11/18/15

Parker Abel
Devon Cornes
Lauren Spintig
Lily Gonzales
Lovitt-SED464
Hot Topic: Sexual Education
Sex education is a controversial but necessary part of the middle school curriculum.
During middle school, students begin puberty and start experiencing physical and emotional
changes. In our current education system, educators have the role of teaching students about
these new experiences. There are two general types of sex education-abstinence only and
comprehensive-and they both have a unique impact on the learning and behavior of students.
The word sex has a pretty touchy connotation, and the word abstinence is no
exception. Schools are now becoming the intermediary for the ones responsible for teaching
children about sex. Well what teachers can and cannot say about sex to students varies greatly
from district to district. Arizona is one of the strictest states for material that is allowed to be
taught. Abstinence only is taught as gospel fact. The biggest problem to this is that although
the practice of (AO) is the only 100% effective way to prevent unplanned pregnancies and
STDs, it is not the only way to limit these undesired outcomes. If it is taught as the only option,
then students will not be able to choose for themselves what the best course of action is,
leading to some poor outcomes. The frontal lobe of the brain is not fully developed in teens,
and they are very susceptible to the endorphins relating to physical rewards at this point in their
lives. Therefore if the only thing they know is, Dont have sex until you are married. Yet they
are physically craving this reward of sexual pleasure, they will do it anyways, and typically,
based on their information given, unprotected and at risk.
Comprehensive sexual education is the second most common type of sexual education
in the United States. It differs greatly from abstinence only sexual education in that it covers a
wide variety of topics and gives adolescents a very different message about how they should
feel about sex. In addition to information about changes in their physical and emotional state

and scientifically accurate information about intercourse and procreation, comprehensive sexual
education also teaches students about how to prevent unplanned pregnancy and STDs by using
contraceptives, informs them of the choices that a pregnant teen has including adopting and
abortion, and fosters a positive outlook on sexuality that is intended to make adolescents feel
comfortable about the changes they experience in their bodies and their feelings.
Research has shown that adolescents receiving any form of sexual education are more
likely to delay their first intercourse. However, it has been shown that comprehensive programs
that provide information about contraceptives will increase the likelihood that teens use
contraceptives during their first sex and throughout their lives. In addition, teens that have
comprehensive sexual education programs are less likely to contract an STD or experience teen
pregnancy, and more likely to be monogamous in their sexual activity. Overall, the information
that students learn in comprehensive sexual education programs allows them to make more
responsible decisions about their sexual health than if they had received abstinence only
education.
Sex education varies state to state, allowing states to decide what form of sexual
education they think is best for students. Arizona does not require sex education to be taught in
public schools however many schools still decide to teach about it. Arizona does have some
laws about what can and cannot be covered when teaching adolescents sex education. For
example, Arizona law states that schools must teach the benefits of waiting for marriage but it
does allow contraceptives to be taught. However, some school districts still do not talk about
contraceptives since many parents of this state identity with religious views that only support
abstinence only. Also, this states allows parents to opt their students out of learning about sex.
These laws impact our teaching because if a student comes to us with a question about sex, we
are legally not allowed to teach them the whole truth about some things. Arizona has many laws
about what can and cannot be covered in sex ed and is one of the most restrictive states on
sexual education.

Arizona is an abstinence only state and most states started the same but there are some
states that have eventually adopted comprehensive sex ed programs, simply due to its
effectiveness. Since the late 90s, the government has spent over 1.5 billion dollars on
abstinence only sex ed programs, even with its obvious ineffectiveness and pregnancy rates
remaining high. This has changed now with Obama and his administration being in office.
Obama proposed that any sex ed program proven effective should be funded and the facts
consistently turn to comprehensive sex ed programs. There has been a reliable amount of data
taken to prove that comprehensive sexual education programs do help delay adolescents from
having sex, help increase the use of contraceptives and reduce the amount of sexual partners
adolescents choose to have. It is easy to associate these improvements with more people
becoming accepting to comprehensive sexual education programs.
The constant controversy surrounding sexual education creates a feeling that sexual education
should be taught and then quickly dismissed from the classroom environment. However, the
reality is that middle schoolers have a plethora of thoughts and feelings about their changing
bodies that will come up during school. As teachers, we cannot simply ignore these attitudes
and leave our students to figure things out on their own. Teachers must make students feel
comfortable with themselves and their peers in order to foster a productive learning community.
This includes building honest relationships with students, so that they feel they can trust their
teacher to answer their embarrassing questions, as well as paying attention to the students
behavior and knowing when it is right to intervene. When teachers are well informed about the
changes their students are going through, we can help our middle school students be more
confident and therefore ready to learn, as well as make good choices about their sexual health
by providing them with accurate information.