EDU 619

Dr. Jacque Ensign

Fall 2000, Section 1

As I begin this class I wasn’t sure what to expect or what type of information that I would learn, but knew it sounded interesting. When the syllabus was handed out I saw the assignments and my eyes immediately focused on the last page that read ‘Research Project’. This is something that I always hate to do, but knew that it had to be done.

As I began researching for this paper I wasn’t sure where to begin. You see I am 30 years old and a mother of a 7-month old baby girl. I recently was informed that I will be losing my job at the end of the year and that the career that I have been waiting for most of my life is going to happen quicker than expected. I have been working for 13 years in business related fields and I don’t have any knowledge of what to expect in elementary education. After completing my BS in Accounting in August 1998, I immediately started working towards my masters/certification in elementary education knowing that I wanted to do more with my life than make money for someone else. I want to make a difference.

As a famous poet once said:

To me this is one of the greatest quotes that has made a big influence in my life to make me who I am as a person today and help me to pursue a teaching career.

The only concern that I had was where to begin working on this project. Knowing that I have been exposed to many types of technology I thought that is where I should begin. Since the class was focused on the digital classroom maybe I could learn more in this area that would broaden my current perspective and bring more knowledge to the classroom. As I began to research this topic, I was also working on my group presentation topic - Sex Education, Condom Wars, and Suicide. The sex education topic really seemed to heightened my interest, knowing that as a student myself I didn’t receive much formal instruction on sex education and I began to wonder what things are today and what the students are learning. As a 4^th grade student in a catholic elementary school my sex education was limited to learning about menstruation and how to manage it. I really was surprised and intrigued by what I was finding on sex education that I decided to change this as my main focus for my paper. Knowing that I have a young daughter whom will someday be a student I feel it would be in my best interest to know what is

currently going on and to be able to have a perspective on the current issues at hand. In this paper I plan to explain what the students are learning ‘Beyond the ABC’s and 123’s in the classroom — A Focus on Sex Education of Today in the United States.’

Today in society there is much concern as to what is right and what is to be expected in regards to sex and sex education. In order to understand where we are in today’s society we need to take a look back through history in order get a glimpse of where things began and how we have progressed or digressed to today. Since the beginning of time, we as a society, culture and people were created as sexual beings equipped with a reproductive system specified for procreation. Before any formal spoken language a man and a woman were able to communicate in a very intimate way of sexual relationships. God teaches in the Catholic religion that the intention of our sexual nature is to first reproduce other human beings in his likeness and secondly to allow for intimate pleasure and joy with a mate. In the beginning of time things were very simple compared to today. The main concerns of society were getting food, shelter, having fun and intimacy. As time and societies have changed the focus is still on food, shelter, having fun, however the perception on sex and relationship has changed greatly. In the early days there were no formal forms of ‘marriage,’ but as each society evolved, "the need for a secure environment for the perpetuation of the species and a system of rules to handle the granting of property right," (Marriage) so this is where the institute of Marriage began. For each society that developed there were just as many variations of what was defined as their societies beliefs as to what is marriage. For example, in the Middle Ages the reason for marriage was for money, children and a link to noble houses along the

property. Somewhere in the 9^th or 10^th centuries the church took over the jurisdiction of marriage and made the ceremonies a public affair to make them widely known in order to make them legal. In order for the marriage to become complete, it would have to be consummated, however if consummation never happened it was possible for the annulment process.

In today's culture there are some similarities with the societies of the past and some differences. In countries outside the United States there are many forms of marriages such as: Polygamy is where there is a multitude of partners. Polygyny is one man with several wives and polyandry is one woman with several husbands. Endogamy is when a person is required to marry someone who belongs in his or her same class or society. Exogamy is when a person is required to marry someone out of his or her society. There are also arranged marriages where a couple has been promised to one another from a young age, even before birth by their parents. In most of these marriages the couples don’t marry for love, but for other reasons. In the United States we practice common law marriage, which means that there is only one man and one woman who form the legal form of marriage. Here the traditional reason for marriage is love.

You may be asking yourself why I am bringing this topic of marriage into the paper when it is centered on the concept of sex education. My answer to that is simply, today in the United States our culture and society is centered on the idea that in order for someone to have sex, they need to be married. As marriage became the norm, the thought of having sex before marriage was taboo. "Throughout history, societies have considered sexual self-control a mark of good character." (Lickona)

If you were a male that had premarital sex you were considered a stud or cool, however if you were a female, you were considered loose, easy or having ‘bad’ character.

