Sex education is a subject that has been left on the back burner of American politics and the back page of news papers since the its inception. Parents fighting school boards, fighting religious groups, and so the cycle continues. If ignorance and abhorrence to the ideas of sexual education persist, the youth of the nation will head towards the path of the African continent with rampant sexually transmitted diseases, a weaker work force, and a lowered economic stability. These cries may seem far-fetched to those individuals that dig no deeper than the stagnant facade that religious and social taboos have placed upon the subject but these problems exist and if unchecked would grow into catastrophic results for the population. While the United States has kept itself behind a pseudo-veil of puritanism western European countries, who also boast some of the lowest rates of teen pregnancy and abortion, offer easy access to contraceptive solutions, comprehensive sexual education, and confidential health care. Sexual intercourse is accepted as regular adolescent behavior at ages fifteen to sixteen and so measures are put in place to help minimize risk rather than giving adolescents only the option of abstinence as a measure of protection. It is unrealistic and actually riskier a behavior to withhold this type of information from teens because without adequate measures and education in place hormones will be the teacher of sexual education to our young people. If that is the case we may as well revert to the dark ages, before the female orgasm was even admitted as existing.

While both sexes are sensitive to this information, females have the most to lose through teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease that can kill. When there is information to prevent these things from happening and that information is withheld, the smoking gun is in our hand as a society for siding with ignorance and succumbing to social misconceptions. There are four main school of thoughts in the United States pertaining to sexual education.

The first school of thought is to leave the entire sexual education of the child to his or her guardian. The problems with this method is evident. The child gets a very weighted view on sexuality, if one at all, and as many parents fail to discuss the subject the child may experiment with sexuality before that time.

The second school of thought which is the most widespread solution expressed by schools in the United States is to teach anatomy of sexual reproduction from a scientific standpoint. Perhaps use of videos, diagrams, and drawings to express how a baby is conceived, born, and reared from a dry, matter of fact, type stand. This does provide the children with more information but does not offer the contextual weight that more in-depth programs provide.

The third school of thought is an advancement of the second with additional information given educating children on sexually transmitted disease and difficulties facing young teens in child rearing. The emphasis still centers around abstinence and this additional information is used as a scare tactic to keep adolescents afraid of the idea of sex. No education is given as to prevention of sexually transmitted disease, access to contraceptives, or alternatives to pregnancy.

The fourth school is a balanced approach to sexual education with emphasis placed on preventionof disease and pregnancy, options and resources available to pregnant teen mothers and fathers. With these programs students are taught about contraceptives for both males and females as well as lessons on usage. Abstinence is still discussed but emphasis is placed on education rather than abstinence scare tactics.

It is important for our youth to be educated in all matters to the best they can be. Sexual education is no different and should carry a higher weight in our nation to prevent unwanted childbirth, reduce disease, and provide for a greater national productivity.