This is probably, if not, a really good topic to discuss after my previous blog post dealing with Mean Rachel about teen pregnancies. I was reading an article about how now, in the state of Texas, public schools will now be teaching both abstinence and about contreception. With this new "plus" added on about teaching 7th and 8th graders about condoms and birth control. It seems as though it lifted a red flag in the Texas government department about the new plan. Apparently 172 students enrolled this year that are expecting a child in the public schools which prompted that they needed a change.
In the article Tracey Dees, who is the supervisor of health services, mentioned girls that are as young as 13 years of age pregnant or have already a sexually transmitted disease. Alot of these schools including the MidWest all the way to Houston are moving forward with this actual plan. The board and district are hoping that this will work even though the legislative have been struggling with this for several years.
Even though I wasn't supposed to find an article, read it, then give my opinions over it, I just found this one relevant and something that could start a conversation. Now for me and my two cents its seems as though teaching about condoms, birth control, and contraception is pushing the boundries, yet if it gets girls that are 12 years old to wait then thats excellent. As long as the parents are fine with teachers informing thier little girls about what condoms and birthcontrol its okay. However, by teaching students (both young boys and girls) contraception will they get the idea that its okay to be sexually active because there are condoms and that they can use birth control? I mean it can lean both ways on this subject at hand. Like what the article I read it was discussing about how young kids in this age group are exposed to alot of sexual things that they see, hear, and watch on television. With this the more we talk about it with preteens and inform them about it, the better. I remember hearing something on the radio about a couple of years ago, or maybe it was on TV, that alot of the teens that are young parents wish that their own parents would have talked to them about it (or something around that same area). This doesn't go for all teenagers but for some its true. Now one thought would be, should the parents talk about contraception to their kids and have this not be taught in a class.
So with this being discussed, I feel that this should be pushed to be taught in class- to a certain extent. I do agree that the more we talk about it to pre-teens the better, or at least get it through their minds on the right thing to do.
This week I read one of my colleagues work by Eloisa, Teaching Abstinence "Plus"? In her blog post she wrote about sex education in schools which is a topic that i recently posted about. I can relate to the things she's saying and our opinions are somewhat alike. Her and I both agree that talking to young adults about condoms and birth control may promote the idea that it is okay to have sex because they have access to contraception. In our articles we also both brought up the fact that educating kids about sex could be bad and it could be good, it goes both ways. We both point out that kids are very exposed to sex through the media; television, radio, advertisements..etc. One thing I don't completely support is in her post is when she introduced the fact that it's okay to teach 12 year old girls about sex and birth control as long as their parents are okay with it. I think that age is WAY too young! Another difference of ours is that in my article I state that I think solely abstinence should be taught, instead of the availability of condoms and birth control.
ReplyDeleteHer ending statement concludes that shes believes sex education should be taught to a certain extent, which I totally agree with! It should be taught in Texas schools but not over the top, all that is needed are the basics. Overall Her and I both have a lot of similar points in our articles. I think her article was organized, well written, and made her opinion clear.
The importance of sexual education among middle and high school students is essential, not only to reduce teen pregnancy, but sexually transmitted diseases as well. My classmate, Eloisa, presents us with her blog entry titled “Teaching Abstinence “Plus”?” where she gives us some insight into the recently introduced sexual education program in Texas, whose purpose is to reduce pregnancy rates among teens by implementing a combination of techniques, including: abstinence and contraception use, whereas before the curriculum consisted of abstinence-only lecture. She makes reference to several outside sources which provide valuable information -such as statistics relating to teen pregnancy- and also gives her personal opinion on the matter. While Eloisa thoroughly summarizes the new curriculum, her opinion seems quite ambiguous; she states “Now for me and my two cents its [sic] seems as though teaching about condoms, birth control, and contraception is pushing the boundries [sic],” then later agrees that “the more we talk about [sex/contraception] with preteens and inform them about it, the better.”
ReplyDeleteIt is a difficult issue to tackle, so ambiguity is not uncommon. Among the factors motivating the various responses from communities in Texas, are religion, ethics, and the law. Texas does not require that schools teach sexual education, but when they do, what is taught is strictly regulated. Many schools have yet to adopt and implement the new curriculum, some continuing in their belief of an abstinence-only education despite clear evidence of its futility. Hesitation to educate students on contraception use and their rate of effectiveness leads many to believe schools are condoning sexual activity rather than teaching to refrain from it. Continuing to teach sexual education in fear will ultimately lead to an increase in teen pregnancy rates, it might even place Texas number one on the national leaderboard.