The Best Sexual Education

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the controversial issue of sex education. It reviews and explains the idea of abstinence-plus sex education and then reviews the issues surrounding this idea. The paper argues that abstinence-plus sex education is a better form of sexual education than abstinence-only sex education.

From the Paper:

"According to the UCSF, there are more than a million teenagers becoming pregnant each year, and teenagers have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases of any age group, with 1 and 4 young people contracting an STD by the age of 21. According to Chris Collins, who wrote Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education: What are the arguments? What is the evidence?, "Research indicates America is not suffering from lack of knowledge about sex, but an absence of value" (12). Abstinence-plus education advocates would rebut with "values are something mainly taught at home, education is for school, not moral values." Since this is the case, school needs to be the place for students to become educated about sex, and home needs to be the place they are discouraged from doing so, if that is the view of the family. Both abstinence-only and abstinence-plus views feel that teens need to be taught something about sex in school, partly due to the lack of education in the home. Governmental funding is primarily going to abstinence-only education because of the President's backing, and pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted disease rates are not declining at a level that indicates any change due to abstinence-only education. Therefore, there needs to be another idea."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aids Action Council. "Policy Facts: Abstinence Education and HIV/AIDS". August(2001). 16 April 2005<http://www.thebody.com/aac/brochures/abstinence.html>.
• Brennan, Alysha. "Abstinence shafted." Temple News 4 March (2004). 3 February 2005<http://www.temple-news.com/global_user_elements/printpage.cfm?storyid=626536>.
• CDC. 2003. 2 February, 2005. <http://www.cdc.org>.
• CNN.com. Gordon, Glenn, Michael. 23 February, 2000. Healtheon/WebMD. 3 February,2005 <http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/02/23/abstinence.only.wmd/>.
• Collins, Chris M.P.P., et al. Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education: What are the arguments? What is the evidence?. Policy Monograph Series, 2002.

More papers on The Best Sexual Education:

• Analytical Essay # 61879 : "Sexual Education"
• Essay # 34997 : "Sexual Harassment in High Schools"
• Persuasive Essay # 114768 : "The Problem with Abstinence-only Sex Education"

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