This week in class we learned that the state of Missouri, has an abstinence based sex education program. In this way of teaching, the students are primarily only learning about abstinence and not about the other methods of sexual health. And if these methods are being presented, they are not thorough enough in their presentations because they always go back to abstinence as the number one priority. I feel that the abstinence based sex education in Missouri is not helpful.
Being a student in Missouri since the fourth grade I rarely even remember learning about sex in school. My high school didn't even offer any type of sex health class. The first time I even came across any type of sex education was in high school and even then it was just a brief chapter or discussion in a biology or health class, taught by a science teacher or one of the creepy gym coaches. And when we did learn about sex health it was only the basics, the facts, and the horrific pictures of STIs they'd show. But what about everything else that comes along with being knowledgable in sex health..the emotions, your options, having the right for it to be okay and not frowned upon if you engaged in any sexual activity. And like many teens at that age myself and a lot of my friends were curious and had lots of questions but felt like we weren't able to ask those types of questions in class.
And needless to say because of our abstinence based education and unanswered questions, more and more girls every year were turning up pregnant in our school. And coming from a school with approximately 500 students, is a lot of girls. I think the law of the abstinecne focused education in Missouri needs to change. It shouldn't be so one-sided and just show things in one scenario.
Sex education should encompass all aspects of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It shouldn't only show one aspect and one outcome. There are other options for young people besides abstinence. And also the sex educations programs should present the emotional and mental effects of having sex. I feel as though if schools did this, and presented all and complete, thorough information, then teens will be able to make much more educated decisions about their sex life and not having to late find themselves in any unwanted situations.
How adequate do you feel the sex education in your state is???
Do you think there should be and amendments to how or what schools teach their students???
~Nikki Walton
The school I went to definitely didn't do a good job on proper sex education. We only had health for a semester freshman year of high school, where they just talked about STI's, HIV, and AIDS. We never actually talked about sex, sexual health, or anything to do with it. We were all kind of left to just figure it out for ourselves, we didn't even really learn much about pregnancy prevention.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue is that we are all teaching abstinence and it is clearly not enough or working. We all seem to feel pretty much the same, we were not properly educated. I thought it was good how in Europe they treat teens like adults they know and expect teens to have sex to they educate them and make sure they are prepared and know what to expect. I really do think we should teach safe sex in our health classes expecting us to all to have it having already had it. I also think that it should be taught to us in about 7th grade.
-Erin Richeson
Coming from a school in south east missouri I can say that I didnt necessarily have a great sex ed program but it wasnt bad either. the reason for this can be attributed to the fact that the teachers that we had were younger and more open to let us ask questions. there needs to be changes made to the system because even though the mechanics of sex were discussed the emotions and consequences are not discussed. another problem is that the lgbtq is ignored or bad mouthed. if changes are to be made they need to be made instantly and not gradually. teachers should be trained to deal with these topic and should be taught to deal with all questions and concerns, as well as to leave their own personal biases aside
ReplyDelete-Ana Gutierrez
I completely agree with you, Nikki. My high school did not teach about all aspects of sex either. Rather than educating us about sex, they almost tried to scare us so we wouldn't have sex by showing us horrific pictures and videos. I think these type of classes are perfectly portrayed in the movie "Mean Girls." Although the movie is a comedy and is definitely an exaggeration of high school life they are taught that "if you have sex you will get pregnant... and die!" This does provide humor about the subject or sex education, but in a way this type of teaching method is true. The teachers that taught sex education in my high school definitely frowned upon being sexually active and made it seem like horrible consequences would automatically follow the decision to have sex. I feel that states should allow their schools to teach about safe sex as well as the possible consequences. Students should feel it is okay to ask questions and not be judged by their curiosity. By becoming educated, students may take more precaution when it comes to having sex, which may reduce the number of teen pregnancy and the high number of STD and HIV cases.
ReplyDelete-Alex Antoniou
I completely agree. They need to tell students everything there is to no about sex, because by telling them not to have sex is not going to stop them. The truth is that teenagers are having sex, and instead of them trying to act like its not happening; people should prepare them for their sexual experience by informing them about the emotions that come along with having sex, about the different types of birth control, the risk of STI, etc. The more informed a person is the safer their sexual experience will be. I have went to school in Missouri all my life and only learned about sex twice. Once was in fifth grade and we watched a movie, and the other time was in high school in my health class which was taught by my gym teacher. However, my mother did do a good job of talking to me about sex. So I think it is the schools and parents job to inform their children/students about sex, because whether they want to believe it or not teenagers are having sex.
ReplyDeletebrittaney Vaughn