In this article, we will discuss a very important topic of todayโs time: โWhy sex education should be taught in schools?โ
Many parents think that if their child learns or gets to know about the term called โsexโ at an early age, then it may affect the mental health of the child, but this is purely a preconceived notion, and it is high time to break it.
And the way to do it is through sex education in schools.
Schools should teach equally to altogether about sex education so that they can understand their as well as othersโ body structure and respect each other.
Still, in schools, the scenario is the opposite; girls are separated from boys when teachers have to tell girls about menstrual cycles.
Schools are where we start growing physically and mentally, so this is the right time and place to teach them about their sex organs so that they donโt have to find them in uncomfortable ways by other means, which can even affect the mental health of the individual.
Schools must conduct sex education programs to make students aware of various dangerous disease that is caused due to unawareness or negligence while having sexual intercourse.
Awareness can help prevent adolescent pregnancy by telling the pros and cons of sexual practices.
Here are a few reasons on why sex education should be taught in schools.
1. Sex Education Shouldnโt be Limited to Porn Sites!
Every individual starts to evolve from the age of 13 to 17 and hence goes through several physical changes which trouble them because they donโt know whatโs happening to them. They cannot even ask their parents because of their shyness and end up following porn sites to understand the functions of their sex organs.
Porn sites are very addictive because whenever an individual watches porn, the brain releases a pleasure hormone named dopamine which gives high to our body to watch more and more porn, which starts to develop false pleasure images in the brain and create stimulating triggers this deteriorate physical and psychological health of the individual.
Porn sites are not for education purposes but are used to learn more about oneโs sexuality, and then they end up becoming addicted. Porn showcases the unrealistic aspect of sexual intercourse, which creates curiosity in the viewerโs mind to experience that in real life, which successfully helps develop rapists.
Once students adopt this self-destructing habit, then it is the end for them to understand safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases, which is a vital thing to understand, and they wonโt be able to make responsible decisions related to sexual health.
So to prevent teenagers from learning about sex through sources like porn sites, it is better to teach about it in schools.
2. To Make them Understand About Menstrual Cycle
Every girl has to go through the initial phase of the menstrual cycle when it suddenly starts happening and leaves a girl terrified with blood and overthinking. Girls are taught in schools about the menstrual cycle, but that information remains so superficial that they do not understand when it starts to happen.
But boys are not properly trained on how to react to the menstrual cycle, which is why they donโt understand the pain and sufferings a female goes through during periods.
Period cramps and mood swings sometimes leave a female in such a bad state that they have to get counseling because it becomes so much pain that they cannot lead a good life and carry a fear of menstrual cycles every month.
Teaching about menstrual cycles in school can educate both boys and girls on the entire process.
3. To Prevent the Skyrocketing Teen Pregnancy Rates
As children grow up into adults, the time in between is very important, and parents must talk about sensitive topics so that they can understand their child better so that conflicts can be reduced. Healthy friendships can be formed between them.
Some parents donโt understand their children in adolescence and blame them for their deeds without asking for the reason behind them. Family conflicts compel children to find love outside the home, and they end up being in relationships with pregnancy.
Awareness of contraceptive methods can help a lot in reducing teen pregnancy rates as then they can have sex without getting pregnant. Educating teens about sex education in schools will make them understand personal boundaries and health so that they can make healthy decisions by avoiding pregnancy in their teenage.
4. Sexual Orientation Shouldnโt be a Taboo
There is more gender identity present in society rather than just male and female. People need to understand that other gendersโ lives matter too, and they also have an equal right to express themselves.
In schools, education must also focus o LGBTQ-inclusive sex education so it can help children to understand themselves without being stressed. LGBTQ stands for:
Lesbian: A woman who loves the other woman and wants to have a life together with her, but society criticizes them for their relationships, and some believe it is a sin.
Gay: A man who loves the other man and is also attracted sexually is called gay. It is not in peopleโs hands whom they will like whom not. It is how they are and their body type.
Bisexual: When a girl is sexually attracted to both males and females and can form a love relationship with both genders, considered to be bisexual. It doesnโt mean that they can date a male and a female at the same time; love still demands loyalty.
Transgender: They are the people who are not satisfied by their gender identity which is given at the time of birth, and they feel that they didnโt get the right body; they express themselves by wearing things of the gender they feel they are and not what they are born with. These people suffer the most as people make fun of them because of their attire.
Queer: People who are queer are of more than one type, as they are non-heterosexual people. In simple terms, they are not confirmed about their sexuality and hence explore more to find out whom they are attracted to.
