution below, please note it cannot contain profanities. this lens is G-rated and whereas any opinion is allowed, explicit language usage is not, and such comments will be declined. thanks, Orthia)
Comprehensive and accurate sex education programs should be available for children and teens (and adults) in school and through public health programs!
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes, you're right!
oxfordian says:
I agree! How can anyone argue against factual education? Society doesn't have the right to educate children about sex ed? But they do have the responsibility to support the children of young parents through financial assistance when their families can't support them. It's just another position of too many people argonatly advocating for their rights while ignoring their responsibilities.
Posted October 28, 2011
Mia-Mia says:
What kids don't know WILL hurt them. The first thing we did at UNCG was try to get info to new freshmen not to fall into bed with someone 10 minutes after meeting them. We tried to get them into personal health courses where they could learn all aspects of preventive health measures.
Posted September 17, 2011
The_Idea_Gal says:
Yes. Unfortunately today's youth are at much higher risk of contracting a sexual related illness and since schools are already teaching health then it should certainly include sex education as well.
Posted April 09, 2011
thrivingmom says:
The key word here is "available." I'm all for sex education in schools. It would be ideal if parents taught their kids accurate information about sex, but the truth is not all do. Our school systems need to step in and fill this gap. But it should not be mandatory. For those of us parents that are doing a good job, a school should not be teaching our kids such delicate information which could conflict with our own religious beliefs and/or values. So, available sex education? Yes. Mandatory? No.
Posted March 24, 2011
emerladdagger says:
Sex education is a must. Teens are the most curious group of people on the planet which usually gets them in trouble. So it's better to educate them that finding it out in an unsafe way.
Posted March 07, 2011
No way, Monkeybrain!
OutbackJack says:
Your opening premise may have been accurate pre the 70's but medical science and an understanding of the last 40 years of the sexual revolution say you are wrong. Our children have had more access to talk and so called education about sex than any previous generation and that has been going on for many years I am over 40 and I had sex education at school. Since the advent of the sexual revolution and the sex ed bandwagon we have had more STD"S, more sex crimes, more teenage pregnancies than in the prior 60 years. Doctors such as Miriam Grossman can prove scientifically and medically that our modern system of tell them everything is creating a medical pandemic . Sometimes we need to switch off our own hormones and emoticons and look at the subject rationally with ALL of the facts before us. Saying kids are just going to be doing it younger and younger so we have to teach them younger and younger just becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. And by the way the current education courses are not accurate but heavily swayed by specific interest groups who just want to promote their own agenda. Open your eyes
Posted January 14, 2012
AVeryLittleOne says:
You suggest promoting abstinence doesn't work. Well, it worked for me, but not because I was afraid of the consequences (have you ever read that eens need like 10 times as much risk to feel the same fear that their parents?). It was love: love of God in my case. Also I learned to see having a boyfriend as a process to know somebody considering the possibility of marriage and that doesn't make sense when you are still a dependant teen. Only when you can manage by yourself you can say you are ready to try living with another person. Society doesn't promote this, nor most of school's education.
Posted August 05, 2011
cupes001 says:
when it is learn I am afraid the teenagers will misunderstand and go wrong. Is it ?
Posted June 07, 2011
says:
no matter how many times you tell a teen not to have sex most likely they are still going to have it no matter what they learned about it.
Posted February 27, 2011
yourgoldenfuture says:
basic info in school... yes... but the rest belongs in the family...
Posted January 13, 2011
The Consequences of Bad (or No) Sex Ed
reaping what we sow
The cheapest and most effective way to lower teen pregnancy rates and to reduce the transmission of STDs is to make sure kids and teens are given education about everything, even the topics that make parents squeamish. Otherwise, here's what we get...
- NPR: 'Sex Without Condoms' Prompts Heated Debate
- Thursday, as part of Day to Day's series "What's the New What," Pendarvis Harshaw, a teen who grew up in Oakland offers his own provocative take on the California relationship dream. "Sex without condoms is the new engagement ring," he suggested in an on-air essay. Among his friends and acquaintances, ditching the condoms for other forms of birth control like the pill, signifies taking monogamy to a new level; partners are required to trust each other completely at the risk of getting an STD. Given that few of his friends in their late teens are thinking much about marriage, this transforms a prophylactic into a relationship sign-post along the lines of an engagement ring.
