Sex Education in High School
It is painful but in a pleasant way. If you are shy the veil of darkness will do. It is enjoyed yet it is embarrassing. I feel too embarrassed to call it by its name and so I choose to call a spade a big spoon. It is viewed differently across the world’s cultures. Some cultures reserve it for marriage. It is considered a taboo to be spoken about; people are left to discover it for themselves and learn through their own experience. But why are people so afraid talk about it, leave alone teach it? Why are schools too shy to incorporate education about it into their curriculum?
Since nowadays almost everything is taught in schools, is there a good reason why sex education should or should not be introduced in schools? I am inclined on the side that the introduction of sex education in schools could be a very beneficial thing to do to both students and the society as a whole. There are several reasons, which I intend to detail, on the basis of which I have chosen to take this stand. Sex education should be introduced in schools. I intend to convince so, for those who do not fully agree with the idea, by arguing that the absence of sex education is harmful. In this argument, sex education encompasses sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, transgenderism, and sex in relation to cultural practices.
People recognize the importance of health and social welfare. Yet some people fail to recognize that sexual health is a key component of both personal health and social welfare. There are sexual health complications that result from sexual activities. These health combinations can be avoided if sex was taught. Most people are always quick to point out irresponsible sexual behavior among young people as the cause of sexual health complications. They do not remember that what they are referring to as irresponsible is actually their failure to advocate for sex education in schools. If it were introduced, many of these complications would be avoided.
Recently, there have been recorded many instances of early sexual practices among the youth. These irresponsible sexual practices occur more among the younger generations than the older ones. It is conjectured that with the proliferation of the internet and the availability on internet accessing devices, more and more of the younger generation can access internet pornography material (Lutomia and Sikolia 43). Most of adult entertainment materials are freely unavailable and they are not censored in most countries, which mean that the younger people can easily access them. Male students usually seek to practice what they watch in these movies. That result is irresponsible sex. Furthermore, they get disappointed when they discover that they can’t perform like the men they saw and hence feel inadequate and incapable. Having practiced irresponsible sex, they end up being stressed and depressed, affecting other more important areas of their lives. Unless they are educated about, there is no way they are going to learn that porn is scripted and acted like other movies.
A result of irresponsible sex is early pregnancy in girls. Male youth are driven by porn while girls want relationships and male company. There is never use of protection and contraceptive either due to inability to buy them or due to lack of education about their use. Usually the girls bear children they cannot financially take care of, or end up committing abortion, which may result in complications in their reproductive systems.
Besides early and unwanted pregnancy, another result of irresponsible sex is the transmission of sexual diseases like HIV. Students need to be educated about these diseases in order for them to sexually more responsible. In the absence of sex education, the diseases will continue to spread among students.
Sex education entails teaching about sex and sexuality. It comprises both straight and homosexual sex. Homosexual people face a lot of discrimination from others. In the case of adults, at least they are mature enough to contain or accommodate other people’s contempt against their orientation. The case is different for young people and especially in school. Young homosexual students usually have to spend their academic life hiding their identity. They do this in fear of discrimination from other students. Many people don’t understand homosexuality. In fact, only people who are homosexual have a complete idea of what it feels to be of that particular sexual orientation. It is due to this lack of understanding that students in high school discriminate against students of homosexual orientation if they find out. In most cases these students have ended up being distressed and in some cases they have ended committing suicide. If sex education is introduced in schools, other students will understand homosexuality and learn to relate when with the other students, making life easier for them.
Another common problem that arises from the lack of sex education is people’s perception of transgender people. Transgender people are people who experience and have strong preferences for the roles that are usually played by or associate with member of the sex opposite to theirs (Hines and Sanger 215). A common example with transgender people is cross dressing. Transgender people face discrimination in the same way that people of same sex orientation do. The discrimination is a consequence of lack of sex education in schools. Transgender students exist. Other students discriminate against them. These kinds of discrimination can lead to physical mental and even psychological suffering. The transgender people end up being depressed, their academics is affected and they even lose hope and direction in life. In some instances these students end up taking extreme measures, sometimes even suicide. If sex education is introduced in schools, the concepts of transgenderism and homosexuality would be understood by other students. In that case there will be less discrimination. Educating students about this concepts is not just for the students themselves, it is for the future generations. When the students grow older, they will form a society that is more tolerance and understanding to other human beings. In that case life would be good for everyone.
There are different cultures across the world that have cultural practices sex and sexuality. One common practice among cultures is circumcision. Circumcision is not a practice exclusive to religions like Islam and Judaism; it has been practiced for a very long time by communities around the world even before they were introduced to religion. Most of these communities continue with the practice to date. While is it recommended nowadays that people be circumcised in hospitals where there are medical conditions that prevent infections that may result from the process, some communities still continue to do it as they have always done in traditionally. The reason is that either it is expensive to afford to do it medically, or they see the use of hospitals as a betrayal of their cultures. Female circumcision is not allowed so hospitals don’t do it. Some communities which have refused to abandon the practice continue to do it traditionally. When done traditionally, the procedures never take into consideration the possibility of passing on infections from one person to another by using the same knife. Another cultural practice that associates with sex is found in a Sambu culture that live in Papua, New Guinea. The culture allows younger men to sleep with older men. This culture of committing homosexual acts with older men is in the Sambu culture is thought to make the younger men harness the strength and masculinity of the older men (Permissiveness 4). Many people respect their cultures and other people’s cultures. It should also be recognized that certain cultural practices are harmful to sexual health. The communities that practice these cultures are possibly not aware of the risks. Sex education is needed if these cultures are to be made aware that if the cultures cannot be abandoned, at least measures should be taken to make sure that they are conducted safely. The education may not be accessible to the old members of these communities who conduct the practices. But educating the younger generation, the information can reach those communities.
In my argument, I have provided the consequences of the lack for sex education. It is evident the repercussions far outweigh the rejection of sex education. Irresponsible sex will lead to early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Lack of understanding of homosexuality and transgenderism will cause discrimination against homosexual and transgender people, and hence cause them mental and physical suffering. Observance of sexually related culture can cause transmission of diseases if education is not passed on. There is no reason why education should not be introduced into schools.
Works Cited
Permissiveness, I. Sexual. “76. Martel, LD, Hawk, S., & Hatfield, E.(2004.) Sexual behavior and
culture. In Charles Spielberger (Ed.) Encyclopedia of applied psychology, 3, London:
Elsevier.”
Lutomia, George, and Laban Sikolia. Handling Problems Facing Youth in Learning Institutions.
Nairobi: Uzima, 2006. Print.
Hines, Sally, and Tam Sanger. Transgender Identities: Towards a Social Analysis of Gender
Diversity. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.