photo taken from standupforamerica.wordpress.com

Sex education is something that teens really need nowadays. The main reason for this is protection, protection from the dangers of unsafe sex, sexuality transmitted diseases and a ruined future. Teaching sex education has several goals. It aims to reduce risks of unwanted pregnancies, acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases and enhance the quality of relationships. Sex education also shapes individuals by developing their ability in making wise decisions over their entire lifetime. If these goals are met, then we can truly say that sex education is indeed effective.

What are the effects of teaching sex education to students? Does it have a positive impact on them? You might ask. Several studies show that sex education have positive effects on sexual behavior of teenagers. In 1995, a study revealed to the British Medical Journal the effects of teaching sex education to teenagers. One study was based on a sample of nearly 19,000 British men and women (aged 16-59) who responded to a national survey of sexual attitudes and lifestyles. The other study measured the impact of one sex education program using a questionnaire given at age 16. The latter study indicates that school programs may delay the onset of sexual activity, and the former suggests that they may have increased the use of condoms at first intercourse. The findings were placed in the context of 33 similar studies conducted in the U.S. and Canada by Douglas Kirby, director of research for ETR Associates, a California-based source of sex education materials. In an editorial that accompanied the two British studies, Kirby pointed out that the earlier studies also found that school programs did not hasten the onset of sexual activity or increase its frequency; in fact, some programs may delay both.

As for the health-related consequences, Kirby wrote: “There is not enough direct evidence to determine whether any of these educational programs significantly decreases rates of pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, or HIV infection. But if some do delay the onset of intercourse, reduce the number of sexual partners, or increase the use of protection, then logically they should also have an effect on these end points. What these studies do show is that, while not all sex and AIDS education programs are effective, some probably are. If effective programs were implemented more broadly, they could have a modest but significant impact on reducing sexual risk-taking behavior.” ( taken from findarticles.com )

In Washington, DC – Emerging Answers 2007: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, by researcher Douglas Kirby, Ph.D., is the most comprehensive review to date of evaluation research that answers the question, what programs work to prevent teen pregnancy and STDs. The report’s findings are based on a total of 115 program evaluations. The results of the research are as include;

~ Teen girls and young women who receive emergency contraception from clinics in advance of having sex are not more likely to have sex and are more likely to use emergency contraception if they do have sex than those who do not receive emergency contraception in advance.

~ Some longer sex education videos that are interactive and viewed many times can have a positive effect on teen sexual behavior.

~ School-based and school-linked clinics and school condom-availability programs do not increase sexual activity, but it is not clear whether they increase the use of contraception.

~ Programs for parents and their teens sometimes reduce risky sexual behavior among teens by delaying sex or increasing contraceptive use.

Health Day News, December 2007 issue reported that Sex education programs do work to help discourage many teens from becoming sexually active before age 15, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In a nutshell, teaching sex education does have a positive impact on teenagers’ sexual behavior so let us not think that sex education is useless because it isn’t after all.

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 12:36 am and is filed under Sexual Exploration, Sexual Health Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.