- Clueless on STDs, Throat Cancer, and Oral Sex - US News and World Report
- There's an argument out there that oral sex is not sex. For some grown-ups, it's a way to deny that they're cheating. To some young people, oral sex preserves virginity-technically speaking-and allows for what is perceived as risk-free sexual intimacy. From a medical perspective, however, this is sex-and generally, as practiced, it's unsafe.
- CDC: At Least 1 in 4 Teenage Girls Has Sexually Transmitted Disease - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News
- Tuesday, March 11, 2008 - At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.
- Many sex ed teachers may lack training - Yahoo! News
- A sizable minority of sex education teachers does not cover all of the basics, and many lack training to teach sex ed at all, a survey of teachers in one state suggests.
- NPR: Sex Education in America
- A new poll finds that the debate over whether sex education should be taught in schools is over. But the NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School survey of parents and principals does show there is still disagreement over how it should be taught. Read analysis and the surveys.
- Incidence of teenage pregnancy in North America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The teenage birth rate in United States is the highest in the developed world. 95% of teenage pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended.
WHAT SHOULD WE BE TEACHING?
There are many facets to sex education and most of the present quandry relates to the fact that many people support some but not all aspects of providing information on reproductive health and sex.
Please indicate which areas or aspects of sex education you feel would be beneficial to young people. Be sure to read down the entire list before you start voting so that you understand exactly what the different choices represent. You may vote for more than one option.
1
Safer sex and STDs
Provide information about sexually-transmitted diseases, what sexual practices can transmit them and how to use condoms to prevent the spread.15 points
2
Reproductive health
Teaching how male/female reproduction works and how pregnancy can happen.10 points
3
Birth control
Education about the many methods that are available to prevent unwanted conception.10 points
4
How bodies work - mixed gender
Co-ed health classes where boys and girls learn about the anatomy and physiology of both genders.7 points
5
Abortion
Discussion about and providing information regarding how to terminate unwanted pregnancies.7 points
6
"Alternative" sexual education
Discussion of different sexual orientations and sexual behaviors that are not related to conception/human reproduction.7 points
7
About your body - gender-separate
Separate boys and girls health classes, where they just learn about their own anatomy and physical development.3 points
Recommended Sex Education Books for Children
Here are books for teaching young children or pre-teens about sex. Recommendations here are for books that cover the 4-12 year old age range.
RELATED NEWS: FODDER FOR ARGUING MORE
- School Systems Ponder Sex Education Options
- (AP) School districts across Mississippi are continuing to weigh their options on sex education classes. Mississippi schools have until June 30 to decide how to incorporate "abstinence-only" or "abstinence-plus" classes into the curriculum for the ...
- BC sex education not neutral
- The schools in Surrey want to keep sex education neutral, apparently. If that is the case, they might want to also toss out Planned Parenthood, a big player as sexual education facilitator in the province that received $1.4 million from BC taxpayers ...
- Breaking down the modern day sex talk
- ?When they want to learn about sex, or they have a question or they have a problem, they all say 'I Google it,'? said Natalie Zensius of the sex education website ISIS, which is designed to help students and teachers.
- Sex education and the age-old issue of teen pregnancy
- Proper sex education is more effective in helping teenagers deal with their changing hormones and equipping them with the good judgement necessary when they become involved in a sexual encounter. While adults and conservatives are still arguing over ...
Take a look at the Sex Education Debate
see how our society has been debating this issue
Sex Ed Books For Teenagers
Here are some great books about reproduction and sex that can help parents and teens get through all those rough topics together.
Are You Ready To Talk?
Did you know that gonorrhea has now evolved/mutated to become antibiotic-resistant? What does this mean for sex ed? It means that young people now need to not only be told this, but they need to be educated about using safer sex methods (barriers) for activities like oral sex, a sexual behavior that kids tend to think is "safe." Are you ready to have this conversation with your children?
