The Dangers without Sex Education by Princess

The Dangers without Sex Education by Princess - January 2023 Scholarship Essay

Day after day, generation after generation, too many teenagers are becoming teen parents. High school graduation should be their focus, but instead the responsibilities of parenthood take priority. This can leave a young person with very limited options in life for themselves and their child. I believe that the school system should reinstate the sex education course in high school. High school students should be required to take a sex education class that includes information on parenthood as part of the curriculum. Students need to know how to protect themselves if they choose to become sexually active. They also need to understand the responsibilities that come with parenthood. They need to know that having sex so young can have costly consequences they may not be ready for. According to Travis Thornton, an education expert, "even without any college education, a high school graduate makes $154 more per week than a dropout" (Communityliteracy.org). High school students need to understand the value of a high school education and that dropping out of school can negatively impact their ability to earn a good wage.

Did you know that the United States has the highest teen pregnancy and birth rates of comparable countries? In the United States, "approximately 750,000 American teens get pregnant every single year, resulting in approximately 400,000 teen births." (Familyplanningplus.org) Parenthood is the leading reason that teen girls drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate from high school (Dosomething.org). In a survey of high school students conducted by the Department of Education, 28 percent of female students said they dropped out because they were pregnant (Communityliteracy.org). There are numerous factors that influence graduation rates, and unfortunately, pregnancy is one of them. Teen pregnancy can make it more difficult to choose to graduate instead of dropping out. With the proper education, I believe a difference can be made to improve graduation rates and reduce the number of high school teen births. Earning a high school diploma is valuable and very necessary.

One day while at school, a female student had a contraction and almost delivered her baby in the middle of math class. I do not think that deliveries were a part of the teacher's lesson plan. That student felt embarrassed and had to remove herself from attending class in person for the rest of the year. I hope she got a chance to finish that school year. Even though I know that having sex was her decision, if she had been educated about the ways to protect herself, such as with condoms, or given a different option, such as abstinence, she may have been more equipped with the tools she needed to make a better decision. She may have decided to finish the school year without giving birth.

Television glamorizes sex as if that's the best thing in a relationship. TV shows that show teenagers in sexual relationships have made it look very normal to my generation to freely have intercourse. The ratings on television have even changed since I was a child. The other day, I was watching a TV show rated PG, and while watching the show, it exposed male and female nudity. The couple began kissing and then went to bed together. In my opinion, this is not a show I would consider PG-rated. PG means the content is appropriate for viewers under the age of 12 (according to the Motion Pictures Content Rating), which is my little cousin's age. This shows that children are being exposed to sexual content before high school. By the time they reach high school, they may have seen numerous shows depicting what sex looks like, so much so that they no longer need to ask their parents about it.

This is why I think sex education courses would be valuable in a high school curriculum. Students who have already been exposed and may have tried having sex with another person need to know how to protect themselves. Some parents may feel like their student is not interested in sex, but, after hearing from many of my friends, I know that's not the case. Sex education classes can prepare students to make healthy, educated, and responsible decisions for their lives.