4. Is Sex Education Parental or Societal Responsibility?

The debate over sex education has been ongoing for the past several decades. While many parents feel that their children should get their information about sex from their parents, other parents welcome the opportunity for having their children educated about sex at school. So, the question remains: should sex education be taught at home, at school, or both?

a) Sex Education is Societal Responsibility. (Arguments in Favour)

1. Parents feel embarrassed to talk to their children about sexuality issues.

Talking to a child about sex and sexuality issues is what a lot of parents do not do because many feel embarrassed to discuss such things with their kids. In as much as kids could end up spending more time in school amidst their teachers than they do at home with their parents, it still falls back on parents to initiate sex talk with their kids or compliment what the kids have heard from their teachers.

2. Children feel embarrassed to converse with parents about sex.

For many teenagers it is extremely uncomfortable to discuss this topic with their parents, sometimes they may be reluctant to admit they know something already, and so may not ask direct questions, so they hope that they can find a safe way to learn more. In this question school possesses a more objective position in their approach to teaching sex education than a parent often does. This is totally understandable. Sometimes that detachment makes it easier for children to absorb and process information and to seek out a trustworthy educator for questions they cannot get answered at home.

3. Talking about sex is a taboo at home.

In many families, especially religious or very conservative, talking about sex is a closed topic which can never be mentioned, that concerns especially sex education for girls in Muslim families. When the religious atmosphere at home is rigid and dogmatic, the only way a young can acquire necessary information about healthy sexual life is society outside home.

4. School provides comprehensive information, teachers are specially trained as competent advisors.

Information concerning sexual feelings and relationships provided by school is rather comprehensive and up-to-date, including detailed information about sexually transmitted diseases, contraception and abstinence. Sex education at school is active, including trainings, seminars and lectures during which teachers provide practice of communication, negotiation, and refusal skills. The teachers are adequately trained and motivated to provide high quality sexual health education. In addition, effective programs are based and structured upon theoretical models that enable educators to understand and influence sexual health behavior. The class lasts a sufficient length of time to adequately complete important activities.

5. School is the place where children spend most of their time.

In view of the fact that today the child spends almost ¾ of his/her day in the school, in addition to ‘absent’ parent and dying traditional norms, learning institutions accept the responsibility for strengthening sexuality education. The school-based sex education as complementing and augmenting religious and community groups, and health care professionals. Since schools are the only formal educational institution to have meaningful contact with nearly every young person, they are in a unique position to provide children, adolescents, and young adults with the knowledge and skills they will need to make and act upon decisions that promote sexual health throughout their lives. As an important part of its contribution to adolescent development, school-based sexual health education can play an important role in the primary prevention of significant sexual health problems.

6. Leading health organizations are in favour of sex education at schools.

Leading public health and medical professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Public Health Association, the Institute of Medicine and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, support a comprehensive approach to educating young people about sex.

b) Sex Education is Parents’ Responsibility. (Arguments Against).

A large percentage of parents feel that sex education should be taught exclusively at home.

1. Parents are best educators for their children.

Parents alone have the right to be the primary educators of their children, particularly in matters related to sexuality. Parents are the best teachers of their children, regardless of their professional credentials, they are best suited to be the primary educators of their children. Their loving relationship with their offspring is singular and irreplaceable and therefore cannot be delegated to others or usurped by others.

2. Parents can be sure of information given to their children.

Many parents feel that it is up to the parents' discretion to determine what information is appropriate to relay to their children given factors such as age and maturity level. Many schools feature sex education curriculums that focus solely on promoting abstinence. While encouraging teens to wait and remain abstinent is a good idea, the reality is that many teens will become sexually active; therefore, it is crucial that they are educated about methods of birth control and STD prevention. On the other hand, some schools may not even mention abstinence, focusing instead on educating children on the use of condoms or other methods of birth control rather than encouraging them to wait to have sex.

