Revolutionizing Education: The Essential Shift to Mandatory Sex Education in Schools and Universities

Introduction

While many educational institutions offer?sex education?courses, the urgency of the issue demands that comprehensive sex education be progressively taught to students throughout their academic careers. Despite being a personal and controversial subject, it is crucial that students understand the fundamentals of sex and sexual interactions. Many students who engage in sex keep their sexual life private, which, despite their risky behavior, does not necessarily mean they understand the concept, future complications, consequences of sexual interactions, and most importantly, unsafe sex.

“A 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)?survey?indicates that nearly 40 percent of all high school students report they have had sex, and 9.7 percent of high school students have had sex with four or more partners during their lifetime. Among students who had sex in the three months before the survey, 54 percent reported condom use, and 30 percent reported using birth control pills, an intrauterine device (IUD), implant, shot, or ring during their last sexual encounter.” NCSL, 2019; Guttmacher Institute, 2019; Powered by StateNet

This recent study by the CDC shows that teenagers, predominantly high-schoolers, are sexually active.?Though they “reported” they used protection of some sort, what about the ones who did not? As for the students who did, do they know how to use protection and the different types of protection??Yes, students can have protection, but if the protection is improperly used or misused, it is as if they did not use protection at all. To add, if students are not telling their parents they are sexually active, how else will they educate themselves on sex without having to take a risk at indulging in sex with one or more partners?

Another thing to take into consideration is the age of students. With students being so young and not understanding the consequences of sex until the result is (present), this risky behavior must be taught to students to prevent STIs (sexually transmitted infections), STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), HIV, AIDS, and other sexual diseases. Though some of these infections and diseases are curable and treatable, they can be transmitted by others who have them, whether they know them or not. A few of the diseases that are expressed are also life-threatening. With sex and sexual interactions having so many components and potentially life-threatening complications, schools must add sex education to school curriculums. The three prominent reasons why sex education should be taught in schools are because it can prevent or impede students from contracting sexually transmitted diseases, lower pregnancy rates among teens and young adults, and lastly, teach them how to properly protect and use protection during sexual activity.

Risk of Infections and Diseases

Since most students are not educated on sex, many of them will have unsafe sex, which is when the students misuse or do not use protection when they are having sex or sexual interaction, to be specific. With this, the odds of students transmitting or contracting an infection, disease, and or life-threatening illness are high. In addition to this, students could have contracted a sexually transmitted disease and do not even know they have it or the signs they have contracted one general. Putting students at higher risk of pregnancy, illness, and lifelong complications, as I stated before. It is unsuitable for the students, their academic careers, and their future.

“Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) disproportionately affect adolescents due to a variety of behavioral, biological, and cultural reasons. Young people ages 15 to 24 represent 25 percent of the sexually active population but acquire half of all new STIs, or about 10 million new cases a year. Though many cases of STIs continue to go undiagnosed and unreported, one in four sexually active adolescent females is reported to have an STI.” NCSL, 2019; Guttmacher Institute, 2019; Powered by StateNet.

These statistics are appalling to add. With students being miseducated or not educated on sex at all, it leads to a variant of STI, which leads to more complications and burdens of finding cures and treating these new STIs. It also makes sense that there would be new STIs when students contract with them, not treating them, and potentially indulging in risky behavior with a partner who has one as well. Even students who use protection must use protection properly, primarily condoms worn by males. Condoms are protection but must be used and worn correctly throughout the interaction.

If the condom is not used properly, parties involved in the sexual interaction are at risk of pregnancy and contracting a disease sexually. Birth control is also a form of protection used solely by females. However, females have to understand how birth control works and the effects of using or having a specific type of birth control. Although females have birth control, they are still at risk of complications if a condom is not used because of the high risk of contracting something sexually. But, once students know they have contracted something now, they go through a long process of hospital visits, medical bills, and embarrassment, sometimes all for a sensation.

The financial burden of treating people with STIs is staggering, with The estimated direct medical costs nearly?reaching $16 billion?annually. Shockingly, costs associated with HIV infection account for more than 81% of the total cost. In 2017, approximately?21 percent?of new HIV diagnoses were among young people ages 13 to 24 years. These statistics not only highlight the personal and emotional toll of STIs but also the significant economic burden they place on our healthcare system. NCSL, 2019; Guttmacher Institute, 2019; Powered by StateNet.

These statistics can be significantly improved by simply educating students on sex and implementing sex education courses suited for students according to grade level, sex, and age in some cases. There is no reason why thirteen-year-old students should experience contracting and treating an STI. These numbers should serve as a starting point for educational institutions to implement comprehensive sex education courses, offering hope for a future with lower STI rates and healthier students.

Lower Teen Pregnancy Rates.

Many adolescents who have?raw?or unprotected sex potentially have a higher chance of pregnancy or getting someone pregnant. This is now known as “babies having babies,” which is a phrase that means young children are having children. With adolescents being so young and having so much more ahead of them, being in a situation where students will potentially be parents takes away their vision, goals, and plans for the future. In addition, with adolescents not ready to take upon the responsibility of a child, some of them will consider or resort to abortion, suicide, or plan to be absent from the child to get away from the responsibility and hide from the shame. All of which leads to deeper issues for the students, the parents, and the school itself.

“Certain social and economic costs can result from teen pregnancy. Teenage mothers are less likely to finish high school and are more likely than their peers to live in poverty, depend on public assistance, and be in poor health. Their children are more likely to suffer health and cognitive disadvantages, come in contact with the child welfare and correctional systems, live in poverty, drop out of high school, and become teen parents themselves.”

Often, when adolescents have children, they will not finish school, have to take care of their child, and struggle in the process. The child also suffers because the students are not in a position to adequately care for the child, and neither is the parent. The cost of parenting has also gone up in recent years, and the financial burden is always unbearable for those who are not prepared.

“The birth rate for women aged 15–19 years was?18.8 per 1,000 women?in 2017, a drop of 7 percent from 2016. According to the CDC, the reasons for the decline are not entirely clear. Still, evidence points to a higher number of teens abstaining from sexual activity and an increased use of birth control in sexually active teens. Though the teen birth rate has declined to its lowest levels since data collection began, the United States still has the highest teen birth rate in the industrialized world.”

Though teen pregnancy is dropping and more teens (females) are using birth control and being abstinent, the birth rate in the U.S. among teens is still the highest in the United States. Adolescents, more so students in general, should not be having babies at such a young age and being in school. Educational institutions have the ability, tools, and resources for students to be educated on sex and have numerous sex education courses to change the perspective and ideas of students when partaking in risky behaviors.

Works Cited

NCSL, 2019; Guttmacher Institute, 2019; Powered by StateNet

About Teen Pregnancy | CDC