In many parts of the world, teachers and parents do not believe that sexual education is an appropriate educational topic for their children and think that it will promote sexual activities deemed dishonorable and unnecessary before marriage. However, studies have shown that educating students about sexual relationships and safe-sex practices have not increased the number of sexual partners they have nor correlated with increased sexual relations in general. According to data collected by the World Bank, through a report from Seeker, European countries such as Italy, Switzerland, and Germany have the lowest teen birth rates, fewer than four teenage pregnancies in every thousand babies born. The United States, however, has over 30 births per thousand babies born. This significant difference is because of the way sex education is conducted in these continents. In the United States, sex education is used to instill fear and apprehension about sexual activities, where their curriculum is full of the dangers of sex such as STDs and pregnancies. According to the 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study (CDC, 2015a), 72% of high schools in the United States required students to receive education on pregnancy prevention, and 83.1% required instruction on STI prevention. Unfortunately, the students are taught that the primary way to prevent the adverse effects of sexual activities is through abstinence. However, in Europe, sex education is taught like any other subject, where they gear the curriculum to teach sex as a regular, healthy, positive act. Every two out of three girls in many countries do not know what is happening to them when they start menstruating. Only 34% of young people in this world can demonstrate accurate knowledge of HIV prevention and transmission. With hormonal and physical changes happening to themselves and their classmates, it is only natural that teenagers begin to wonder the source of their changed feelings towards somebody or why they feel giddy with anticipation when their crush walks across from them. These students soon become victims of hearing and learning about misguided and misinformed sexual activities through some of their classmates or by watching pornographic films and clips. This leads to a perplexed and frustrated group of individuals denied their right to understand and act on their own accord in terms of their sexual activities. According to UNESCO, “programs that promote abstinence as the only option are ineffective in delaying sexual initiation, reducing the frequency of sex, or reducing the number of sexual partners. Programs that combine a focus on delaying sexual activity with other content are effective. Sexuality education has the most impact when school-based programs are complemented with the involvement of parents and teachers, training institutes, and youth-friendly services.” In India, sexual education is either completely unavailable or presented on a PowerPoint for students to write down so that the teacher can quickly move on to the next topic that is less uncomfortable for them. Countries that treat sexual activities as taboos negatively impact their students because they leave them wholly helpless and unprepared. This can also increase the likelihood of sexual harassment and abuse, confused notions about conceiving a child, and the pleasure derived from sex. Given that no form of sexual education has not prevented teenagers and young adults from practicing sex, teaching them safe-sex practices can only help them keep themselves healthy and happy. If anything, sex education helps parents teach their children about morality and explain the different kinds of moral obligations and responsibilities their family holds. This allows students to understand all the options and understand their family beliefs in a calm, positive manner. Students who receive a comprehensive sexual education learn about alternatives to vaginal sex and understand the risks associated with it, which helps them prepare and understand boundaries. According to VeryWellHealth, abstinence-only education sometimes encourages students to abstain from sex without telling them what sex is. In contrast, when comprehensive sex education is taught in schools, it may encourage teens to make more informed decisions before participating in alternative sexual behaviors. Most importantly, since sexual intercourse is expected by society after marriage, guiding and educating students from adolescence helps them understand what they are comfortable with and gain a pleasurable and positive experience. Sources https://www.seeker.com/which-countries-have-the-best-sex-education-1792604688.html https://en.unesco.org/news/why-comprehensive-sexuality-education-important https://www.verywellhealth.com/support-comprehensive-education-schools-3133083 https://www.nasn.org/advocacy/professional-practice-documents/position-statements/ps-sexual-health#:~:text=Evidence%2Dbased%20sexual%20health%20education%20can%20improve%20academic%20success%3B%20prevent,youth%20(Szydlowski%2C%202015b).

You make extremely good points and I agree. I do however think there also needs to be more of an emphasis on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ sex education. I believe this will firstly create a safer environment for those young people who are navigating their sexuality or gender. Secondly, in my opinion there is much more focus on heterosexual sex and relationships meaning those young people who are within the queer community have even less tools to explore themselves.

Some parents don't want their kids exposed to sex education. As far as I'm concerned, they shouldn't even have a say in this. You don't get to deprive your child of fundamental education. In fact, I think students should be able to anonymously get contraceptives from school against their parent's will if they wish to do so.

Considering the great diversity of many different people's, cultures, and their various beliefs in this nation I think sex education should be primarily left to individual families and parents to teach their children rather than having one single world view about sex education (among other subjects) imposed on other people's children in the public schools. I think public schools should stick to teaching more basic subjects and leave the more serious, personal, and what many would consider controversial subjects up to individual parents and families to decide for their own children. I'm against what I see as a trend to turn public schools into left winged social/political indoctrination centers. Religious or secular I don't believe one has the right to impose their personal world views, or politics on other people's children. Public schools are supposed to be neutral and inclusive of everyone in such matters but they are not. Certain world views and cultural celebrations are banned while others are encouraged and promoted.

Why should sex education should not tought in school?