Sex
education? Parents have mini heart attack at the sound of those two words. I
mean what parent wouldn’t right? Sex isn’t something that you imagine your kids
doing anytime soon!! If you aren’t ready for them to be having sex why should
they even be educated on what sex is? Parents are fighting schools in Texas so
that they don’t teach the students what safe sex is. They claim that the kids
are too young to be learning about what any of that is and I completely get it
these kids are young and shouldn’t be thinking about sex but lets be realistic
here for a second okay? Lets look at in what generation we are now living in!
Kids don’t have to be educated properly in school to know what sex is right?
Sex is shown in movies, TV shows, video games and more. How can someone really
expect his or her kids to not know anything about sex?
In my opinion sex education should
be a requirement in schools. Regardless what the parents have to
say.
Sex
education is something that isn’t taken serious enough in Texas. Nation wide
teen pregnancies have declined but sadly in Texas and Travis County numbers remain not only the same but there times higher then the national average. What does that tells us? It tells
us that we aren’t doing a good job at informing our kids on what “safe sex” is
and we cant inform them about safe sex because we don’t let the schools inform
our kids about sex in general! Being a teen mom has to be one of the hardest
things anyone has to do. More then 70 percent of teen moms are single moms and
have to drop out of high school to financially support herself and her son or
daughter. Only about 38 percent of teen moms will get their high school diploma
by the age of 22 as sated in the article “UT studyfinds Texas teen pregnancies lag behind U.S. improvement” Not being properly
educated about sex and safe sex can cause a lot of harm in someone’s life. And
who are we to take that away from someone. Being properly informed about the
consequences of having unprotected sex can make someone think twice about the
decision they are about to make.
Schools are teaching students to become “abstinent” what does
that mean? It means it is a choice to not participate in any genital
contact. And that’s all schools are teaching. How is telling someone to be
abstinent going to help at all? Teens have a higher probability in getting peer
pressured into doing something and how can they make they correct choice if
they aren’t correctly informed?
Sex isn’t all fun and games like its shown on TV, and movies.
The movies forget to show what happens when you have unprotected sex with
someone you don’t know their medical history. Having unprotected sex can cause
serious health issues. It can give someone something as simple as Genital warts
that can be taken care to getting HIV. A virus that there is no cure for and
that sounds so scary but teens don’t know? They don’t know because they aren’t
informed. If they would get more education about what sex is and what it the
consequences are if you have unprotected sex things here in Texas would change
dramatically. They rate in teen pregnancy would drop, teens would be informed
more about the options they have instead of feeling like they are being forced
to become abstinent and finally it would reduce spreading STD’s.
In conclusion, sex education will only help the youth grow and
become more responsible. Learning more will only better kids, and even the
parents. It would build more trust in between them and instead of having no trust;
kids can finally come to their parents for help. The motive that I have for
schools to educate kids about sex is because parents fail to do so and not
because they are bad parents but because it awkward to talk to your kids about
sex. But in the other hand schools have professional who specialize on talking
about sex with teens and can educate them better.
When the truth is the truth, she speaks it loud and clear folks! "Vanessa Speaks the Truth" once again on her blog "Give me Texas or Give Me Death!" The great Vanessa brings up another very good point, and another very important topic that I feel like we should all discuss. She writes about sex education and how the parents in Texas are fighting for public schools to STOP teaching their kids about sex education. Many parents claim that their children "are too young to be learning about [sex]," and if anyone should be teaching children about sex, it should be taught by the parents themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm all for parents talking to their children about sex; I believe it will allow for a strong trust to develop between juvenile and parent. But a lot of the times it just seems awkward for parents to talk to their children about sex, and vice versa. So it seems that the subject matter appears to be left untouched by either participant. That right there brings up a question.... Have the parents in Texas seen the statistical analysis of Teenage Birth Rates in our State?
I feel it safe for me to assume a big fat NO because in 2013, Texas On The Brink (An official Caucus of the Texas House of Representatives) released information on how Texas ranks among the 50 states in the U.S. Statistics shows that here in Texas the "Teenage Birth Rate" ranks 3rd in the country. Which implies that the parents in Texas are very limited to sex education, the parents are too embarrassed to talk to their kids about sex, or perhaps it's the school system that lack the funds to teach Texas children. Either way, I don't believe the correct way to go about sex education for kids is to shelter them from the truth or be told to practice abstinence (which a lot of parents feel like it's the best course of action instead of making sure they are prepared for the inevitable).
Like Vanessa stated in her blog, "teens have a higher probability in getting peer pressured into doing something." So how are they to make the correct choice if they aren’t correctly informed? Telling a kid, teenager, or even an adult to not do something because they shouldn't without any information as to why, is only going to influence them to pursue the thing they were asked not to do in the first place. That is just how kids work in general; the curiosity is overwhelming and learning it first hand sometimes just seems like the right thing to do, especially if they are informed very little.
It never ceases to amaze me that I find myself agreeing with Vanessa yet again on another very important topic. It's best to teach people about sex education at adolescents, that way they grow up to understand that sexual intercourse is no laughing matter and that it should be taken very seriously. I feel that the government of Texas should invest a little more of its resources into public schools, that way they can afford to bring in professionals that are well informed about sex education to teach kids about contraceptives, diseases, ect. If that were to happen, "the rate in teen pregnancy would drop, [adolescents] would be [better] informed... [and] it would reduce spreading STD’s."
It's better to have them scared, prepared, and cautious now, instead of being scared and unprepared when a baby comes.
My fellow classmate Vanessa, shared a interesting commentary regarding the issue of Sex Education in Texas. In her commentary, Let's Educate Correctly, Vanessa asserts that sex education should be a requirement for schools in Texas and brings up many interesting and valid points to back her claim. She starts off by giving many parents a mini heart attack by mentioning the words "Sex Education". She then goes to explain why that is the case because the discussion of sex with teenagers is still considered taboo for many parents across the state. She then states:
ReplyDeleteKids don’t have to be educated properly in school to know what sex is right? Sex is shown in movies, TV shows, video games and more. How can someone really expect his or her kids to not know anything about sex?
Couldn't agree more! It's absurd that many parents will dodge the issue of educating their young yet willingly subject them or allow them to be subjected to sex across different mediums from such a young age. Not to mention, even in today's always connected society, it's almost impossible to avoid any outlets that are devoid of any sexual undertones.
Vanessa then shares a interesting article from KXAN on a study conducted by UT that examines Texas' teen pregnancies and the comparison across the county. I learned that we are two to three times the national average when it comes to teen pregnancies! Wow! One would believe that with the internet, the knowledge to educate one's self regarding sex would be fluid but society can't expect teens to teach themselves everything. If teens in our state are not educated, then they are not aware of some of the consequences and the study Vanessa shares confirms that.
Vanessa also informs the reader that many school's teach only abstinence - not having sex. I couldn't help but chuckle at the length some districts are willingly to go to avoid direct confrontation when it comes to regarding sex ed! Enough already!
The state and schools can only do so much to educate today's young. It's time for parents to stop dodging the issue of sex ed and start playing a more active role in their children's education. A great way to start is by asking how soon they would like to be called "Grandpa" or "Grandma"? Because without them being pro-active, doing the work and making an effort to educate their young, Texas will still be leading in our nation when it comes to teen pregnancies. While Texans like to think we're number one in everything, this is not something we should be leading.