Sex Education in Public Schools Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Topi

Sex Education in Schools      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children all over the country who sit down in their classes are being taught sex education. There are books, videos, special speakers and qualified teachers for the subject. Depending on where a child lives, the education he or she is being taught might vary. For example, Wyoming, North Dakota, Minnesota, Maine and Utah do not require schools to provide sexuality or STD/HIV education, (they teach abstinence). District of Columbia, on the other hand, must include contraception with condoms available (Innerst). I was once shown a book that was used to teach sex education to fifth graders in an inner-city school. The book was softbound, about one hundred pages in length, and had cartoon-like colored illustrations. I thumbed through the pages and could not believe what I was seeing. Some of the things in that book were things that even I had never seen before, and I was married with a child. The book taught (and showed pictures of) homosexual sex, masturbation, oral sex, proper procedures for condoms and diaphragms, female and male pleasure spots. The list goes on. This book was not teaching a fifth grader safe sex; it was teaching them how to have sex right and get the most gratification out of it. There was no mention of abstinence throughout the entire book. This sex education method teaches too much and at too early of an age; it undermines children's capability of abstaining, encourages sex and really isn't safe at all; it must be reformed.    My first experience with the subject was in the fifth grade in 1988. My teacher split the boys and girls into two rooms. She talked to the girls about things like menstrual cycles and hormones. I remember a lot of laughter and snickers coming f... ... 265.4 (1991). CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 1995." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 45.53(1996). "Choose to be Excellent." Me, My World, My Future. 204. DeVincenzi, I. "A Longitudinal Study of 343 Steady Partners of Infected Men." Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 6.5 (1993): 497-502. Hogan, Ruby. Interview. 22 Nov 2000. Innerst, Carol. "Teen pregnancies higher in states that teach condom use". The Washington Times. Oct 1995: A4 Jones & Forrest. "Contraceptive Failure Rates based on the 1998 NSFG." Family Planning Perspectives. 24.1(1998): 12-19. Resnick, Michael. "Protecting Adolescents from Harm-Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health". 278.10 (1997): 823-832 Teen-Aid, Inc. "Wait Until Marriage. Why?" Teen-Aid. 1994.