The Importance of Sex Education For Students
Sex Education, also called sexual education, sexuality education or sexuality, is the education of sexual problems relating to human reproduction, including sexual responsibilities and emotional aspects, both physical and mental. The division of this topic into two subtopics is rooted on the difference in the teaching of knowledge about human sexuality between Western and Eastern societies. In the former, knowledge about sexual matters is given with minimal reference to emotions and feelings, whereas in the latter, sexual information is viewed as an artistic expression that satisfies individual needs. Sex education has been described as the process by which individuals come to know and understand their own bodies, emotions, responsibilities towards one another, and the ability to make the best of sexual opportunities offered by the society in which they live. In fact, the need for sex education arises out of the failure of current educational practices to provide adequate information about sexuality and the ability of individuals to get the information and to use it for their own well being. Sexual education incorporates the concepts of sex, body, mind, love, and medicine.
In terms of human sexual reproduction, sex education focuses on informing people about the different ways in which they can increase the pleasure derived from sexual activity and the variety of possible outcomes related to sexual activity. A thorough knowledge of human sexuality helps us in the process of decision making related to health, safety, relationships and a myriad of other aspects. In fact, some of the basic questions related to sex education include questions like’Does the enjoyment derived from sexual intercourse always lead to the direct end of procreation?’ and’Does abstinence actually lead to the prevention of pregnancy?’ In addition to these questions, sex education also deals with the problems related to delaying the orgasm, preventing ejaculation, maintaining erection and maintaining the quality and length of erections, as well as problems related to orgasm and ejaculation.
Since the onset of the 21st century, the trend in the United States has been towards liberalization in regard to sex education. Prior to this era, the prevailing trend was towards abstinence or anti-pornography legislation. However, some states such as Texas and Missouri have still passed anti-pornography laws despite the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the freedom of speech. In other states, the situation is not so favorable, although there has been less political pressure to pass similar legislation.
Sex education is essential for the youth because young people are the future of the country. The high number of child sexual abuse cases that are reported every year has been confirmed by several researchers and policy makers as the fault of adults who failed to teach young people about healthy sexual activity and contraceptives. Therefore, it is important that the voices of those who are authority figures in their homes – parents, teachers, coaches, police officers, and other members of the community – are educated about proper sexual activity and reproductive health in order to reduce the incidence of child sexual abuse cases and other forms of child sexual abuse.
Currently, the United States ranks 36th out of the industrialized nations when it comes to the level of sex education that is provided to the young people. This is in spite of the fact that the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy, and the highest rate of unwanted births. One reason why the United States does not rank higher is the fact that only a small percentage of states has a required sex education mandate as a part of their state constitutions. Despite being required by many states to provide quality sex education to young people, many of them lack resources and funds to provide quality sex education.
Besides these two, sex education also encompasses aspects such as AIDS and HIV prevention. Since sexual reproduction is a key factor in transmitting disease, having proper knowledge on how to prevent STD can significantly lower the rate of infection and save thousands of lives every year. Since the majority of STDs are preventable through current medical interventions, schools should require students to undergo annual checkups, to learn about the current HIV/AIDS programs and treatment, and to learn about the importance of having regular checkups. Through these programs, students would be able to identify symptoms of STDs and be aware of their risk factors. This could significantly reduce the number of infections and deaths caused by such diseases.