Sex Education in Schools

Sex Education

The talk. Each parent has their own way of teaching sex education to their child, whether it be "the birds and the bees" or the hardcore facts. Some parents choose to address the topic before it arises during recess at school, others choose to let the child come to them with questions. Either way, parents have the choice of how to go about education their child on such a delicate subject. While some parents might choose to provide their children with knowledge of birth control, maybe even contraceptives, others may choose to tell their child to wait until marriage to have sex.

School systems have a more difficult time with the issue. They have many parents to answer to, and the debate as to what the right way to approach the subject is, is ongoing. Weighing the options and consequences, the answer is obvious. Although, in essence, there is no such thing as perfectly safe premarital sex, abstinence is not the best way to educate high school kids because, in this day and age, premarital sex is inevitable.

No contraceptive is perfect. It is possible for condoms to have holes or defects. They can also break or tear. It is also easy for them to be used incorrectly; making them more ineffective. Birth control pills also have a percentage failing rate, not to mention their side effects are arguably harmful to the female using them. Birth control patches and shots are in the same boat. They aren't one hundred percent perfect. Spermicidal lubricants aren't any better. They are meant to be used with other forms of birth control, not alone. That means they have the largest percentage of failure rate.

There is no question that abstinence is the best way to prevent pregnancy. The problem with it, is that it is unrealistic. Sadly, more and more high school students are engaging in premarital sex. If schools stick to teaching abstinence, birth control education will be lacking, if not abolished altogether. If students aren't properly educated about methods of birth control, more accidental pregnancies will occur.

Although it obviously depends on the individual, high schoolers nowadays tend to do whatever they want. On some occasions, they do things such as engage in drug use or premarital sex to rebel, or spite their parents or teachers.

In other cases, the individual feels like they are making the right choice. Hopefully,