Sexual Education in Schools (essay)

Sexual Education in Schools a Main Issue for Panamanian Society

Sebastian Arroyo

Summary: This essay is about the main issues about give sexual education in schools also explain differents benefits of teaching sexual education to teenagers.

What do we know about sexual education? For those who don’t know or don’t have a clear concept about sex education it is the act of informing younger and adult generations about everything they need to know about sex. It is one of the most controversial issues nowadays, which has been floating on educational institutions since ages. It is not just about sex, but it also includes other sensitive issues like health, reproduction, sexuality and others that parents often feel uncomfortable talking with their children. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of schools to address this issue, and inform and educate students about it as much as possible. Often, sexual education in schools is considered as a recreational course rather than a serious matter. Public schools can teach the many pros and cons of sexual education. But today I am going to convince you about the benefits of teaching sexual education in schools for Panamanian society.

One of the most problems nowadays in our society is the amount of teenager’s pregnancy. Some researches shows when younger adolescents give a birth they have less opportunities in complete high school or get a good life style, and it can become a big problem for our society. The main issue of this problem is the lack of communication between parents and children and the lack of knowledge about sexual education. The main point of teach or start apply sexual education in school is to reduce the amount of pregnancy, and the same time it will have benefits to Panamanian society because if schools start to teach this concept, younger adolescents will have a better knowledge or concept and they will have more care about their actions.

Another benefit of teaching sexual education to teenagers is make Youngers aware of the risk of STD such as HIV. Comprehensive sex education is an essential part of HIV prevention. Some research say that apply sexual education in different grades in the school has proved to be more effective in preventing sexually transmitted infections than normal education that focus only on teaching abstinence until marriage. STDs are serious illnesses that require expensive treatment. Some STDs, such as HIV, cannot be cured and can be deadly. Teaching Young people the different STDs, their cause and effect, they will learn ways to protect themselves and it will help them to avoid have sexual contact in an early age.

The last point I would like to talk is that it will help families with a strong support. Nowaday most parents have trouble talking to their children and it is more difficult if it is about sex education. Maybe some parents don’t have the time to communicate because they are busy working, or don’t have a good connection with their children for that reason the schools going to be a strong help to support parents to teach at their children sexual education. At the end parents will feel thankful knowing that an expert in the subject can teach and advise their children the pros and cons about sexual education.

Ideally, sex education could be taught each year in our schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Like all school subjects, the information and skills that are taught are age-appropriate, reflect best-practice, and build on the previous year’s learning. It will help in supports youth and their families and helps them acquire the sexuality related information, skills, and motivation necessary to act in ways that are congruent with their values.

Bibliografy:

Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, Siecus State Profiles, Fiscal Year 2012. Accessed from http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=1369 on May 13, 2014.

National Sexual Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12. A Special Publication of the Journal of School Health. 2012: 6-9. http://www.futureofsexed.org/documents/josh-fose-standards-web.pdf. Accessed October 2, 2013.