In light of the fact that society felt this way, the thought that anyone was having premarital sex was unheard of. In 1948 there was a study performed by Alfred Kinsey that uncovered the secret truth that people were having all types of sexual activity outside of marriage, but no one wanted to admit it. During that time society was thought of being very prim and proper and didn’t speak of things that society didn’t approve of, let alone discuss sex. Alfred’s idea was soon discredited for he had no one willing to attest to these findings. He would eventually be known for his work to legitimize the idea of what we now know as sex education. A good example of the naïve ness of society was seen in the very popular television show ‘I Love Lucy.’ When Ricky and Lucy Ricardo were expecting a baby they weren’t allowed to say the word ‘pregnant’ for fear that the word was ‘bad’ and in poor taste and shouldn’t be aired.

In the 1960’s however things began to change and a new revolution was on the verge of explosion and with a great bang. This sexual revolution as it was called was the beginning of the idea that there was no longer a need for commitments such as marriage or concept of love in order to partake in this activity. The notion of ‘free love’ with no stings attached evolved. The belief was that two people could have sex just for the pleasure of it with no commitment or promises of love involved to complicate things. Along with this came new birth control technology known as ‘The Pill’. With this invention "the pill severed the link between sex and procreation, enabling individuals to exercise their sexuality without concern for the quality of their relationships of the

character of their partners." (Lickona) The basis behind this revolution was thought to bring happiness to all that were involved, not knowing that our society would eventually endure great suffering stemming from this moment in time.

I say moment, for what was thought to be gained in instant gratification during a short span of time in history would leave permanent scars for many years to come with no knowledge if or when it will end.

"The sexual revolution promised greater happiness, but four decades later, it’s clear that our society suffers from an epidemic or problems stemming from the breakdown of sexuality morality. Among these are sexual promiscuity, teen pregnancy, unwed births, the highest teen abortion rate in the developed world, an explosion of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), a cluster of emotional and behavioral problems associated with premature sex, widespread sexual harassment, an enormous pornography industry, and the sexual abuse of children." (Lickona) We can see this to be true with the recent surveys that show " 78 percent of young people ages 15 to 19 are sexually active and that more than 20 percent of high school students have had four or more partners." (Eaton) Furthermore, "one out four teens contact a STD before graduating high school and one out of five of all AIDS victims are in their 20’s." (Eaton) The question now is how do to we as a society handle this. Society saw a need for reform and that was when sex education became a topic that is centered around controversy today.

As we explore the information about sex education we begin to find that there are two very strong arguments. The argument isn’t whether or not sex education should be taught, but rather the type of information distributed and how much is enough to educated

our children to have enough knowledge to understand what is going on. In a "national survey nine out of ten parents want sexuality education in the schools"(Steinberg), so what is the problem.

There are two basic schools of thought: abstinence and comprehensive sexuality education. Both types of education are geared towards teens with respect that they are trying to help students make the ‘right’ decisions in regards to sex, however the tactics that are used and the concepts that are taught are very different. I need also to stress that right doesn’t mean what society feels is the correct way of handling the issue, but what the student feels is right for their particular situation whether it means waiting for marriage to have sex or not. In order to explain this further I need to explain the differences and similarities between these groups as well as this advantages and disadvantages in order for you as the reader to fully understand what I mean.

The main purpose of abstinence based sex education is that it teaches young people and teens that they should be waiting to engage in any type of sexual activity until after they are married. The foundation of this theory is rooted in morality and/or religious beliefs that teach that it is "immoral to have sex before marriage."(Kirby) This type of education is said to be a fear based for it sends a very hostile and critical message to young people that sexual behavior of any kind is wrong before marriage and "their emphasis is on abstinence as the only appropriate choice for young people."(Kirby) This belief teachs the student that it is the only way that they can be 100 percent guaranteed not to get you pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted disease, and " in many such programs contraception is usually not mentioned or is discussed only in terms

of the failure rates of the contraceptive devices."(Wiley). This conservative approach explains that any type of birth control doesn’t work and there is no second chance to turn back time. The rewards they believe one will achieve by following these styles of programs are as follows: Waiting …

1. will make you dating relationship better. You’ll spend more

time getting to know each other

2. will help you find the right mate (someone who values you for the person that you are)
3. will increase your self-respect and gain the respect of others
4. teaches you to respect others: you’ll never pressure anyone
5. takes the pressure off you
6. means a clear conscience and peace of mind
7. a better sexual relationship in marriage (free of comparison and based on trust)

