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Caroline Hudson
Sex education either happens in the home or at school, or a combination of both. Unfor-
tunately, not all homes are having the sex talk necessary with their teenagers. When teenagers are
not getting educated on safety methods, risks, and how to prevent pregnancy at home nor at
school, this helps no one in the end. Sex education is necessary in teens around the United States
in order to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. 86% of the decline in
teen pregnancies between 1995 and 2002 could be accounted for by contraceptive use while only
14% was attributed to teens abstaining from sex. (US Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion CDC) Therefore, it is not realistic to not teach students about sex and the proper methods
for safe sex. Teaching students the risks and consequences of having unprotected sex will lead to
a decrease in teenage pregnancy and amount of people with STDS. Teaching abstinence only sex
education or not teaching about sex at all will cause pregnant teens to have problems with their
health, financially, and academically. Sex education should continue in public schools because it
HIV/ STI prevention programs show that they do not increase rates of sexual initiation, do not
lower the age at which youth initiate sex, and do not increase the frequency of sex or the number
of sex partners among sexually active youth. While this is true, the site also mentions the teen
birth rate is still tremendously lower when there is comprehensive sex education taught in
schools. While this is only preventative of teenage pregnancy, it is better than not preventing or
lowering any of the negatives that come from sexually active teens. I am also keeping in mind
When I looked for positives of being a young mother on the internet, essentially all the
research that came up was logical fallacies and no serious claims in order to help prove the op-
posing case of sex education- but regardless, some of the positives included the following.
Youre so poor when they are babies that your financial situation can only get better. You never
really knew what it was like to have freedom, as in proper adult freedom, so you don't have it to
miss.(The Telegraph) Also, no serious/scientific resources came up which also speaks volumes
regarding the topic of pros of teenage pregnancy, which really just says sex education in teens
needs to be demonstrated in order to teach preventative methods and educate on the negatives
that can occur when having unprotected sex- not only STDS but what can happen in teenage
pregnancy.
Safe sex education is the best way to prevent teen pregnancy and STDS. Half of the 20
million sexually transmitted diseases contracted each year in the US are between people between
the ages 15 and 24. (CDC report) This is astonishing to me, and not having any form of sex edu-
cation or abstinence only education will not help this case at all because when people make the
decision to have sex at a young age, they are uneducated on the risks and how to be preventative
of diseases. There are also a numerous amount of health risks young mothers have with their ba-
bies or with themselves. Teenage mothers are more vulnerable to hypertension and anemia than
adults. They are also less likely than older mothers to seek appropriate prenatal care, and less
likely to gain an appropriate amount of weight while pregnant. Infants born to teen mothers are
more likely than other children to have low birth weights which gives a greater risk of death as
an infant, and developing blindness, deafness, mental and respiratory problems, and cerebral pal-
Running Head: SEX EDUCATION 4
sy. Some lower risk problems in comparison that they are also at a greater risk for include hyper-
Financial and academic problems occur as a consequence of teen pregnancy not only for
the mother but for the government. Many teen mothers are unable to finish high school and less
than 2% of them earn a college degree before age 30. This makes it harder for them to find a
good job, and many teen mothers are forced to live in poverty. (CDC, 2015) As a result, they are
forced to rely on government assistance, and in 2004 it was released that $9.1 billion in taxpayers
money alone went to teen mothers. (study done by National Campaign to Prevent Teenage Preg-
nancy) Children born to teen mothers visit the doctor less often for numerous reasons, and re-
ceive less of the kind of cognitive stimulation in their early years that experts say is crucial for
brain development. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reports that the children
of teen mothers, on average, do less well in school than other children, and are less likely to
In an ideal world, all teens would wait until they were old enough to know that they were
with the right person before they make the decision to have sex. Unfortunately, this is just not a
realistic way of thinking and there needs to be safe sex education in all schools in order to pre-
vent STDS and teenage pregnancy. Its 2016, and teenagers have sex. Lets talk to them and edu-
cate them about safe sex rather than pretending it will not ever happen. Since the AIDs breakout
in the 1980s, condom use has increased due to the fear of getting it but the US still has the high-
est teen pregnancy rates of any other country. Lets keep talking to our kids in schools, so we can
stop this problem. To say sex education should be left to parents is not realistic, because many
things are left to parents that unfortunately are not taken care of. This does not need to be added
Running Head: SEX EDUCATION 5
to the list. Research clearly proves that abstinence only policies and not talking to children about
sex does not prevent pregnancy or STDs, but safe sex education and proper contraceptive teach-
ing does. After further researching on the pros and the cons of sex education in schools, I feel
even more confident in my stance of being in supportive of it. It seems to me like the clear an-
swer because of the amount of proof working in the favor of what sex education in schools has
References
article/450-effective-sex-education
Abstinence-Only Education (14 April 2014) Retrieved from Issues and Controversies
No-cost, long-acting contraception cuts teen pregnancy by 79 percent. (1 October 2014) Re-
"American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health." (11 March 2015) Retrieved from American
"Sexually Active Teens." (15 March 2015) Retrieved from Child Trends.
Wright, D. (24 January 2015) School-based Sex Education. AIDS Care, Vol. 9 Issue 1, p66. 4p.
Prymface. The 10 Pros and Cons about Becoming Young Mother. Retrieved from The Tele-
graph.