The Impact of Mandatory Sex Education on the Sexual Health of Young People

Sex education integration in the school curriculum is a subject that has caused a lot of controversies. In the recent past, many school students have become sexually active at a very tender age. The unusual part of the sexual behaviors among the young people is that some of them have attended abstinence-based programs, yet they are very sexually active, even more active than those who have had sex education program (Johnson, Sharman, Vissandjee, & Stewart, 2014). Some sexually active students use contraceptives, but they know very little about how to use them. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have reportedly been increasing among the students, hence, causing an alarm on what measures need to be taken to restrain the situation. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the impact that mandatory sex education integration into the school curriculum would have on the sexual health of young people.

Methods for Literature Search

A thorough literature search was conducted to identify relevant articles. Each of the articles which have been analyzed has different study purposes which have a connection to mandatory sex education.
The article by Pound, Langford, and Campbell (2016) aimed at investigating whether the current sex education in schools meets the needs of the young people based on the opinions given by people of this age. The participants of the qualitative studies were young people aged between 4 and 25 years. The synthesis of the research showed that the views of young people on sex and relationship education in schools were consistent. Schools did not give sufficient recognition to the topic of sex and this significantly affected how the matter was delivered in schools, therefore, rendering the students vulnerable and reluctant to engage in the issue. Schools were reluctant to accept the fact that young people were sexually active and, therefore, delivering content that was out of touch with the lives of the students. Female students felt victimised by male students in sex classes, hence, preferred not to attend. Additionally, most of the students admitted to feeling uncomfortable when their teachers brought up the sex topic.
The study by Bretelle et.al. (2014) evaluated the impact an educational reproductive health program had on secondary school students and medical students. A total of 350 students attended the peer-led program and the results indicated that knowledge increased for both groups, although reinforcement was needed for the male students. The use of medical students to teach sex education in schools proved efficient and it took a short time to do so. Comparison of the results before and after the peer-led sex education showed a vast difference. The students were comfortable with each other, therefore, the explanation of the large number of students that participated in the program. Male students usually are excluded from sex topics, especially those that are related to contraceptives, and that is the reason why their performance was a bit lower than that of the female students. Since more students seem comfortable engaging in conversations on the sex topics, it is advisable that some of them be educated and pass the knowledge to their fellow students.
The paper by Helmer, Senior, Davison, and Vodic (2015) reported on the findings of youth aged between 16 and 25 on their developmental sexuality and on what sexually in general meant to them. The article focused on cultural aspects, risk, and context projects which had a significant impact on sexual behaviours and decision-making of the young people. The qualitative data provided showed the views of the young people on what they proposed as the necessary strategies to improve the quality of sex education. The participants revealed that the forms of sexuality education currently used were too clinical, missed relevant details, and were not engaging. Most of the participants in the study needed to acquire more knowledge on relationship matters, the use of plastic condoms as well as sexual experiences. The notion that giving honest sex information to young people would encourage them to partake in risky behaviours was not shown by the participants who had a thirst for knowledge and truthful information.
Goldman (2015) analyzed UNESCO’s guidance for young people aged between 9 and 12, who experience puberty, but receive little education on sexuality from both parents and schools. The results showed that UNESCO’s guidance had more relevant information, broad content coverage, and many learning objectives for teenagers and provided a more precise definition of vocabularies than that present in the upper primary school curriculum for the same cohort. The guidance can, therefore, be of great use to the teachers in schools who find it difficult to be creative with sex topics. The guidance provides both the students and their teachers with a complete puberty education experience and this is inclusive of clear understanding, age-appropriate information, skills, and values. Education on the sex topic is always considered uncomfortable, but with materials being retrieved from the UNESCO’s guide this process can become easier for the teachers, since they would not have to put up more efforts into constructing notes for the class.
A study carried out by Beltz, Sacks, Moore, and Terzian (2015) examined the impact that the state policy has had on teenage pregnancies. Some other factors that play a significant role in teenage pregnancy include community, individual, and family factors, but state policy also contributes to this matter. State policies play a part in the sex education in schools, family planning, access to abortion services, as well as public assistance. Measures taken by the states to enable integration of sex education in the school curriculum as well as the teenage access to family planning services have facilitated in the reduction of teenage pregnancies. Expenditure on sex education in schools as well as policy practices to improve sex education have helped pass on the relevant knowledge to students which helped them become responsible in their sexual life. Since teenagers have proven abstinence to be impractical, the state policies should advocate for teenage programs that enable them to access the available family planning methods as well as any help that would contribute to reducing irresponsible sexual behaviors.
According to a review carried out by Francis and DePalma (2014), stakes for sex education are high in South Africa. The health statistics show that 8.7% of young people in South Africa are victims of HIV. In the UK and the US, there have been heated debates on whether sex education should be made mandatory in schools. The debates have been weighing the merits of comprehensive sex education programs in school as well as those of abstinence-only. The research included 25 participants who are teachers and in-depth interviews on how to reconcile abstinence-only and sex programs were conducted. Abstinence-only programs were concluded to be the most appropriate method to be followed by young people, but the fact that the method was void can not be ignored. Hybridization of the two concepts was then agreed upon, as the two approaches would be strategically combined to build up a sense of responsibility and agency in the matter.
Students with intellectual disabilities are a unique and delicate group, but that should not imply that they should receive less sexual education in school than those who are not handicaped. A study on the data retrieved from the National Longitudinal Transition Study by Barnard-Brak et.al. (2014) showed that students with ID received 44.1% of sex education in school as compared to their counterparts who received 47.5%. Initially, teachers’ opinions revealed that students with ID received more sex education, 68%, but the levels dropped with time. The reason as to why such students received less sex education was based on their inability to communicate efficiently and this is not fair, since all students have equal rights. Students with ID are at the same degree of risk related to insufficient sex knowledge and should, therefore, be fairly included in all the sex education programs taking place in school.

