Sex education in public schools

Should Sex Education be Taught in Public Schools?
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Should Sex Education be Taught in Public Schools?
Introduction
Sex education involves the teaching and learning of diverse topics surrounding the issue of sexuality. Sex education is mainly taught to young people experiencing changes in their bodies and becoming sexually active (Ponzetti, 2015). This type of education may be taught by parents, community, or schools where young people may occasionally encounter others of the opposite sex. There has been an increased dilemma on whether sex education should be taught in public schools, with proponents and opponents posing valid points to support their opinions. This paper will delve into some of the strong reasons proposed by each side to provide a clear picture of sex education issues in public schools.
First argument
Sex education should be taught in public schools to enable teenagers to know safer options when it comes to their sexual decisions in an environment where they can freely interact with their peers (Zimmerman, 2016). The most common idea in recent times involved promoting abstinence as a key driver to prevent young people from engaging in sexual activity. However, abstinence cannot work in the changing environments that young learners find themselves in, especially with the transforming technological space involving the internet. More teenagers and young adults are continually engaging in sexual activities at a young age, hence changes are required to ensure that they can make better decisions when encountering these situations (Ponzetti, 2015). Therefore, the promotion of safer sex options would have a better chance of teaching the correct values while ensuring that the learners get knowledge on how to protect themselves.
Defense for First Argument
Nowadays, teaching young children not to have sex may not work since most are engaging in it at younger ages. The internet, including social media, has enabled young people to access materials such as pornography that can further entice them to engage in sexual activity. With such advances, it becomes extremely difficult to propose abstinence as the solution to the evolving problem (Ponzetti, 2015). Consequently, by advocating for safer sex, young people can learn about the different methods to protect themselves from the results of unprotected sex.
Advocating for condoms during sex ensures that learners can understand the real consequences of unprotected sex at a young age. Issues of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis must be included to remind them of the importance of safer sex practices. HIV/AIDS also comes into play since it is sexually transmitted, thus can teach the learners about the real risk of catching the virus through unsafe sex (Ponzetti, 2015). Furthermore, the risk of pregnancy should also be adequately presented to ensure that learners can also learn about such eventualities. By understanding theses consequences, the learners can be better prepared to make the ultimate decision of whether to engage in sex or not when tempted. Therefore, the only way to protect young children requires laying down all the facts involving unsafe sex while pr...