Why is sex education not being taught in Texas schools? That is a question I have been wondering about. Many states are teaching children about sex, but not Texas. Many government officials feel that sex education should not be taught in schools. There is a feeling that by teaching children about sex, we are giving them permission to have sex. Government officials believe that sex is something that should be talked about in the household, not in school. The state complains about teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease but does nothing to prevent it. I do understand that Texas is very conservative state, but this is something the government needs to deal with and soon.
Yes, I do believe sex should be talked about in the household, but realistically it’s not. I believe sex education should be taught to children between 6th and 8th grades. Teaching sex education should be mandatory and be taught in a health class setting by someone in the medical field. We are not giving them permission to have sex, but we are giving them the knowledge and the tools to make better decisions if they do. Giving children the knowledge about sex will allow them to know the consequences of having sex. Telling them not to have sex will not work. They will have sex regardless of our feelings or what we say. Teaching sex education in school could have a state wide affect. It could save the state money. Having a prevention method can lower the amount of people needing treatment for STD’s or lowering the amount of teenage pregnancies in the state of Texas. If we taught sex education in school it would allow children to make responsible decisions. Education is the key and it starts with our government.
2 comments:
I am responding to my colleague's blog post, "Sex Education in Schools" about why sex education is not being taught in Texas schools. Rebekah states that many other states are not teaching children about sex, but Texas is not. It was said that there is a feelings that by teaching kids about sex ed, we are basically giving them permission to have sex. Government officials think that sex education should be taught in the household not at school. Rebekah brought up the great point that the state complains about teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases but they do not do anything to try and prevent it.
She and I have a very similar view on this matter. I believe that sex education should be taught in schools. This article brought me back to the time when I was in middle school and we had to take a sex ed class. The videos and powerpoint slides they show were so nasty that it kind of made you not want to have sex because of the vivid images they would show and learning about all the different diseases you can get. I think that kids most definitely need to be informed about all the consequences of sex.
Parents may think that teaching middle school students about sex is inappropriate because of their age but I actually think that is the best time to teach them. If you think about it, we are hearing more and more about middle school kids getting pregnant. Now this could be just because their parents aren't really caring about their kids enough to talk to them about sex. I think that a parent who doesn't openly discuss the cautions and consequences of sex are not really parents, they need to care a little bit more about their kids.
Now I agree with Rebekah that if we teach students about sex, we are most certainly not giving them permission to have sex. On the other hand, kids are going to do what they want to do, regardless if they are taught. However, I do believe that if you teach them about sex, it will lower the amount of teen pregnancies in Texas. It might not completely stop the rate of pregnancies, but it will greatly decrease it.
On the money issue, I agree with Rebekah. It's like a chain effect; if you teach kids about sex, it will lower the pregnancy rate, which will save Texas money in the long run. The amount of money the state spends on abortion clinics, sexually transmitted disease treatments, etc would in my opinion greatly go down.
If the government wants something done about the teen pregnancy rate, they need to do something about it. They need to bring back sex education in schools so that your children will be able to learn all there is to learn about sex, what you can do to prevent it, and the consequences of having sex. Rebekah did a fantastic job addressing this issue and I wish that the government felt the same way.
In “Sex Education in Schools” fellow classmate Rebekah Tharp brings up the question of why sex education is not being taught in Texas schools. Tharp argues that Texas’s schools need to teach children about sex, more specifically Tharp believes sex education should be taught to children between 6th and 8th grade. She greatly supports her argument by bringing up the fact that the state of Texas constantly complains about the rate of teenage pregnancies yet it fails to do anything about the issue. Tharp provides further support to her argument by acknowledging the reality that although some people believe sex is something that should be taught in one’s household realistically it is not.
I agree that sex education should be taught in a health class by a medical professional, I for one remember being somewhat talked to about sex in my high school Health class by the school’s soccer coach. Now I cannot speak for everyone, but personally I do not believe a coach can be taken seriously when talking about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases and the problems faced by teenage pregnancies. I agree giving children knowledge about sex early on in middle school, not high school, will certainly serve as a way of providing children with the proper tools to make better decisions when it comes to sex. I say middle school because that is around the time when puberty begins to kick in. Unfortunately the reality as Rebekah Tharp stated is that, “Texas is a very conservative state”, therefore I unfortunately do not see Texas making teaching sex education mandatory in schools anytime soon.
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