One program that provides such teachings on morals and the family unit is Teen Aid, Inc founded in 1981. This organization believes abstinence and strong family ties help to keep teens on a straight and narrow path to increase their chances for success in the future. They believe that "as a result of sexual activity: loss of reputation, limitations in dating/marriage choices, difficulty in sexual adjustment and confusion regarding personal value can result."(Teaching Fair p8) The executive director LeAnna Benn operates this program "under the assumption that all the kids can succeed at abstinence and that if they can’t we will deal with the individual cases."(Teaching Fair p8) She feels that they need to be able to deal with each of those students who fail the abstinence programs, for if you don’t address them this weakness can prove to be fatal in the age of HIV and AIDS. "Benn believes contraceptives should not be discussed because you undo the abstinence message of you talk about contraception I the classroom."(Teaching Fair)

CWA — Concerned Women for America founded in 1979, is an organization that believes in protecting and promoting Biblical values and uses religion as it main force of venue. "First through prayer, then education, and finally by influencing our society — thereby reversing the decline of moral values in our nation."(CWA Resource Library) Beverly LaHaye in San Diego, California founded the organization based on the Word of God and His faith and practices to protect the family unit using prayer and action. This group not only contains women, but men and people from all types of religions and political parties. "CWA seeks reform in public education by returning authority to parents, opposing invasive teacher unions, combating liberal sex education and expanding local control rather than federal control of schools." (CWA Resource Library)

This organization that there is only one form of sex education — Abstinence Only and that any other form of sex education is evil and against God’s teachings.

A comparable version of the abstinence only curriculum is the abstinence plus curriculum approach. This approach expands upon the abstinence only program by focusing on "rather than restrict the discussion of sexuality only to abstinence, a more effective approach is to discuss abstinence from sexual activity as the first and best choice for adolescents, yet include a scientific discussion of contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, and other sexually transmitted diseases, and other sexuality issues as crucial elements of lifetime-sexuality information." (Wiley) The concern of abstinence only advocates is that by providing more information, they feel that the students will increase sexual activity. They believe that less amount of education says more. However abstinence plus followers believe that is not true, the concern of

abstinence only advocates is that by providing more information they feel that the students will increase sexual activity. In actuality "studies of abstinence-plus curriculums for sexuality education indicate that students do not increase sexual activity and in some cases actually delay the onset of intercourse and reduce the frequency of intercourse or the number of sexual partners. Also these studies suggest that some of the programs generally increase the use of contraceptives." (Kirby)

A group that supports abstinence-plus is Reducing the Risk. This program

is devised of a 16 sessions that focuses on preventing pregnancy and STDs/HIV. The program has been taught all over the country and has been independently evaluated as helping to delay intercourse and reduce the amount of unprotected sex. "It’s central message is that youth should avoid unprotected sex — abstinence is the safest approach, but if young people have sex, they should always use condoms or other forms of contraception."(Kirby)

These two forms of abstinence education though similar, in some aspects and different in others still share 10 key characteristics between them to be effective programs:

1. focus narrowly on reducing one or more sexual behaviors that lead to

unintended pregnancy or STDs/HIV infection.

2. are based on theoretical approaches that have been successful on

influencing other health related risky behaviors.

3. give a clear message by continually reinforcing a clear stance on particular behaviors. They do not simply lay out the pros and cons of different sexual choices and implicitly let the students decide which is the right for them, rather, most of the curriculum activities are directed at convincing the students that abstaining from sex or using condoms or other forms of contraception is the right choice.
4. provide basic, accurate information about the risks of unprotected intercourse and methods for avoiding unprotected intercourse.
5. involve the participants and have them personalize the information
6. incorporate behavioral goals, teaching, methods, and materials that are appropriate to the age, sexual experience, and culture of the students.
7. last a sufficient length of time to complete important activities adequately.
8. select teachers or peers who believe in the program they are implementing and then provide training for those individuals.
9. include activities that address social pressures associated with sexual behavior.
10. provide modeling and the practice of communication, negotiation, and refusal skills.

In 1996 the government of the United States passed a Public Law 104-193, which gave federal money to abstinence only programs. This act is known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, sometime known as the Welfare Reform Act. The guidelines were that the government would make 50 million dollars available annually to support abstinence-only programs. However each state would need to contribute 3 dollars to every 4 dollars provided to them and has to follow the federal-funding guidelines. The key elements are:

1. abstinence form sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard for all school-age children.
2. sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects; and
3. a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human activity.

