Agree to Disagree

         With the topic of sex education, many people share different views on the subject. Should schools teach it or should parents take on the responsibility of talking to their kids? While several others would agree with me that clearly as a result of today’s statistics parents are not taking the initiative to talk to their children about sex or even pregnancy prevention. Schools such as Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas who have a higher pregnancy rate, “do not require sex education at all, and if it is taught, schools are required to stress abstinence,” (Leber). 

*This picture shows the pregnancy rates all over the US and the states such as Arizona, Texas, Nevada, and Arkansas have the most teen pregnancy.

However more and more parents want to teach their children about sex. They feel as though it is their duty as a parent to teach them about the consequences of sex and sex itself. I can understand these parents, because my mother was one of them. A survey at babychild.org.uk questioned 1, 700 parents of children whose ages ranged from 5-11 and as a result 59% of the parents said they believe that sex education should not be taught in schools. And about one out of four parents said that the topic of ‘sex’ should not be taught until the age of about thirteen. I realize why parents want to teach their own children for two reasons: the children may feel more comfortable at a home setting and discussing the topic and the other because they are more likely to pay attention when it is one-on-one with a parent. However as the rate of parents wanting to teach their children about sex increases so does the pregnancy rate. In America alone, 34% of teenagers have at least one child before the age of 20. According to this one website, “The United State spends $7 billion each year due to the costs of teen pregnancy,” (Teenhelp). So wouldn’t it make sense that to reduce the spending costs on teen pregnancy we should include sex education?          

I do think parents should be able to teach their children about sex, and they can. They don’t have to hear it once. The parents can discuss with their children about what they learned in sex education and compare it with what the parents have to tell them. The more times they here about sex and its consequences the less likely they will have sex and or the more likely they will use protection.

Works Cited:

Leber, Rebecca, and Adam Peck. "States With The Highest Teen

       Pregnancy Rates Lack Adequate Sex Ed Requirements."

       ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

       <http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/01/1640851/states-

       teen-pregnancy-rates/>.

"Sex Education Should Not Be Taught in Schools." Sex Education

     Should Not Be Taught in Schools. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.

     <http://www.teachingtimes.com/news/sex-education-    

     schools.htm>.

"Teen Pregnancy Statistics - Teen Pregnancy." Teen Pregnancy Statistics - Teen Pregnancy. N.p., n.d.   

     Web. 13 Apr. 2013. <http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-pregnancy/teen-pregnancy-statistics.html>.

Parental Guidence

                 Teen Pregnancy is definitely not preventable and so we need to take action on how we educate our young teen mothers and prepare them for the future. A psychology class from UCLA took a new approach to teen pregnancy. They formed six different approaches.

1)     Reduce Adult Discomfort with their own

2)     Develop a Family Approach to Teenage Pregnancy Prevention and Promote Healthy Sexuality

3)     Promote Caring, Consistent Adult Involvement for Every Child

4)     Build Healthy Communities Through Sound Economic and Social Development

5)     Promote Media Responsibility and Counteract Negative Media Images

6)     Reaffirm the importance of values and involvement of Religious and other organizations.

These different outlooks on teen pregnancy, in my opinion, are what every person and teen parent should have.

           Overall I think the reason why more and more teens are getting pregnant is because the parents are not there anymore. Parents are afraid to talk to their teens about sex because that concept of their children being sexually active scares them.  My mother told me that that the years leading up to her pregnancy with me, there was no talk on sexual education. Partly because we are Catholic and Catholics believe that sex should be after marriage but not all follow this rule.

As a growing community we need to “Help parents become more comfortable with their own sexuality and better able to communicate with their children about difficult issues,” (UCLA).This quote reinstates my point made earlier. Parents need to become more comfortable with their sex lives and stop quivering at the word ‘sex’. It is a way of life, and there is nothing we can do about it. By the parents becoming more aware with their sex lives, then they can take baby steps on asking about their children’s sex lives. This article also states that they need to “Raise community awareness that research is clear that there is no correlation between sexuality education and increased rates of intercourse,” (UCLA). I find this quote very interesting because according to my other posts I believed that there was some sort of affiliation between the  two but according to research theirs isn't and I can see why now. Just like parents can tell children what they can and cannot do, but they still don’t follow the rules, teenagers when it comes to sex is the same way.

                                                             Cited:

"Lessons Learned, New Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention." Lessons Learned, New Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.

Contraceptives Are OK.

      Over one million teen females get pregnant each year within the United States. Of those one million, "500,000 give birth. Seven out of 10 teens will be sexually active by the time they graduate from high school. Only half will have used protection their first time," (GIC). This, again, is why sex education is important in the classroom. Not only is sex ed important but also the way the parents raise their children and what type of environment they grow up in. Especially in today's society with Teen Mom and 16 And Pregnant, Secret Life of the American Teenager etc. more and more teenagers are following in their footsteps. During the 1950s, teens were less sexually active than they are now, "but because of the lack of birth control options and legal abortions, the birth rate approximated what it is today," (GIC). Contraceptives are a big topic of debate, but if we are trying to reduce the amount of pregnancies than shouldn't there be more ways for teenagers to use contraceptives to prevent them from getting pregnant? All in all there is so much, as a community, we can do to ensure teens stay teens and not have to worry about growing up too fast. 

            There are several religions that do not believe in contraceptives such as Christianity and then there are those religions who believe contraceptives are important to prevent disease and the possibility of pregnancy like Protestants. Prevention of pregnancy by the use of condoms, Birth Control, and even the prevention of disease is possible with contraceptives. If our nation is so concerned with the amount of teen pregnancies, then shouldn’t it be easier to get contraceptives especially those who do not want to tell their parents that they are sexually active due to violent consequences? Each individual is different and therefore each person should be allowed to take medication to prevent teen pregnancies. Although health issues due arise from birth control and other contraceptives, they are easily treatable and not as long lasting as those who have to raise a child. A demographical benefit of contraceptives, is “it enables world population to be controlled and thus protects the environment and reduces poverty,” (

           

            This video from CNN offers another view as to why teen pregnancy needs to be reduced. Dr. Laura Berman reinstates that sex education is not being taught enough in the school system as well as in the home.

                     http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1585168n

Works Cited: 

"Contraception Is Not Wrong." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/contraception/in_favour.shtml>.

WE ALL MUST WORK TOGETHER TO PREVENT TEEN-AGE PREGNANCY.(Editorial)

"WE ALL MUST WORK TOGETHER TO PREVENT TEEN-AGE PREGNANCY." Seattle Post-Intelligencer [Seattle, WA] 29 Feb. 1996: A11. Global Issues In Context. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.