Introduction
Students in the United States suffer from poor sexual education while in their learning institutions. Current schools tend to focus on an “abstinence-only” curriculum that fails to educate teens on how to protect themselves, resulting in increased rates of teen pregnancy and STIs (Leung et al., 2019). Teaching is designed to help comprehend the intricacies of physiology, which is a necessary skill for a healthy and quality sexual life. Full-fledged sex education can be a quality solution to existing issues, and its implementation is necessary for future generations.
Problem Statement
The lack of sexual education mainly causes the issues associated with sexual indulgence among students in the United States. Lack of complete education provokes undesirable pregnancy, disease, and physical and psychological issues, and this crisis needs to be solved. Unfortunately, it is rather challenging to find a school within the United States that bothers to promote sexual education among students. The current curriculum strongly believes that students should solely focus on academic excellence (Kohler et al., 2008). However, these learning institutions intensely fail to account for the strong impact and influence that media platforms have on students. Many students in the United States have been exposed to different media platforms where sexuality is highly advertised.
Various forms of art in the United States, such as music, literature, and movies are designed to make sex seem meaningful to one’s social life. These students often resort to engaging in sexual interactions, not because they want to do so in the first place but because they are subject to peer pressure. To make matters worse, such students tend to become sexually active while they barely understand any of the details of this activity (Rabbitte, 2018). It becomes significantly easy for such students to make complicate their academics.
Solutions to the Present Problem
The first step that will help resolve the issue of sexual illiteracy among students in the United States is ensuring that the current curriculum is revised to become accommodative of the current reality (Kohler et al., 2008). Spreading awareness and establishing transparent communication about proper sexual communication presents various solutions to the current issue of sexual irresponsibility present among students. One of these solutions is abstinence; the current education system assumes that all students should practice abstinence (Thompson, 2020). The other solution that sexual education provides is the understanding of indulging in safe sex. As much as it is better to abstain from sex if one is a student, sometimes one may be compelled to engage in the activity.
Students need to make all requisite measures to ensure that their academic excellence will not be interfered with because of complications that result from unsafe sexual relations. Safe sex is comprehensive because it includes using different contraceptives and undergoing medical screening. The term contraceptives refer to either a device or drug to prevent females from getting pregnant. The safest type of contraceptive is condoms because these do not have any negative repercussions.
Optimal Solution
The best way for students to refrain from irresponsible sexual indulgences is to be educated about the importance of sexual education, specifically about the existing types of contraceptives, and how to use them effectively. Contraceptives are particularly salient because they have helped mitigate the occurrence of sexual intricacies like pregnancy among students (Kohler et al., 2008). Furthermore, contraceptives like condoms have considerably helped to prevent people from contracting sexually transmitted diseases. It is better to accept the concept of practicing safe sex instead of living under the illusion of abstinence, which is relatively complex for students to practice.
Refutations against Possible Objections
Giving students new information on how to engage in safe sex may end up inciting some of them to engage in this particular activity without initial desire. For instance, students may learn about the usefulness of contraceptives and get the false impression that they know enough to begin sexual relations. The use of drugs to mitigate getting pregnant is somewhat intricate, so it is not recommended for students to get used to such remedies. Nevertheless, students should be taught how to use contraceptives to avoid unplanned pregnancies, which have become prevalent.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the best way to resolve the present sexual ignorance among students in the United States is to introduce sexual education classes when students reach adolescents. Nevertheless, the discussion of the problems relating to sexuality should be presented subtly and systematically to ensure that students gradually improve their understanding of sexual relations to place them in a favorable environment that will help prevent avoidable intricacies. Everyone should understand the role of sex education in today’s society and promote it to prevent global consequences.
References
Kohler, P. K., Manhart, L. E., & Lafferty, W. E. (2008). Abstinence-Only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4), 344–351. Web.
Leung, H., Shek, D. T. L., Leung, E., & Shek, E. Y. W. (2019). Development of Contextually-relevant Sexuality Education: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review of Adolescent Sexuality Education Across Cultures. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(4), 621. Web.
Rabbitte, M. (2018). The Role of Policy on Sexual Health Education in Schools: Review—Maureen Rabbitte, Maithe Enriquez, 2019. Web.
Thompson, C. T. (2020). Tiffani Kocsis: Critical Analysis of Sexuality Education in the United States: Toward an Inclusive Curriculum for Social Justice.