America needs to improve Its sex education
High teen birth rates are a result of many different issues, one of them being lack of sex education. To prevent unwanted pregnancies, age-appropriate sex education needs to be taught in all states and schools. Yet despite its importance in teaching students about their bodies and how to make healthy choices, sex ed has become part of a larger cultural debate that has drawn fierce scrutiny and opposition. For example, this January when Planned Parenthood hosted a reproductive health workshop as part of an annual “Health & Wellness Day'' at Nightingale School, an all-girls private school in NYC, it drew harsh criticism and faced backlash on social media. Critics claimed that schools are “co-parenting” when it comes to sex ed.
Although the CDC deems comprehensive sex education necessary for teens to stay safe and healthy, currently, only 29 states require sex education, and there is no assurance that the education is thorough and of high quality. For example, of those states that require sex education, only 18 require that it be medically accurate and only 20 states include contraception as part of the curriculum. And unfortunately, the laws regarding sex education are created at a state level, not a federal one, so there is no nationwide mandate that sex education must be taught in every school. This leaves teens in the dark about their sexual health, contraceptives, and the possible consequences of unprotected sex.
Furthermore, administrators have enforced laws regarding sex education to promote conservative values and anti-abortion ideas. In Louisiana and Tennessee, organizations that provide abortions are restricted from teaching sex education in schools. 37 states have laws that require schools and sex educators to stress abstinence, while only 18 states have laws that require educators to teach other methods of birth control. According to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey published by the CDC, 38% of US high school students reported that they had had sexual intercourse but nearly half did not use a condom. While abstinence is the safest choice, it’s not the most realistic. Teens need to be educated and empowered to make informed decisions about their health and safety.
Sources:
https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/sex-education/sex-education-laws-and-state-attacks
https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Results.aspx?LID=NY
https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/sex-and-hiv-education
