sex education argument essay

Peter DeWitt's

Finding common ground.

A former K-5 public school principal turned author, presenter, and leadership coach, Peter DeWitt provides insights and advice for education leaders. Former superintendent Michael Nelson is a frequent contributor. Read more from this blog .

Should Sex Education Be Taught in Schools?

Thinking about sex education conjures up all of those uncomfortable moments as an adolescent when we had to sit at our desks and listen to our health teachers talk about things that we joked about with friends but never wanted to have a conversation about with adults. But things have changed a lot since then.

There has been an increase in the number of LGBT students who have come out while in high school, or sometimes, even middle school. We are surrounded images that inspire conversations about sex education and other images created by fashion that offer so much skin that there is nothing left to the imagination.

AVERT defines Sex Education as

the process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy. Sex education is also about developing young people’s skills so that they make informed choices about their behaviour, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices.

First and foremost, there is a debate between the use of sexual education programs, where they openly teach about sex and prevention, and abstinence-only programs, which Advocates for Youth say,

“has as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;
teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard for all school-age children;
teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;
teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of sexual activity;
teaches that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical side effects;
teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child’s parents, and society;
teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increase vulnerability to sexual advances, and
teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity.”

Advocates for Youth also believe,

Accurate, balanced sex education - including information about contraception and condoms - is a basic human right of youth. Such education helps young people to reduce their risk of potentially negative outcomes, such as unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Such education can also help youth to enhance the quality of their relationships and to develop decision-making skills that will prove invaluable over life. This basic human right is also a core public health principle that receives strong endorsement from mainstream medical associations, public health and educational organizations, and - most important - parents.

But is it the job of teachers in schools to educate students about sex or is it the job of the parents? According to the National Conference of State Legislatures ,

All states are somehow involved in sex education for public schoolchildren. As of Jan. 1, 2015: 22 states and the District of Columbia require public schools teach sex education (20 of which mandate sex education and HIV education). 33 states and the District of Columbia require students receive instruction about HIV/AIDS. 19 states require that if provided, sex education must be medically, factually or technically accurate. State definitions of “medically accurate” vary, from requiring that the department of health review curriculum for accuracy, to mandating that curriculum be based on information from “published authorities upon which medical professionals rely.” Many states define parents’ rights concerning sexual education: 37 states and the District of Columbia require school districts to allow parental involvement in sexual education programs. Three states require parental consent before a child can receive instruction. 35 states and the District of Columbia allow parents to opt-out on behalf of their children.

Of course, if it’s taught in schools, how properly are the students being educated? This debate between whether it’s the school’s job or a parent’s job will last for a very long time, and quite frankly it is an area that many parents and teachers may agree. There are parents who do not want their children to be taught sex education in schools, just as there are some teachers who don’t think it is their job to teach it.

On the other side are parents and teachers who agree it should be taught in schools and at home because it is a topic that we all cannot escape. And I’m sure there are a bunch of people in the middle who do not even want to discuss the topic at all and just hope for the best.

The NPR story, called “Beyond The Birds And The Bees: Surviving Sex Ed Today” ( which can be heard here ) inspired me to think about all of the places that the topic of sex comes up in conversation. Sometimes it’s through jokes on television or social media, other times it’s in stories on the news, and most times it’s the center of the conversation on the back of a school bus. Whether it makes us uncomfortable or not, we can’t seem to escape the topic.

In the NPR story, Lena Solow, a teacher of ten years,

Covers the topics you’d expect: how to prevent STDs, pregnancy. But Solow talks about way more than going all the way. “One of my biggest goals as a sex educator is to be sex-positive,” she explains, “to talk about pleasure and to talk about sex not just as something that just makes babies.”

Listening to the story made me blush a little as I drove alone in my car through Massachusetts, and made me laugh a bit when Solow said that when she was a student her sex education class was taught by the physical education teacher and revolved around spelling tests.

Yes, spelling tests. She said,

“I definitely had spelling tests as a big part of my sex-ed when I was in middle school: ‘Spell gonorrhea. Spell gonococcus. Now you pass or don’t pass health.’ Literally, that was what was prioritized.”

She wants her students to have a much more knowledgeable experience, and she also explores topics that are unfortunately still controversial in today’s schools, which is the topic of LGBT students. In the NPR story, Garsd writes,

“Beyond the basics, Solow is delving into topics that many teachers would skirt. Things like tolerance. Solow recently asked her students if they thought LGBT people would feel comfortable at the school. A lot of the kids say they didn’t think so.”

It’s definitely a complicated debate, which will last for a very long time. What are your thoughts?

The opinions expressed in Peter DeWitt’s Finding Common Ground are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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Sex Education in America: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

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The debate over the best way to teach sexual health in the U.S. continues to rage on, but student voice is often left out of the conversation when schools are deciding on what to teach. So Myles and PBS NewsHour Student Reporters from Oakland Military Institute investigate the pros and cons of the various approaches to sex ed and talk to students to find out how they feel about their sexual health education.

TEACHERS: Guide your students to practice civil discourse about current topics and get practice writing CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) responses. Explore lesson supports.

What is comprehensive sex education?

Comprehensive sex education teaches that not having sex is the best way to avoid STIs and unintended pregnancies, but it also includes medically accurate information about STI prevention, reproductive health, as well as discussions about healthy relationships, consent, gender identity, LGBTQ issues and more. What is sexual risk avoidance education? Sexual risk avoidance education is also known as abstinence only or abstinence-leaning education. It generally teaches that not having sex is the only morally acceptable, safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy and STIs — some programs don’t talk about birth control or condoms– unless it is to emphasize failure rates.

