Sex education should be taught in middle schools to make our children aware and help them with decisions in the future. When children enter middle school many of them are going through adolescent changes. This school district needs to help educate these hormone-raging teens about sex education. Not only will this program teach sex education, it will also give teens the chance to ask questions and receive help if they are in a sexual situation. District #150 makes up about three-quarters the schools in Peoria and if you make room for a sex education program to help your students, many other schools will follow your example.
You can help stop teen sex at an early age with guidance. With a sex education program in your curriculum, you will see success in the students lives and notice a change in attitude toward the opposite sex. As you walk down the middle school hallways, you see more young teenage girls that are pregnant. Many of these girls knew the chances of getting pregnant without using a condom, but really they didnt care.
According to Faye Wattleton, the staggering rates and devastating consequences of teen pregnancy in America are well document (Wattleton 51). It seems clear that many of the girls are unaware of the results of having unprotected sexual intercourse. These girls and even young men should be given the opportunity to learn about the outcomes of sex. When a teenage girl is making out with her boyfriend and things start to grow intense, most just go along with sex because they think nothing will happen. With this program you can help decrease more than 1,000,000 US teenagers becoming pregnant each year, intentionally(Donavon 28). Helping find the answer to a problem is a start, but solving the task takes time.
Pregnancy is a major effect when young teens have unprotected sex but diseases also are being transferred between parties. With the HIV/AIDS virus and STDs like Gonorrhea, spreading throughout the state, District #150 middle schools should be aware of the symptoms. When I was in middle school we had a very small discussion on sex education. Truthfully, I remember very little because the program was very brief When I entered high school we had a little better explanation about diseases but I was still clueless. Maybe if we taught these middle school students the effects and showed the pictures of affected people, they might actually consider using protection.
Debra Haffner states, 95% of adults want HIV/AIDS education to their children (Haffner 54). I talked to a teacher, Candace Walrath, at Broadmoor Junior High, and she has her students do an STD activity. Two students, male and female, are given a half glass of water. Each student pours their half into the partners cup and vice versa, sharing body fluids, just like unprotected sexual intercourse (Walrath).
Then the student break up and performs the experiment with a different partner. The more information you teach about the diseases caused by unprotected sex, the more teens will think before having unprotected sex. Diseases can change the minds of young teenagers but there are many different types of protection they should be aware of so there is an option if sexual intercourse happens. I know my high school health teacher told me about condoms and birth control but most teens are scared to ask about these contraceptives.
Young teens think that if they ask about condoms or birth control, questions about having sex will come to the adult’s mind. At Planned Parenthood free condoms are given to sexually active teens and even birth control methods. Places like this are good for these teens because confidentiality is a must with sexual active teenagers. (YM, Love). Your school can help by making the students aware of these places. Even if your program shows a teem how to use a condom, telling them places to get them will lead to a higher use of protection.
A YM survey states that 41% of teens don’t know why they didn’t use protection (YM Love). Students need to know their options so they can use protection. Teach these students that if they do decide to have sex, there are ways to prevent diseases and pregnancy but where is the respect in a sexual.
