Condoms approved for classrooms
Published: Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 16:09
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Teachers in the United States need to roll more condoms on bananas.One-third of teenagers who have had formal sex education still don't know about methods of contraception, or even how to use a condom, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control.
If teens are never taught how to use contraception, their condoms wind up like our sex education system – broken.
The study showed that of the topics on the survey, teenagers were the least educated about contraception. Only 62 percent of males and 70 percent of females reported receiving a formal education about birth control. However, 92 percent of males and 93 percent of females received an education about sexually transmitted diseases.
States that still have abstinence-only sex education programs may contribute to these teenagers' ignorance. They teach that abstinence is the only way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs, and downplay the success rates of condoms and other forms of contraception.
It seems teachers are using scare tactics to prevent teenagers from having sex. They focus on horrifying diseases teens can contract and less on how to have safe sex.
In an ideal world, teenagers could learn about HIV/AIDS, chlamydia, herpes and other STDs and decide if abstinence is their best option. In reality, teens do have sex, so it is best to teach them about safe sex and how to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
"I feel teenagers need to be educated more on birth control methods because, in this day and age, teens will have sex. Providing ways not to get pregnant will benefit them more," said UNC Asheville freshman Melanie Bonds.
One in four teenage American girls have an STD, according to a study the CDC conducted in 2008. Most STDs are permanent. Some are treatable, but unfortunately, only a few are curable. Not knowing how to use a condom properly could be a mistake that haunts someone for the rest of his or her life.
"Sex is fun, and birth control isn't," said UNCA student Robert Sidden. "While your teenager may one day just give in to their sexual desires unexpectedly, it's doubtful they will conveniently decide to use the birth control their school forgot to educate them about."
North Carolina was an abstinence-only state until last week, when legislation passed to start integrating comprehensive sex education for the 2010 school year.
The state allows parents to opt their children out of the comprehensive education if they are uncomfortable with the material. If parents are unwilling to let the school do it, hopefully they are willing to have that talk with their children themselves.
"We teach people how to wash their hands, how to sneeze correctly, how to eat right, exercise enough, stretch before we exercise, wear seatbelts, and wear helmets," said Dr. Amy Lanou, associate professor of health and wellness. "Let's talk about how we can be safe in our intimate relationships as well. It doesn't make any sense that (sex) is any different from a health promoter's standpoint."
Keeping teens in the dark about contraception only leads to increased pregnancies and STDs. After years of decline, the rate of teen pregnancies rose between 2005 and 2007, according to the CDC.
According to the National Center of Health Statistics, roughly 4 percent of teenagers become pregnant before they reach their 20s. That is nearly half a million babies born to mothers who cannot even gamble legally.
Finishing high school is stressful enough, between exams, pop quizzes and Wuthering Heights. Throwing motherhood into the equation seems to stack the odds almost impossibly against teenage mothers. Many teens who become pregnant are unable to graduate from high school, and even fewer make it to college.
Hormone-crazed teenagers are bombarded with images of sex in the media. Then, they walk into a health classroom where a teacher, often the P.E. coach, tells them to wait until marriage.
"The whole notion that telling young people not to do something and not giving any good reasons in a culture that is constantly pushing young people to be sexual just doesn't make sense," Lanou said. "How could we even think that would be possible? The data is enormously clear that it's not, but why did we ever think that it might be?"
For some, sex is now an act of rebellion as much as it is lust or love. It is just another way to resist authority, like smoking, cursing or speeding.
So, instead of making sex a forbidden fruit, both teachers and parents should pick up the phallic fruit and teach teens to protect themselves.
(theblubanner.net)
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