3. Parents are aware their children’s needs.

It is presumptuous indeed, dangerous to assume that every child is at the same level of sexual interest or understanding. Parents are in the best position to know the developmental level and individual informational needs of their children. Moreover, only in private discussions can these needs be addressed-personally and with the delicacy the subject requires. It is particularly important not to violate a child’s natural latency period (roughly from age eight to puberty, when sexual interests are dormant), which could result in the destruction of their innocence.

4. Children feel more comfortable talking about sex at home.

Another important advantage to teaching children about sex at home concerns privacy and comfort. Children who have been able to establish close bonds with their parents may find it easier to talk about "private" issues like sex within the comfort and safety of their own homes. Whereas these kids may not feel comfortable asking questions to a teacher or a stranger, or speaking up in a class of peers, being alone at home with their parents may give them the courage to ask the questions that they may be afraid to ask otherwise.

5. Parents educate children through their own example.

To some extent, parents are in a unique position to lead by example in teaching their children the gift of self in relation to love. The love between a husband and wife, the child’s father and mother, teaches their children what love is; for, by welcoming and nurturing the children who are the fruit of that love, they give their children the best possible education in sexuality and in responsible use of their sexuality.

6. Sex education in school is impossible for religious reasons.

Most religious are nervous about sex education and the Catholic Church is especially sensitive to the issue of condoms. It is to be remembered that plans to introduce sex education in schools were among the main items discussed during the 1994 Cairo Conference. This was to be a major component of the reproductive health care package that was presented at the conference. The agenda was however, controverted by the Roman Catholic Church who argued that it aimed at giving contraceptives to the youth. The church urged parents not to allow their children to be taught sex education in school. Many deeply religious people choose to follow the advice of the church and give or not give explanation themselves.

7. Only at home a draft of sex education given at school is filled with emotion.

Sex education in schools can be useful but it is rather a draft of everything a teen needs to know about sex, relationships, contraception, pregnancy and diseases, it is not intended to replace the good guidance that parents can provide and indeed should provide because parents are responsible for their offspring’s life along with many others. It is important to talk to teens about the whole concept of feelings and relationships just as much as it is to teach them about how contraception works.

Conclusion

Providing effective sex education is a matter of primary importance and doing so means tackling sensitive issues and involving a variety of people – parents, schools, community groups and health service providers. However, because sex education comprises many individual activities, which take place across a wide range of settings and periods of time, there are lots of opportunities to contribute. The nature of a person's contribution depends on their relationship, role and expertise in relation to young people. Parents are best placed in relation to young people to provide continuity of individual support and education starting from early in their lives. School-based education programmes are particularly good at providing information and opportunities for skills development and attitude clarification in more formal ways, through lessons within a curriculum. Peers and mass media can also give answers to some questions, without making a teen feel confused and embarrassed.

The best avenue for information on sex ideally would come from family first and school as added reinforcement. Families have their own belief systems and want their children to learn about sex as their culture or religion dictates. School does allow for opting out of sex education for this reason but that is not necessarily best for the child. Knowledge is a powerful tool and access to knowledge is amongst the most important gift adults can offer children. Parents may discuss with their child what they he is learning in school and feel free to discuss with educators concerns they may have on any topic. The goals of parents and educators are the same. Both home and school should always hold the child's best interest before anything else. As a team, students can be provided with the facts that they need to keep them safe and responsible.

Personal View.

I believe that sex education is rather important, and it becomes more important with every passing day, as teenagers tend to grow up earlier than before and enter into sexual life earlier. That is why it is important that sex education starts before puberty, so that by the right time the adolescent already has all necessary information concerning contraception, STDs, sexual behavior. As for the form of education, I personally stick to the point that comprehensive sex education answers the needs of modern life. Sex is natural, so one should just be cautious and careful about decisions one makes. I think that complex effort of both parents and school should contribute into development of comprehensive sexual competence of teenagers. It seems to me that the best option for most children is to be exposed to sex education in both environments so that they can receive the advantages of learning about sex in either location. Above all, offering sex education in both the home and at school can assure that children of various backgrounds are exposed to at least some sort of sex education. Each individual is unique and all families are different; therefore, sex education in both the home and at school ensures that all children can find informational resources about sex at school (if they are not receiving them at home) and at home (if they aren't receiving it at school).