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Sex Education for Adolescents
Posted by Waikhu"According to a national study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in 1988, about 85% of all schools offer sexuality education" (Kirby et al., 1994). Debate exists over the type of sex education which should be taught in schools. Currently, there are three models of sex education.
Model #1 Comprehensive Sex Education
This model is based on the assumption that teens are going to have sex no matter what, so sex education should focus on reducing the risks associated with sex, such as pregnancy and disease. Advocates of this model believe the following:
- Teenage sexual activity is inevitable
- Sex education should be value-neutral
- Schools should be open about sexual matters
- Information about contraceptives should be included in sex education (Lickona, 1993)
Model #2 "Abstinence, But"
This model is based on the idea that abstaining from sex is the only 100% sure way of preventing pregnancy and disease; however, due to the AIDS epidemic, it is imperative that those teens who choose to have sex anyway are educated about contraceptives in order to lower their risks. Proponents of this model do the following:
- Advocate that students practice safer sex through condom usage
- Teach abstinence while promoting condom usage (Lickona, 1993)
Model #3 Directive Sex Education
This model evolved in response to the failure of the previous two models. It focuses on promotion of values to keep teens from having sex. This model contains the following characteristics:
- Sexual abstinence is the only morally responsible and medically safe choice for unmarried teenagers
- Premarital sex is not responsible sex just because a condom is used
- Having sex with your marriage partner who is only having sex with you, is the only way to have sex safely (Lickona, 1993)
Effective Sex Education Programs:
- Focus on reducing only a few sexual risk taking behaviors
- Teach young people how to avoid sex or how to use contraceptives
- Provide basic, accurate information on the risks of unprotected sex
- Address social and media influences on sexual behavior
- Provide modeling and communication skills
- Emphasize behavioral values and norms (Kirby et al., 1994)
Examples of Effective School-Based Sex Education Programs
- Sex Respect
- Deals with peer pressure and dating
- Promotes abstinence from sexual intercourse by teaching respect for self and others
- Uses cartoons
- Comes with a syllabus for the teacher, a student textbook, and a guidebook for the
- student's family
- Effectiveness: Teens in this program showed a significant amount of change in their attitudes towards premarital sex. Changes in attitude were shown to have a positive effect on actual sexual behaviors (Olsen et al., 1991).
- Schinke-Blythe-Gilchrest.
- Stresses that teenagers should avoid having sex or use some form of birth control during sex
- Talks about media influences on teen sexuality
- Includes discussion on "lines" used to get someone to have sex
- Effectiveness: Teens who were sexually active before involvement in this program showed an increase in contraceptive use after the program (Kirby et al., 1994).
- Postponing Sexual Involvement
- Designed for middle school students
- Focuses on helping young teens to delay sex
- Talks about media influences on teen sexuality
- Includes discussion on "lines" used to get someone to have sex
- Effectiveness: This program helped teens to delay first intercourse, as well as decreasing the frequency of intercourse among those teens who were previously sexually active (Kirby et al., 1994).
- Reducing the Risk
- Discusses how certain situations might lead to sex
- Talks about social factors that discourage teens from using birth control
- Stresses that teenagers should avoid having sex or use some form of birth control during sex
- Effectiveness: This program helped teens to delay first intercourse (Kirby et al., 1994).
- AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in School
- Targets teens who are at higher risk for contracting AIDS
- Emphasizes avoiding risky situations and using condoms
- Talks about media influences on teen sexuality
- Includes discussion on "lines" used to get someone to have sex
- Effectiveness: Sexually experienced teens in this program showed an increase in condom usage (Kirby et al., 1994).
According to 1994 studies by Kirby and associates, teenagers in school-based programs that emphasized contraceptive usage were found to use such devices more frequently. Additionally, these studies showed that providing information on contraception delayed or had no effect upon the time of first intercourse. In contrast, a 1986 Lou Harris Poll indicates that teens who took a sex education class that included information on contraception were significantly more likely to begin having sex than teens whose sex education classes did not include information on contraceptives (Lickona, 1993). These contrasting results are typical in studies that explore the effectiveness of sex education programs.
Besides having contradictory results, it should be noted that different sex education programs have different outcomes in mind. For example, comprehensive sex education aims to prevent teens from getting pregnant or getting a disease through sexual intercourse. On the other hand, directive sex education's goal is to prevent teens from having premarital sex altogether. While both types of sex education have shown a degree of success, the question still remains as to whether or not it is better to teach kids abstinence, or to hand them a condom and expect that they will have sex no matter what kind of instruction they receive. In any case, more research needs to be done on this topic.
The issue of sexual crimes is one topic that often goes unmentioned in teen sex education programs. Because so many young people are the victims or perpetrators of such crimes, this issue needs to be addressed more thoroughly.
To Read More:
- Kasun, J.R. (1994). Condom nation. Policy Review,68, 79-82.
- Krueger, M.M. (1993). Everyone is an exception: assumptions to avoid in the sex education classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 74, 569-572.
- Tapia, A. (1993). The radical choice for sex ed. Christianity Today, 37, 24-29.
The Lack Of Contraceptive Information In Sexual Education Programs
Angela Coble
Sexual education in school systems has been adopted by many states in the country. However, it is the states' right to choose the content and time period that this particular cirricula will be introduced to the adolescent students. " Six states, however, actually prohibit discussion of particular topics, such as contraceptive use by unmarried minors, abortion or homosexuality." (Fischler and Pine, 1995) Adolescents lack the overall knowledge of what contraception is, where to obtain it, and how to effectively use it.
The rates of unplanned teenage pregnancies are overwhelmingly high. " As is documented… the result is about 1,000,000 unwanted teenage pregnancies each year in the United States.". (Byrne, 1983) A major contributing factor to this statistic is the lack of contraceptive information available to adolescents. " If contraception information is included in sexuality education programmes, it is associated with fewer pregnancies due to more effective use of contraception." (Fischler and Pine, 1995) One study concluded that "…increasing the legitimacy and availability of contraception and sex education is likely to result in declining teenage pregnancy rates." (Fischler and Pine, 1995)
The following key contraceptive concepts should be introduced to sexual education programs:
- various types of contraception available (birth control, condoms etc..)
- effectiveness of the contraceptive device in preventing pregnancy and sexually
- transmitted diseases
- places to obtain the contraception (clinics, family practicioner etc…)
Providing the answers to the previous statements would be quite beneficial to the student.
Many sexual education programs focus completely on the rule of abstinence. This rule disregards the sexually active adolescent youth. " Fewer than one-third of state guides include any sexual behavior topic other than abstinence". (Fischler and Pine, 1995)
The lack of contraceptive information availble to adolescents is disturbing. Providing a more extensive sexual education program would dramatically contribute to the adolescents sexual decisions and overall knowledge about contraception. " Knowledge and information about sexuality and contraception has been shown to contribute to increased contraceptive use, particularly among teengers." (Fischler and Pine, 1995)
The next step is to implement contraception into our sexual education programs. The knowledge of contraception has been linked to the reduction in teenage pregnancy, and that benefit alone should be reason enough to include extensive education about contraception into our existing sexual education programs.
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