With the law enactment, more than $700,000 was received by at least 13 states. Almost as soon as the law was passed there was opposition from the other side that took this matter as far as the Supreme Court stating. Their argument was based on the fact that the abstinence-based programs were religious based. The case was then sent back to the state

courts for a ruling. As the lawyers representing plaintiffs in the case conducted depositions in preparation for trial, they discovered more evidence of religious activity in the development and promotion of federally funded abstinence-only programs." (Teaching Fear) In 1993 the law was revised to require that any programs to be federally funded must have no religious references in them and must be medically accurate. Currently there are more than 700 groups that believe in either the abstinence or abstinence —only programs.

Now that we have discussed the major viewpoint of the abstinence programs available we need to look at another type of sex education that takes a different approach called the comprehensive sexuality education. "the primary goal of comprehensive sexuality education is to promote sexual health — to help people develop a positive view of sexuality, to provide them with information and skills to take care of their sexual health, and to help them acquire skills to make decisions both now and in the future."(National Guidelines Task Force, 1996). This concept is based on the idea that educating children on what is good health practices can help them make educated decisions in dealing with sexuality and the difficulties that come with them. By opening the lines of communication and talking about these issues, students are more likely to talk with their parents, teacher or educator. One philosophy is that "educators must provide parents with accurate, honest and developmentally appropriate sexuality information to share with their children, and educators must encourage parents to express their values about sexuality to their children. Parents and other adults need to foster responsible

sexual decision-making skills and tot model healthy sexual attitudes and responsible behaviors in their own lives." (SIECUS) One such group is SIECUS — Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. This group was founded in 1964 co-founded by Harold Keif and Mary Calederone. The group was formed to help educate local youths about the risk of HIV infection, pregnancy, health problems and sexually transmitted disease. "The primary goal of the sexuality education is the promotion of sexual health. Sexuality education seeks to assist people in understanding a positive view of sexuality, provide them with information and skills about taking are of their sexual health, and help them acquire skills to make decisions now and in the future. Supporters of this organization include but are not limited to such groups as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s, Division of Adolescent and School Health. Their direction is focused on keeping school age children in good health through mental, social and physical health. They believe "when school age children are not in good health, they become distracted, unable to concentrate in school, keep up with their demanding schedules and sometimes even unable to attend school." (SIECUS) The issues that concerned the students years ago aren’t the same as the ones that concern them today and has now become not only the children’s and parent’s concern, but society and the nation. There are six preventable behaviors that SIECUS addresses: tobacco uses, poor eating habits, alcohol and drug usage, physical activity, behaviors that result in intentional or unintentional injury and sexual behaviors that result in infection or pregnancy. Through their education process the curriculum addresses "the

biological, socio-cultural, psychological and spiritual dimensions of sexuality fro the cognitive domain, the affective domain and the behavioral domain." (SIECUS)

SIECUS believes the key benefits to this type of education to the students, staff and family are: Students:

1. learn how to improve their health and prevent disease by developing skills and knowledge that can help them stay healthy.
2. learn the skills that can help them remain physically fit throughout their lives.
3. can discuss health concerns, identify health problems and if necessary, be referred to school and community services
4. are offered healthy, appealing foods to reinforce classroom instruction on nutrition and diet.
5. and families have access to support and services that help develop healthy attitudes and behaviors and prevent or address problems that affect their mental or emotional health.
6. offers a positive physical, emotional, and social climate that provides a safe physical plant and a safe, supportive, environment that fosters learning.
7. helps staff maintain and improve their health, which can decrease absenteeism and improve their morale. At the same time school staff can serve as role models for students.

So now that I have explained the three main beliefs on sex education the question is, which one works and is the most effective? For as many of studies and articles I have read there are just as many viewpoints, but the most research that I can find leads to comprehensive sexuality education. Abstinence and abstinence only programs are "effective in promoting attitudes of sexual abstinence and in decreasing sexual activity among teens. However, because of the universally poor quality of the program evaluations that we have reviewed, we conclude that such claims are completely unwarranted. To date, we are aware of no methodologically sound studies that

demonstrate the effectiveness of curricula that teach abstinence as the only effective means of preventing teen pregnancy." (SEICUS) The studies that I have seen show statistics that support SEICUS views regards educating the school age students. There was a government study that looked into the abstinence-only programs and was unable to find adequate amount of resources to support the belief that this type of education worked. Some of the flaws were that therewas no evidence to prove that this type of education was working, there were no background on the participants such as how they were selected, race etc, the tests that were taken before and after abstinence training could not directly be attributed to the education they received from this program — it was assumed and there was no long term data collected from the evaluators. A study done by Douglas Kirby "found no evidence showing that abstinence-only programs have any effect on the onset or frequency of intercourse. None of the published studies focusing in these programs showed a significant impact on the initiation of intercourse." (Teaching Fair)

