Sex Education in Schools

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SEX EDUCATION SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS It is widely accepted that young people have a right to sex education. This is because it is a means by which they are helped to protect themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and AIDS. I have come to the belief that legally/legislatively, sex education helps to meet young people’s rights to information about matters that affect them, their right to have their needs met and to help them enjoy their sexuality and the relationships that they form. Going down memory lane I see that sex education has been a target of right-wing groups since the 1960s, when the John Birch Society and other ultraconservative organizations charged that such programs were "smut," "immoral" and "a filthy communist plot." The goal of these groups was to eliminate all sex education in schools, and they clearly had an impact: By the early 1970s, legislatures in 20 states had voted to restrict or abolish sexuality education. ."(Haffner and DeMauro;1991). By the end of the decade, only three states (Kentucky, Maryland and New Jersey) and the District of Columbia required schools to provide sex education. (Kenny AM and Alexander;1980 ) " By the mid-1980s, widespread recognition that AIDS can be transmitted through sexual intercourse made it politically untenable to argue that sexuality education should not be taught in the schools, especially after Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called for sex education in schools beginning as early as the third grade. “There is now no doubt," Koop wrote in his 1986 report, "that we need sex education in schools and that the lives of our young people depend on our fulfilling our responsibility." (Koop CE; 1986). I agree with this statement by Koop and that sex education should be taught in schools. 1. Haffner DW and deMauro D, Winning the Battle:

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