In schools, we are only taught about male and female but not about LGBTQ, and that affects the life of LGBTQ students who cannot talk about themselves and always lives in fear that they will get caught one day and made fun of.
5. Parents Can Have an Upper Hand
Parents are the main character of every childโs story as they play the role of support system whenever children go through a mental breakdown. They are the ones who teach about self-esteem and personal skills and encourage kids to live life from one high to another.
Whenever sex education programs are conducted, parental consent must be there so that they can also join and learn how to better teach their child instead of just leaving them by themselves.
Moral values are very important in oneโs life as the only thing that helps children to make the right decisions in life without hurting anyone and without getting hurt.
Parents should support their children in choosing their sexual identity so that they feel a sense of comfort and togetherness. Some parents disown their children after finding that they are from the LGBTQ community, and it becomes even tougher for them to tackle everything together.
Especially parents of boys must teach them to respect every gender because when a boy grows up, they donโt know the struggles of the opposite sex, and bullying or abuse sometimes last impressions on their mind for a lifetime.
6. Sexual Health is an Underrated Concern
Comprehensive sex education programs must be initiated in schools to promote awareness about protected sex and safe space. Everybody talks about sex, but few are concerned about their sexual health.
There are many sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, and gonorrhea, which can result in loss of life; people must be aware of their and their partnerโs sexual desires and fantasies to avoid intimate partner violence while having sex.
People should not have many sex partners to avoid sexually transmitted infections, and having more than one partner affects the psychological health of the person as it leads to comparison and insecurity.
Public health campaigns should be organized to make people more aware of making the masses understand the basic facts about sex education with the help of medical professionals so that people can get accurate information.
Mandate sex education should be followed to have more participation by the people in the workshop on sex education.
Awareness about disease control methods can reduce the count of dangerous diseases, and HIV education must also be mandatory in school districts to have healthy youth.
7. Helps Prevent Sexual Violence
In todayโs world, sexual violence has increased so much that people are afraid to trust each other. Suppression of sexual desires results in sexual violence like rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse.
Research shows that most sexual violence happens due to a lack of sexual activity or bad experiences with their partners, which provoke people to commit these inhumane crimes.
There must be a curriculum to guide students on dealing with stress in relationships so they can get help directly and not fall for the bad paths.
Sometimes in middle school, students experience such devastating sexual violence that they consider sex bad and are afraid their whole life to even talk about it.
Sexual health education helps people have healthy relationships that can even promote human development in developed nations or developing nations. When people are healthy mentally and physically, only they can contribute their all to the nationโs development.
8. To Prevent Ill Practises
Vatsyayana wrote Kamasutra in which he talked about the crucial thing: position is the main thing while having sex. People think their sex organs are only for having sex, but it is more than that.
It tells the beauty of the functions of our sex organs so that we learn to respect them and not commit demeaning crimes against any personโs sex organs.
Lack of knowledge about our sex organs results in many ill practices like washing of vagina with chemically obtained solutions that are present in the market but here, people need to understand that vagina is a self-cleaning organ, and it does not need any solutions.
9. Labs for Sex Education in Schools
Theory cannot be compared with practical learning, and schools should have practical labs for the classes of sex education in that they can show the various necessary things by different explanatory models so that students can relate to them completely.
Presentations can be of good use while learning about sex education so that students can remember the teachings for a long period.
Different innovative activities must be developed so students can evolve through them by respecting each otherโs personal space.
When boys are aware of girlsโ problems, their friendships will automatically reduce. They will develop compassion for everybody, so they can never think about assaulting a girl.
10. Learn About Sexual Assaults
Everybody talks about girls when it comes to sexual assault. Still, people need to understand that boys face sexual assault and cannot even speak about it because we made it difficult for them to open up by saying that males are supposed to be strong.
Schools must teach boys to open up about their feelings more in case of any assault because when it happens to them, some become rebellious towards people, and some lose interest in sexual activity.
Is Sex Education Worth Having?
To know about our sex organs, everybody needs sex education to learn, understand and be aware of ourselves. When students are not allowed to learn in a conducive environment, they find a way to know about it, which can prove dangerous to them and others.
Crimes can be reduced to many folds when people are guided properly about their gender and others. People commit crimes when they lose compassion for others, but having an education system that provides sex education will develop compassion and awareness in young people.
Students should also promote sex education by organizing campaigns in their locality to create awareness.
Last Updated on by kalidaspandian
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