Well after reading all this information and statistics I still felt as though I didn’t have enough information on what the ‘real’ society believed and who was the real clear cut winner. All the reports I read seemed to be too vague and supported the views of the person writing on the topic. So I began to interview a few different people in their viewpoint of this topic.. I begin with a mother of 4 children ranging from the age of 16 to 30. For sake of her privacy I will call her Jamie Catnip. Jamie is a divorces female of approximately 50 years of age, who has lived on Connecticut for most of her life. Jamie is the oldest of 8 children who lived with her parents and grew up in the age of the sexual

revolution, however confesses that she really knew very little about sex or what was going on during this time. She was brought up in a very strict household and was schooled in a catholic grammar school. As a child and teen she was educated in the view of the abstinence philosophy. As a person, mother, and women of today she feels that children need to be given the entire picture of what sex is and the related consequences that can occur from involving oneself in a relationship. "As a mother I would like to think that my children aren’t having premarital sex, but as a women and realist I think that they need to be prepared and educated in what can happen, but they need more just sex education. I think that we as a society need to teach our children all perspectives of relationships and the impact that they have on themselves and others in society. Children need to be educated in basic human kindness and understanding of others. The religion that they believe in is something that can help with the moral character, but they need more guidance than just that. They need to know their place in society and what they can do to help one another and the world. I believe that in helping the children of today by giving them the most information that we can for knowledge is a weapon that we can use to help survive." (Dec 6, 2000)

I also spoke with a Hispanic, catholic raised woman who is approximately 40 years old, and her name is Plumeria Web from Yonkers, New York. Her life story is a little different from the other for she grew up in a poor section of the city and went to public schools. Plumeria was never educated formally on sex education, and what she did learn was what she picked up on the streets. By the time she was 17 she was pregnant and unwed with a STD. "I was very lonely as a child living with my mother and sister.

My situation is not unlike many others in my neighborhood for there were many other families with unwed mothers trying to make ends meet. I think that if I was given the knowledge to know how to protect myself from getting pregnant and contracting a STD I may not be where I am today. However I also feel that sometimes there are things outside of education that factor in. I was very lonely and looking for love anywhere I could and ended up finding out the hard way that I have to believe in myself. I think that if children were taught to deal with their self-respect, sexuality and issues concerning teens then things may change. My mom did the best she could trying to take care of me and my sister, but she worked all the time and we were left to take care of ourselves. My situation was rough and if I had someone to talk to or help me through the tough lonely times I may have not turned to sex to comfort me. I think the best we can do for ourselves and a child is to learn as much as possible to help them get through this world. If there were support groups and education for teens on any and all matters of today, maybe that can help the children of today." (Dec 1, 2000)

I also decided to interview a youth from a local town in order to understand what the kids of today know and feel. This youth is 16 who attends a local catholic high school where she is a junior. When I began speaking with the young lady, for argument sake we will call her Blind Innocence, she wasn’t sure what I was talking about when I used the technical terms for the programs that I have been researching. However when I explained it to her in her terms she had this to say: "I don’t know what this fuss is all

about. I plan on waiting until marriage to have sex. I learned most of what I need to

from school and my friends — where else would you?" The thought of her education on sex was derived from her peers scared me so I began to ask more questions. I asked her if she learned anything in biology and health about sex and she claimed that there was nothing really to talk about. They discuss sex only from the standpoint of not having it. What I learned didn’t surprise me, but saddened me. As our conversation progressed I learned that she was part of an abstinence only program-based on her religion and that she only believed that she would wait for marriage to have sex because that was the law of her church and that she didn’t think it was a big issue. When I began to speak with her about what she knew about AIDS she had much to say, but not STD’s. I didn’t get to involved with the topic for I didn’t want to create any issues with her parents, however I knew by speaking with her that she didn’t have much knowledge on the subject.

