2008 Woodie Awards
Sex education a must
Stephanie Luke, Guest Columnist
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Editorial / Opinion
Members of VOX: Students for Choice do not seek to change others' personal opinions. Instead, we aim to educate about issues involving abortion, reproductive rights and sexual education.
Students have asked us about sexual education and its effectiveness in comparison to abstinence-only education.
Abstinence-only sexual education has received millions and millions of dollars from the federal government since the welfare reform of 1996. The federally funded abstinence-only programs are expected to follow a certain curriculum.
A federally funded program is expected to have "as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity" (Title V, Section (ยง) 510 of the Social Security Act).
That makes sense. Other requirements, however, seem to be aimed at bashing sex outside of marriage. An abstinence-only program must "teach that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects; [and] teach that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society."
This is an offensive assumption that all children born out of wedlock are unplanned or even unwanted. Marriage and partnership are concepts that evolve with our society over time. Today the nuclear family is no longer a realistic picture of many American families.
The daughter of Sarah Palin, an advocate of abstinence-only education, became pregnant by accident. Was that the result of education about contraception? I highly doubt it.
Are people more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections if they are educated about the dangers and preventative measures, or if they are not? If people are not taught how to use contraceptives, they are not going to know how to use them properly, which could result in unplanned pregnancies or the contraction of STIs. Sexual education makes sense.
Students have asked us about sexual education and its effectiveness in comparison to abstinence-only education.
Abstinence-only sexual education has received millions and millions of dollars from the federal government since the welfare reform of 1996. The federally funded abstinence-only programs are expected to follow a certain curriculum.
A federally funded program is expected to have "as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity" (Title V, Section (ยง) 510 of the Social Security Act).
That makes sense. Other requirements, however, seem to be aimed at bashing sex outside of marriage. An abstinence-only program must "teach that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects; [and] teach that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society."
This is an offensive assumption that all children born out of wedlock are unplanned or even unwanted. Marriage and partnership are concepts that evolve with our society over time. Today the nuclear family is no longer a realistic picture of many American families.
The daughter of Sarah Palin, an advocate of abstinence-only education, became pregnant by accident. Was that the result of education about contraception? I highly doubt it.
Are people more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections if they are educated about the dangers and preventative measures, or if they are not? If people are not taught how to use contraceptives, they are not going to know how to use them properly, which could result in unplanned pregnancies or the contraction of STIs. Sexual education makes sense.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
female libido supplement
posted 12/20/08 @ 8:35 PM EST
Having sex is not just like laying down the bed and go start bumping, also we should consider the things that might happen to us, sex education will give us proper information on what to do, this will help future generations to avoid early pregnancy and some sexually transmitted diseases. (Continued…)
Mr. Miyagi
posted 12/21/08 @ 12:04 AM EST
"and it should force people to look at the reality of teenage sexuality. "
Not only the reality of teenage sexuality, but the reality of human nature. (Continued…)
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