Sex Ed Info for Teens and Young People
How do you get sex education if you don't know who to ask? What if you feel funny asking a question? Or harder still, what if you person you ask feels awkward or uncomfortable talking about the topic? This is the biggest hurdle to parents providing sex education. They might be able to provide some good basics on male/female reproductive sex, but as soon as you leave that narrow band of knowledge, many parents fail to speak to their children about any other sexual practices. Nor do most parents know that hepatitis C can live on open surfaces for up to six months and resists all but the most potent viricides.
Here are some highly-recommended web sites that provide information on a wider range of topics than what you will get at home, and no one has to be embarrassed about it.
- Scarleteen | Sex Education For The Real World
- Scarleteen: Sex Positive Sex Education. Articles, advice, accurate information and interactive media for young adults to explore and understand their sexuality and make informed choices.
- Sexuality and Relationship info you can trust from Planned Parenthood%uFFFD — teenwire.com
- Welcome to teenwire.com. Birth control & safer sex pregnancy, parenting & adoption infections & diseases lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender body sex relationships, friends & family emotions abortion school & careers entertainmen
- Teensource: Teen Sex Education & Info on STDs, Teen Pregnancy, Herpes, Chlamydia, HIV, STD Symptoms
- TeenSource.org is your resource to information on teen sex education, sexual health, teen pregnancy prevention, abstinence, STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), STD symptoms, birth control, herpes, hepatitis, chlamydia, syphlis, genital warts, and HIV.
- Teensexuality.org
- Site for teens and college students to find out information on sex and discuss sexual issues.
- The Condom - For Health and Pleasure
- Here is information about condoms, how they work, what people think of them and where you can get them. I'm someone who came of age just as AIDS was happening and I have to say the condom has been my constant sexual companion.
- San Francisco Sex Information
- We provide free, confidential, accurate, non-judgmental information about sex and reproductive health.
- Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.
- Visit Planned Parenthood to find information on sexual health, birth control, emergency contraception, abortion rights, and more.
- The (un)Truth About Penis Enlargment
- Penis enlargement is one of the biggest myths of the sexual world. It's one of the longest running scams in men's health and a source of a vast amount of spam in the internet world.
- Sex, Etc. -- Sex Education by Teens, for Teens
- Why Wonder? Info and advice on sex, love and relationships, pregnancy, birth control and condoms, STDs and more.
- :: MySistahs ::
- MySistahs is a Web site created by and for young women of color to provide information and offer support on sexual and reproductive health issues through education and advocacy. Through monthly features, message boards, and online peer education young women receive information on activism, culture, sexual health, and other issues that are important to them.
So... got anything else to say about it?
feedback, comments and other thoughts
If you've got something to say that's not taking sides in the debate, here's your space to do it!
Please note, this is a G-rated lens and anyone who posts links to explicit and/or adult sites in a comment will earn themselves a click of the "ban" button.
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OutbackJack
Jan 14, 2012 @ 7:39 am | delete
- Edutopia you comment on that abstinence fails by every metric is not proven by historical facts or medical science. We have had over 40 years of the results of the 1960's sexual revolution and the lethal legacy of Dr Kinsey and we are now reaping the rewards of all of that. A higher rate of STD's than ever before, more divorce, more sexual crimes, more cervical cancer I could go on. Read the stats before and understand history before you pass judgement. The more we put sex on tv, the younger we shove it in our kids faces the more the problem grows exponentially it is comments and medically outdated thoughts like yours that will consign us to another 40 years of reaping the Kinsey and Freud lethal legacy.
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OutbackJack
Jan 14, 2012 @ 7:34 am | delete
- You missed a really good book to add to your list it's by doctor Miriam Grossman and it is called "Your Teaching My Child What"? It has the latest scientific facts, stats and data on the subject. Well research and coming from not only a medical perspective but also that of a psychological perspective as well. It is hard hitting and there are some interviews to be found with the author on line that might make a good edition to your lens
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Edutopia
Jan 2, 2012 @ 5:38 am | delete
- Interesting lens. Abstinence only education fails by every metric to produce a society with less occurrence of STDs, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and general positive relations between genders and orientations.
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studyaids
Oct 19, 2011 @ 6:12 am | delete
- A useful and informative lens. A difficult subject area to discuss but this lens helped.
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Mia-Mia
Sep 17, 2011 @ 9:50 pm | delete
- As a public health educator, I'm so glad to see someone addressing this issue responsibly.
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