What are the main arguments for comprehensive sex education?

“Comprehensive sex ed” is based on the idea that public health improves when students have a right to learn about their sexuality and to make responsible decisions about it. Research shows it works to reduce teen pregnancies, delay when teens become sexually active and reduce the number of sexual partners teens have.

What are the main arguments against comprehensive sex education?

Some people, particularly parents and religious groups, take issue with comprehensive sex ed because they believe it goes against their cultural or religious values, and think that it can have a corrupting influence on kids. They say that by providing teens with this kind of information you are endorsing and encouraging sex and risk taking. Some opponents also argue that this type of information should be left up to parents to teach their kids about and shouldn’t be taught in schools.

State Laws and Policies Across the US (SIECUS)

STDs Adolescents and Young Adults (CDC)

Myths and Facts about Comprehensive Sex Education (Advocates for Youth)

Abstinence-Only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy (Journal of Adolescent Health)

Abstinence-Only-Until Marriage: An Updated Review of US Policies and Programs and Their Impact (Journal of Adolescent Health)

Sexual Risk Avoidance Education: What you need to know (ASCEND)

We partnered with PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs for this episode. Check out their journalism resources for students: https://studentreportinglabs.org/

To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy.

Home — Essay Samples — Education — Sex Education — Persuasive Essay: Should Schools Teach Sexual Education

Persuasive Essay: Should Schools Teach Sexual Education

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Published: Aug 1, 2024

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SEX EDUCATION ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

Sex education should be included in schools or the education system by the government's department of education. Sex education teaches and gives us factual and more information on human sexuality, gender identity, human anatomy, and such. Hence, the unfavorable and harmful consequences of a lack of sex education knowledge will be reduced and prevented.

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SHAPE America, 2021

SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators supports age- and developmentally appropriate sex education as a critical component for all K-12 students in the United States. Standards-based sex education should be skills-based and comprehensive in scope. It should use accurate information and be responsive and affirming to the culture, identities, and lived experiences of students, families, and the community

Many administrators have been greatly warned, if sex education is relevant as a course to be taught in schools who to handle it , the effect it has on the society, the pupils/students and if the introduction of the course will make pupils/students become juvenile delinquent in the society. In recent time, it has been discovered that most of our schools problems will be possibly removed with the inclusion of sex education in the primary /secondary school curriculum since the school, as an institution is supported to guide the pupils/students by given them the knowledge about sex matters. According to Fakunle (1986), he defined sex education as a process of making the individual develop a positive and wholesome attitude towards sex. It is also a process that will enable the individual to enjoy his or her life fully developing into a responsible member of the society to which he or she belongs for the child to develop as positive and wholesome attitude towards sex. There is the need for a thorough explanation of how their bodies work and how to protect them from immoral people.

Sex is a very sensitive and personal topic. Public discussions on sexual matters is considered as a shameful experience, especially in India. Most of us do not talk openly about the topic in front of our elders; while some of the others, don't even know about the whole concept of the sexual intercourse. Talking about sex is becoming more normalized because of the technological interventions and also because more people are becoming aware of it. Sex Education have actually paid a very important role behind it. The real purpose behind sex education is the transfiguration of a male child into their manhood and female child into their womanhood. Sex education provides knowledge on physical, social, moral, behavioral and psychological changes and developments during puberty. It teaches the adolescents about their roles, responsibilities and attitudes in family and society. Due to increasing incidents of sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, sexual crimes and teenage pregnancies, t...

It is a discussion on the need to retain the teaching of sex education in Nigerian schools for many reasons which are elaborated in the presentation. It is also a reaction to the directive made by the Minister of Education for the banning of sex education in schools which is regarded to be retrogressive.

International journal of adolescent medicine and health

Information regarding pubertal development, sex, pregnancy, and contraception should be provided to children and adolescents in an age-appropriate manner from parents, health care providers, and schools. This article reviews the medical literature on school sex education programs, adolescents' perception of these programs, and the role played by the media, parents, and health care professionals in sexual education of teens.

IntechOpen eBooks, 2023

Indian journal of medical ethics

One of the most controversial issues that the Indian society is facing over last few decades is the question of “Sex Education”. Huge controversies have been seen between those who advocate it and those who oppose it. Recently, the controversy regained a momentum when the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, “the so-called sex education should be banned in schools.” After huge criticisms from parents, academicians and common citizens on social media forced the Health Minister to give a clarification of his comment and he clarified that he was only against the vulgarization of the sex education as a subject.

Prezados alunos, iremos iniciar o aprendizado estudando acerca da historia de uma das artes culinariasmais antigas, a panificacao. Compreendendo o processo de desenvolvimento dos produtos panificaveis e ocenario comercial das empresas de panificacao que o nosso pais vivencia atualmente.O pao sustenta um dos seis maiores segmentos industrial do Brasil, respondendo por 10% dos alimentosconsumidos no pais. Em 2006, a Associacao Brasileira de Industria de Panificacao e Confeitaria (ABIP) estimouque o setor panificacao alcancou um faturamento de R$ 30 bilhoes. Em 2008 segundo pesquisa realizadapelo Programa de Apoio a Panificacao – PROPAN, o setor cresceu 11% e foram divulgados dados indicativosde faturamento de R$ 43,98 bilhoes, contra R$ 39,61 bilhoes em 2007.

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