The Issues, No. 28 - Sex Education

Except for the fact that many parents seem to have a very hard time of providing their children with accurate information about sex, I believe that in a perfect world, sex education should be provided by parents rather than the schools. However, because a whole lot of parents do a lousy job of it, I believe the schools need to provide it only because there are serious health as well as unwanted pregnancy issues involved that affect our society as a whole.

Parents who demonstrate love, affection, and respect for one another in their day to day living can do a great deal to educate their children about healthy and caring relationships. Those same parents can probably be more effective than a non-family teacher in providing education on sex and intimacy just because they are parents who love and care about their children. So, even though I believe the schools should provide sex education, I also believe that parents who are capable should provide it also as reinforcement so their children know they are concerned that their kids are getting the right message.

Beside the fact that many parents don't, can't, or won't do it, the major reason the schools need to provide sex education is to help kids to avoid sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies. It's a natural thing that no matter what parents or the schools teach them, most kids, when they reach puberty, and their hormones are raging, are going to experiment at some point and in some way with sex. If the schools and parents can, at least, educate kids about how to be safe and why they need to be safe, then we may see a decline in STDs and unwanted pregnancies.

The bottom line here is that I believe that sex education needs to remain in the schools. I believe also that "comprehensive" rather than "abstinence-only" sex education should be provided (search the internet for "sex education" and look at WikipediA for explanations). I also believe that those that teach it should be well trained in the subject, thorough in their presentation, able to communicate well with young people, and I believe they should avoid moral issues at all costs. I think if I were a parent of a school age child today, I would want to review what the schools are going to teach my children about sex and then augment and back it up with additional facts as well as my own beliefs and concerns. I think sex education is extremely important for the health of our nation and the well-being of our children.