Introduction
Sex education for students has emerged as a very important component of quality educational system in recent years. The goal of this education is to prepare the young people for responsible, healthy and productive citizenship by providing them with knowledge on their sexual development, biological and reproductive health, and self management.
While the objectives of sex education are favorable for the entire society, the issue is still controversial with debates being held over the suitability of offering sex education to children and teenagers. Sex education is supposed to help the youth to develop a positive attitude towards their sexuality and gain knowledge and skills that can be used to achieve sexual health.
The controversy over sex education surrounds the issue of who should teach students about sex and the specific way in which this teaching should be accomplished (Hillier and Mitchell, 2008).
While proponents of sex education assert that it will instill factual knowledge about sex to the young hence enabling them to enjoy sexual health in future, opponents contend that it will encourage students to become sexually active at an early age.
This paper will set out to argue that sex education in schools has many significant merits and should therefore be promoted. To reinforce this opinion, this paper will highlight the merits and demerits of sex education in order to demonstrate that the merits far outweigh the perceived demerits.
What is Sex Education?
Goldman (2010) asserts that “Learning about sex is a core part of school life” (p.48). It would therefore be most beneficial if this learning took place in a formal manner through sex education programs.
The sexuality education programmes offered in schools embody a wide range of aspects including sexual development, reproductive health, safety, and interpersonal relationships. Lack of sex education can result in ignorance, and poor decision making by youths in matters concerning sex.
This would result in increased rates of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies by many young people. Sex education therefore seeks to empower children by giving them information that can be used to protect their health and well being.
Merits of Sex Education
Today’s children are reaching the reproductive maturity of puberty at earlier ages than any of the other previous generations. One half of all girls are having their first periods by age 12 while one half of all boys are having their first erection at about 13 years of age (Goldman, 2010).
These lowered ages of reproductive fertility mean that a good number of children will experience signs of pubertal development during their primary school years. Without sex education, the children will have no knowledge of the dramatic changes their bodies are going through.
Goldman (2010) asserts that it is imperative that children be provided with sex education to given them the information need and psychologically prepare them to cope with the dramatic changes before they occur. This will avoid unnecessary anxiety on the part of the children and also minimize the risks that they may be exposed to by a lack of sexual awareness.
It has been observed that sexual activity for men and women all over the world begins in their late teenage years; that is between 15 and 19 years. However, the age of commitment to marriage is from the late 20s to the early 30s.
This gap between sexual activity and marriages demonstrates that “information about sexual behavior is essential… to improve sexual health” (Goldman, 2010, p.48). Sex education helps to maximize responsibility in individuals from an early age. They are therefore able to develop values in their lives that will ensure that they do not engage in risky sexual behavior.
All members of the society acknowledge that sex education is important for young people. However, the topic of sex is not openly discussed in most cultures and families. Juping (2010) confirms that for most parents, the topic of sex is embarrassing and hence not discussed in spite of the fact that parents have the best opportunities to provide this education for their children.
In addition to this, parents who do give sex education to their children shy away from going into details due to factors such as; parental inhibitions, communication misunderstandings, and lack of knowledge on issues such as STIs and their treatments (Juping, 2010).
Sex education provided in schools will ensure that children coming from such backgrounds are not denied of the valuable information on sexual health and relationships.
Schools are more likely to encourage children to develop their own value framework of expression, values and choices as opposed to parents who will seek to influence the choices made by their children based on their own values.
Sex education programmes offered in schools are structured so that they give the youth factual information without trying to instill any moral values or judgment. The youth are in search of sex information that is both non-judgmental and non-prescriptive in nature (Limmer, 2010).
Considering the fact that parents are anxious about their children and generally over protective, it is unlikely that such information will come from them. Schools are therefore best placed to provide the youth with unbiased information that will give them the knowledge and skills needed to make healthy choices in their sexual and reproductive lives.
Demerits of Sex Education
A major argument against the provision of sex education in school is it leads to the acquisition of too much information of a negative kind by children. Their innocence is therefore destroyed as they are exposed to sexual knowledge at an early age.
This is not an empty claim since sex education aims to provide factual information without any bias to the children and youth. As it is, sex education is provided in a value neutral environment and contents of sex education programs are teachings on safe sex practices, sexual diversity, and abstinence (Hillier & Mitchell, 2008).
This value-neutral environment is detrimental to children and the youth who require guidance so as to make the best decisions on matters such as sex.
A common fear is that sex education provided in school will result in the corruption of student’s moral standings and make them more likely to engage in sex. As a matter of fact, sex education gives the youth intimate knowledge on matters of sex.
Some of this youth may have been uninterested or ignorant of the topic of sex until this exposure. Opponents of sex education in schools therefore state that there is no need for children to be provided with details on sex until they are about to engage in a definitive adult relationship.
Juping (2010) supports this opinion by revealing that sex education provides students with information which may cause some to get sexual ideas and engage in experimentation.
Arguably the most significant demerit of sex education is that the material taught goes against most of the moral and religious beliefs that parents have instilled in their children. Goldman (2010) confirms that sex education programs are structured around a secular basis and moral or religious undertones are not present in the teachings.
The secular nature of sex education is based on the belief that education should be aimed at providing comprehensive education on sex to the children and not instructing children not to have sex.
However, religion and morals play a major role in the lives of most people in the society and they dictate how people approach the issue of sex.
Most religions advocate abstinence for unmarried people which can have a positive impact on sexual attitudes among the youth. Sex education discounts this religious influences and moral values which typically provide guidance for the youth on sexual matters.
Conclusion
This paper set out to discuss the merits and demerits of sex education in school so as to show that it is beneficial for the youth. From the arguments given in this paper, it is clear that there are many valid arguments both for and against the provision of sex education in schools.
Many of the arguments against sex education are based on the wrong assumption that children and the youth will indulge in sexual activity once they are made aware of the sexual possibilities through sex education.
Research overwhelmingly demonstrates that the youth are not predisposed to experimenting with sex as a result of the sex education they receive.
Instead, sex education empowers them to make better decisions regarding sex in future. It can therefore be authoritatively stated that sex education in schools should be encouraged since it have numerous positive benefits for children and the youth.
References
Goldman, J.D. (2010). The new sexuality education curriculum for Queensland primary schools. Sex Education, 10(1), 47–66.
Hillier, L. & Mitchell, A. (2008). It was as useful as a chocolate kettle’: sex education in the lives of same sex- attracted young people in Australia. Sex Education, 8 (2), 211–224.
Juping, Y. (2010). Sex education beyond school: implications for practice and research. Sex Education, 10(2), 187–199.
Limmer, M. (2010). Young men, masculinities and sex education. Sex Education, 10(4), 349–358.