Sex Education for Young Ages

Task 5 – Public Argumentative Essay

Sex Education for Young Ages

By: St. Mufarrohah

            Sex education becomes an essential issue which is about acquiring the information of sexual habits. Actually, not only adults, but also children have to learn about sexuality because it cannot be separated from other aspects of human being, such as our feeling, action, even the thoughts. The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that sexuality is an important part of the personality of everyone including children. Giving the explanation in appropriate ways, by teaching about it at school or at home for example, is needed to do, so the children can get the clear view of sexuality. Children should learn about sexuality to understand about the concept and the influences of sexuality.

            Firstly, Sex education gives the comprehension to children about sexuality circles. At least they will know several topics that they are not really familiar with. Some of those topics are abstinence, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, sexual attitudes and values, body image, sexual health, sexual orientation, contraception, gender, human growth and development, human reproduction, sexual anatomy and physiology, pregnancy, relationships, sexual behavior, and sexual pleasure. Of course, comprehension of the concepts is the first important step that children should know. The goal is to help young people in deciding the best decision about their sex lives now and in the future. Besides, they will be able to take care of their bodies and being responsible to make decisions for their life because they are already know clearly about the view or concept of sexuality. They will think twice or wisely when the have to face about the thing that related with sex.

            Secondly, Children who get sex education can prevent the sexual problems that might happen in adulthood. It is because they are already given the comparison of the effects if they will decide whether to have sex or not. If it is not given since young ages, it will give no clue the things that they should do when they are older. When they do not really know about the information of sexuality, the risks of getting infection from sexual transmitted infection (STI), such as HIV or Hepatitis B are possible to happen. Some of the causes of STI are bacteria and viruses from unprotected sex. Sex education is the best solution because they will get the accurate information, such as about contraception, safe sex, and others. Educating children about sex does not increase the rate of infections, it does the exact opposite. Research showed that the statistic of Europeans get low lower STI rates as the effect of giving sex education.

            Some people may state that very young children are not mature enough to understand the concepts of sexuality. It is completely nonsense. Young ages are the period when children stay with their biggest of curiosity. Children would ask about some of the organs of the body in some of the activities, such as when parents are trying to take a bath their children or dress the clothes to them. In this case, parents take the important step to do the communication. They can tell about it from a little thing and give its explanation to them, so they cannot be misunderstood. If parents let the question without giving the answer because they think that their children are not mature enough, it is possible that they children will find the answer from other sources, such as television or book which can lead them into wrong understanding. Learning about sexuality which starts by knowing about the organs of the body is included into sensitive topics. It means that they cannot catch the meaning if they just only read or see the information without hearing the explanation. That’s why children need the guidance as the agents who can give the clear explanation.

            Another belief may state that teaching young people about sex will cause them to have sex. It is absolutely not right. The aim of giving sex education is reducing the risks of negative outcomes from sexual behaviors, for example unwanted pregnancies. The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) had listed some programs that have been taught at school, one of which is abstinence. It tells about information of sexual behavior, such as about contraception and disease-prevention methods. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health found that 86 percent of all high schools in America that had been taught said that abstinence was effective to avoid pregnancy. It showed that teaching sex education will not cause students to have sex, it leads them to choose what they should do or how to face everything that related with sexuality because some of those programs give the basic explanation about sexuality.

            In brief, giving sex education are better to be done since early ages to minimize the bad effects that might be happen at later ages. In addition, Sex education not only can be taught at school but also at home. Both parents and teachers could give the clear explanation, so children can easily understand about it. Children should know about the comprehension of sex education to help them in getting the positive sides of learning of sexuality, such as get the accurate information about human sexuality and prevent the sexual problems in adulthood.