Iāve been watching a lot of Nick Krollās new animated series āBig Mouthā recently, and itās brought back a lot of painfully awkward memories from middle school.
It makes you think back to how isolated and uncertain everyone felt, and how conflicting messages from school, parents, and pop culture made everything so much worse. Which isnāt surprising; our confused adolescent experience is mirrored by many other gangly teens across the nation.
Thereās a fairly large contributing factor to this widespread consternation. The state of sex-ed in American schools is defined by haphazard and illegitimate teaching practices that vary by district. Not to mention that the topics covered in such classes range in breadth and depth.
Sex-ed is inconsistent between states, and even school districts. The topics covered can range from anatomy, nutrition, drugs, and puberty to sexual identity, sexual orientation, gender identity, STDās, contraceptive methods, and pregnancy.
Schools may also break these topics up into differently labeled classes, which makes it more difficult for researchers to get a firm grasp on what is taught. Young students going through puberty are susceptible to many confusing scenarios and are in need of more trustworthy resources to help them understand the changes they are going through.
As of 2014, there were three categories in which states could fall when it came to sex-ed. The first were the states with no legal mandates to have required sex education. The second were the states that did. The third were the states that required all sex education to be medically accurate. When it comes to teaching our youth, it makes no sense to provide material that is not medically and factually accurate.
Since individual states have the autonomy to decide what kind of sex-ed to provide its students, there are some states that still preach abstinence-only education. This kind of education omits material concerning the spread of diseases, as well as the biological functions that lead to pregnancy.
Unsurprisingly, New Mexico, a state that mandates abstinence-only education, has the highest teen birth rate at over 33 births per 1,000 teenage females. Clearly, when there is a lack of sufficient knowledge of the repercussions of sexual behavior, teenagers fall victim to a life-altering decision-making process that they may not be equipped to handle.
Although plenty of people are happy to have children at a young age, the American education system owes it to its students to give them full information so that they are able to make a well-calculated decision.
Providing teenagers with incomplete facts that may not even be medically accurate does nothing but blind them to the reality of biology and leave them ignorant of the potential consequences of engaging in risky sexual behaviors.
The current system is simply too abrasive and incomplete to be permitted to continue. Pre-teens deserve to forgo the confusing and overwhelming feeling of isolation that millions of kids in the school system before them have experienced.
And even if a school preaches abstinent behavior, they should be required to warn students of the dangers of STDās, put into light the challenges of teen pregnancy, and truthfully inform kids about the choices available.
The information serves to do nothing but give them an opportunity to make their own decisions, but provide an outlet to engage in behavior responsibly. When it comes to our nationās students, they always deserve the most comprehensive, honest education possible in order to help ensure their safety.
