There has been some discussion in the forums about sex education. It seems that an incident early in February caught the eyes of a reader. Since then she has questioned the opinions of others on the issue.
In previous articles I have discussed sex education. I have talked about how many programs are advocates for safe sex instead of for abstinence. The argument is “if children are going to do it anyway we should at least teach them how to do it safely”.
I agree that a section of sex education should be about safe sex methods. However a class should also teach values, emotional ties, and the special bond that deals with sex.
Another controversy over sex education is if it should even be taught at all. Many believe that it should be discussed at home. However many parents do not address it with their children. Therefore the school systems feel that they must pick the slack.
In the incident that was referred to earlier in this article, a junior high school in Illinois was teaching a sex education curriculum that offered information on abstinence. A couple of the girl students decided to protest the curriculum, which they felt should teach safe sex methods, by wearing special homemade shirts. The shirts had the logo “safe sex or no sex” on them along with attached packages of condoms.
After the students would not change their shirts, they were suspended for two days.
Some believe that the children were expressing their views and should not have been in trouble. However as the superintendent stated, another method of expression would have been much more appropriate.
As our world becomes more and more evolved, issues like these will likely become more and more intense. The age at which children become aware of sexual issues continues to get younger and younger. Sex education and the controversy which surrounds it is not going away anytime soon.
More Sex Education Discussion
Crib Notes for Middle School Students