Last but not least I spoke with a group of my colleges in class to try and come to a understanding of what was currently going on in the classroom. Most of the group I spoke with work in elementary level classrooms and felt that there was little or no sex education happening in their districts. One women spoke briefly to me in confidence that she was heading a sex education team, however she really didn’t know what was happening. She felt the person in charge wasn’t doing much to promote the program and being someone not as knowledgeable about how to teach the subject she didn’t know where to begin. As I continued to speak with the group I found that most teacher feel that they don’t have enough time in the day to discuss the basic class work let alone add on another topic. Some teacher’s felt that the subject should maybe taught in gym or health class by someone that is educated on the subject. In the class out of approximately 30

people not one of them taught sex education or knew what programs if any where offered in their schools. One thing was clear, the teachers believed that there is a problem and it needs to be addressed. Their question was how and by whom. Many of them felt uncomfortable teaching a subject that they don’t know much about. The believe there is some education going on in their schools, but not nearly enough.

Now that I have written on the types of sex education and some of the viewpoints of local voices where do we all fit in the picture — what are the rights of each group? Under the Supreme Court there have been times when they have to rule on the best interest of the parents, children and schools but hasn’t had to deal with the issues of sex education as of yet. However some of the cases that they deal with have ties into this issue but are not directly involved in sex education. Case in point, "The Supreme Court has specifically addressed the right if parents to direct the upbringing of their children. Additionally, it has addressed the student’s right to freedom of thought and expression. Further, the Court has attempted to reconcile parents’ and students’ rights with the rights of schools to make education and administrative decisions." (Fucci) When I began this section of the paper I thought that I was going to have many cases related to the topic of sex education, but ended up with more on the rights of each group relationship to a concept indirectly related. For example in Meyer v. Nebraska a case from 1923 the Supreme Court ruled a parent has the right to direct the upbringing of their child. "In the context of sex education, Meyer is an important decision for parents who question or even disagree with schools providing children with information about sex and human sexuality. Meyer establishes essentially, that it is a parent’s right to raise his or her child.

Many parents and commentators have interpreted the Court’s decision to include parent’s right to control and monitor the information a child receives from a school sponsored sex education program."(Fucci)

For students the case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette — this case relates to the students right under the First Amendment towards the freedom of expression towards the flag. "In the context of sex education, the Court’s ruling helped to protect children from participating in curricula that potentially conflicted with the student’s fundamental religious beliefs.

And lastly the rights of the schools can be demonstrated in the case of Board of Education v Pico, the issue removing certain book from the library that contained vulgar or inappropriate content. The court ruled in favor of the school for "We the court are therefore in full agreement… that local school boards must be permuted to establish an apply their curriculum in such a way as to transmit community values and that there is a legitimate and substantial community interest in promoting respect for authority and traditional values be they social, moral or political."(Fucci)

As teachers I think that we can look into programs that support sex education in the classroom and speak with our administration to set up curriculum to teach children beginning with self-respect. I think that we as a society are in trouble and need help, but by starting slow and with the right knowledge we can make a difference. Teachers need to be educated themselves through workshops and sex education programs so that they know what should be taught in respect of sex education. I have heard many teachers

complain that their administration doesn’t support the full sex education, but we need to start somewhere. I feel that there are too many issues in society that aren’t being addressed and of the parents can’t or won’t someone needs to. We are caught up in a place where there seems to be a lack of morality not in so much of a religious sense, but basic human kindness.

As a final note I would like to give my viewpoint. I feel that education of all sorts is good to have. I think that the more information we can arm ourselves and our children

can only help us to become well-rounded individuals and give them knowledge to make informed decisions. I think too many parents are stuck in the ideas of what they believe and are not allowing their children to learn what they need to survive. The world is ever changing and they way things are today will not be the way things are tomorrow. Sex education is something that I feel can profit everyone in society as long as it is done right.

Sex education needs to become part of our schools where things can be taught from a no biased perspective and correctly. Too many people don’t have the correct information and that’s when the problems start. Statistics have shown that as many as 87 percent of parents want sex education taught to their children, but society has only just begun.

Brooke, Christopher. The Medieval Ideal of Marriage. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1989.

Donovan, Patricia. Sex Education in America’s Schools: Progress and Obstacles. USA Today Magazine, July 1992, Vol. 121 Issue 2566 p28.

Fucci, Michael J. Education our Future: An Analysis of Sex Education in the Classroom.

Brigham Young University Education & Law Journal, 2000. P91.

Kirby, Douglas. What Does the Research Say About Sexuality Education? Educational

Leadership, October 2000.

Lickona, Thomas. Bringing Parents into the Picture. Educational Leadership,

October 2000.