Results

The above-analyzed articles showed that sex education in schools is still a subject that has not yet been fully accepted and embraced; hence, it is difficult to make it compulsory. Students interviewed showed consistency in their responses: they had no faith in the current education forms. However, most showed an interest in the topic, but the manner in which the program was delivered was not acceptable to them. Teachers, on the other hand, showed willingness, but they complained about the low level of cooperation from their students, as they were making them uncomfortable with the topic. Students with intellectual disabilities were left behind when it came to sex matters. Hence, there is no way the program will be a success if all students are not on board.

Limitations

The focus of sex education was on the young people who were in school, but did not extend to the teenagers and young people who did not attend schools. Therefore, the overall data and results obtained pertaining to mandatory sex education for the young people was based on assumptions for the whole population of young people. The research also greatly relied on secondary data and, therefore, could not be very accurate, since there was no first-hand information obtained from young people in relation to mandatory sex education in schools. Financial and resource limitations barred the research from carrying out and obtaining first information from the target population.

Discussion and Conclusion

The topic of making sex education a mandatory subject in schools has caught the attention of many scholars and, therefore, many articles have been written showing both the positive impacts of such a change and the negative ones. In the contemporary society, teenage students have become sexually active; hence, the sex education in schools should be made mandatory. However, mandating sex programs in schools is not all that is needed. The teachers, the states, and those responsible for educating the teenagers should come up with effective methods on how to deliver the information in a comfortable and relevant to the young people way. By considering the needs of the target audience, the vices associated with teenage immoralities would decrease and more upright young adults will be raised. Sex education should not only be rooted in abstinence-only programs, therefore, more emphasis should be put on safe sex and relationships among the young people.

References

Barnard-Brak, L., Schmidt, M., Chesnut, S., Wei, T., & Richman, D. (2014). Predictors of access to sex education for children with intellectual disabilities in public schools. Mental Retardation, 52(2), 85-97.
Beltz, M. A., Sacks, V. H., Moore, K. A., & Terzian, M. (2015). State policy and teen childbearing: a review of research studies. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(2), 130-138.
Bretelle, F., Shojai, R., Brunet, J., Tardieu, S., Manca, M. C., Durant, J., ... & Leonetti, G. (2014). Medical students as sexual health peer educators: who benefits more? BMC medical education, 14(1), 162.
Francis, D. A., & DePalma, R. (2014). Teacher perspectives on abstinence and safe sex education in South Africa. Sex Education, 14(1), 81-94.
Goldman, J. D. (2015). UNESCO’s Guidance on puberty and sexual health education for students aged 9-12 years compared to an upper primary school curriculum. Health Education Journal, 74(3), 340-350.
Helmer, J., Senior, K., Davison, B., & Vodic, A. (2015). Improving sexual health for young people: making sexuality education a priority. Sex Education, 15(2), 158-171.
Johnson, J., Sharman, Z., Vissandjee, B., & Stewart, D. E. (2014). Does a change in health research funding policy related to the integration of sex and gender have an impact? PLoS One, 9(6), e99900.
Pound, P., Langford, R., & Campbell, R. (2016). What do young people think about their school-based sex and relationship education? A qualitative synthesis of young people’s views and experiences. BMJ open, 6(9), e011329.