Sex Education

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with parental permission. However, critics have taken direct aim at parental opt-outs. Writing for The Daily Dot, S.E. Smith argues that a parent opting a child out of sex education is “an action that is functionally equivalent to vaccine refusal,” given the rate of diseases among teenagers and young adults. Just as parents who don’t vaccinate their children compromise immunity. Smith says that “parents who opt out of sexual education are also creating public health risks and that there should be mandatory comprehensive sexual education.” Yes, parents have the right to pass values about the birds and the bees onto their kids. If part of your family value system is waiting until marriage for sex that is your responsibility to teach those morals, but schools should still be able to teach programs that prepare everyone to live healthy lives by making smart decisions. They may choose to practice abstinence with guidance from home and church but can also be given them facts that will help keep them safe when it comes to contraception and protection should they choose to do so. The debate over parental opt-outs only concerns a small number of current students. There is no comprehensive data available that shows how many parents take advantage of U.S. opt-out laws but, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, "the average is under five percent in the few school districts that have reported on the subject. Most schools with opt out policies report that very few families actually choose to use them.”

Sex education should definitely be taught in schools. There are too many instances where parents who do not explain to their children what sexual intercourse is or about how their body will go through changes with hormones and puberty. Being young and curious, kids will turn to the Internet. What they find could not only be untruthful, but most likely inappropriate. The point of learning this through a school setting should be to teach kids about the changes they may be going through, the risks involved with being sexually active at a young age to forming good relationships be it sexual and/or romantic, and everything in between. Ultimately, children should be given complete sex education in school, according to what is appropriate for their age; it will prepare them for the reality of sexual instinct and teach them how to make smart decisions when faced with the choice.

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