Why Sex Education Should be Taught in

Schools: 10 Reasons to Support It

AashikushwahDecember15, 2022
Updated 2022/12/15 at 10:58 PM
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In this article, we will discuss a very important topic of today’s time: “why sex education
should be taught in schools?”

Many parents think that if their child learns or gets to know about the term called “sex”
at an early age, then it may affect the mental health of the child, but this is purely a
preconceived notion, and it is high time to break it.

And the way to do it is through sex education in schools.

Schools should teach equally to altogether about sex education so that they can
understand their as well as others’ body structure and respect each other.

Still, in schools, the scenario is the opposite; girls are separated from boys when
teachers have to tell girls about menstrual cycles.

Schools are where we start growing physically and mentally, so this is the right time and
place to teach them about their sex organs so that they don’t have to find them in
uncomfortable ways by other means, which can even affect the mental health of the
individual.

Schools must conduct sex education programs to make students aware of various
dangerous disease that is caused due to unawareness or negligence while having
sexual intercourse.

Awareness can help prevent adolescent pregnancy by telling the pros and cons of
sexual practices.

Here are a few reasons on why sex education should be taught in schools.

1. Sex Education Shouldn’t be Limited to Porn Sites!

Every individual starts to evolve from the age of 13 to 17 and hence goes through
several physical changes which trouble them because they don’t know what’s
happening to them. They cannot even ask their parents because of their shyness and
end up following porn sites to understand the functions of their sex organs.

Porn sites are very addictive because whenever an individual watches porn, the brain
releases a pleasure hormone named dopamine which gives high to our body to watch
more and more porn, which starts to develop false pleasure images in the brain and
create stimulating triggers this deteriorate physical and psychological health of the
individual.

Porn sites are not for education purposes but are used to learn more about one’s
sexuality, and then they end up becoming addicted. Porn showcases the unrealistic
aspect of sexual intercourse, which creates curiosity in the viewer’s mind to experience
that in real life, which successfully helps develop rapists.
Once students adopt this self-destructing habit, then it is the end for them to understand
safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases, which is a vital thing to understand, and
they won’t be able to make responsible decisions related to sexual health.

So to prevent teenagers from learning about sex through sources like porn sites, it is
better to teach about it in schools.

2. To Make them Understand About Menstrual Cycle

Every girl has to go through the initial phase of the menstrual cycle when it suddenly
starts happening and leaves a girl terrified with blood and overthinking. Girls are taught
in schools about the menstrual cycle, but that information remains so superficial that
they do not understand when it starts to happen.

But boys are not properly trained on how to react to the menstrual cycle, which is why
they don’t understand the pain and sufferings a female goes through during periods.

Period cramps and mood swings sometimes leave a female in such a bad state that
they have to get counseling because it becomes so much pain that they cannot lead a
good life and carry a fear of menstrual cycles every month.

Teaching about menstrual cycles in school can educate both boys and girls on the
entire process.

3. To Prevent the Skyrocketing Teen Pregnancy Rates

Photo by Dainis Graveris on Unsplash

As children grow up into adults, the time in between is very important, and parents must
talk about sensitive topics so that they can understand their child better so that conflicts
can be reduced. Healthy friendships can be formed between them.

Some parents don’t understand their children in adolescence and blame them for their
deeds without asking for the reason behind them. Family conflicts compel children to
find love outside the home, and they end up being in relationships with pregnancy.

Awareness of contraceptive methods can help a lot in reducing teen pregnancy rates as
then they can have sex without getting pregnant. Educating teens about sex education
in schools will make them understand personal boundaries and health so that they can
make healthy decisions by avoiding pregnancy in their teenage.

4. Sexual Orientation Shouldn’t be a Taboo

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

There is more gender identity present in society rather than just male and female.
People need to understand that other genders’ lives matter too, and they also have an
equal right to express themselves.

In schools, education must also focus o LGBTQ-inclusive sex education so it can help
children to understand themselves without being stressed. LGBTQ stands for:

Lesbian: A woman who loves the other woman and wants to have a life together with
her, but society criticizes them for their relationships, and some believe it is a sin.

Gay: A man who loves the other man and is also attracted sexually is called gay. It is
not in people’s hands whom they will like whom not. It is how they are and their body
type.

Bisexual: When a girl is sexually attracted to both males and females and can form a
love relationship with both genders, considered to be bisexual. It doesn’t mean that they
can date a male and a female at the same time; love still demands loyalty.

Transgender: They are the people who are not satisfied by their gender identity which is
given at the time of birth, and they feel that they didn’t get the right body; they express
themselves by wearing things of the gender they feel they are and not what they are
born with. These people suffer the most as people make fun of them because of their
attire.

Queer: People who are queer are of more than one type, as they are non-heterosexual
people. In simple terms, they are not confirmed about their sexuality and hence explore
more to find out whom they are attracted to.

In schools, we are only taught about male and female but not about LGBTQ, and that
affects the life of LGBTQ students who cannot talk about themselves and always lives in
fear that they will get caught one day and made fun of.

5. Parents Can Hav a Upper Hand

Parents are the main character of every child’s story as they play the role of support
system whenever children go through a mental breakdown. They are the ones who
teach about self-esteem and personal skills and encourage kids to live life from one
high to another.

Whenever sex education programs are conducted, parental consent must be there so
that they can also join and learn how to better teach their child instead of just leaving
them by themselves.
Moral values are very important in one’s life as the only thing that helps children to
make the right decisions in life without hurting anyone and without getting hurt.

Parents should support their children in choosing their sexual identity so that they feel a
sense of comfort and togetherness. Some parents disown their children after finding
that they are from the LGBTQ community, and it becomes even tougher for them to
tackle everything together.

Especially parents of boys must teach them to respect every gender because when a
boy grows up, they don’t know the struggles of the opposite sex, and bullying or abuse
sometimes last impressions on their mind for a lifetime.

6. Sexual Health is an Underrated Concern

Comprehensive sex education programs must be initiated in schools to promote
awareness about protected sex and safe space. Everybody talks about sex, but few are
concerned about their sexual health.

There are many sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, gonorrhea, which can result in
loss of life; people must be aware of their and their partner’s sexual desires and
fantasies to avoid intimate partner violence while having sex.

People should not have many sex partners to avoid sexually transmitted infections, and
having more than one partner affects the psychological health of the person as it leads
to comparison and insecurity.

Public health campaigns should be organized to make people more aware of making
the masses understand the basic facts about sex education with the help of medical
professionals so that people can get accurate information.

Mandate sex education should be followed to have more participation by the people in
the workshop on sex education.

Awareness about disease control methods can reduce the count of dangerous
diseases, and HIV education must also be mandatory in school districts to have healthy
youth.

7. Helps Prevent Sexual Violence

In today’s world, sexual violence has increased so much that people are afraid to trust
each other. Suppression of sexual desires results in sexual violence like rape, sexual
assault, and sexual abuse.
Research shows that most sexual violence happens due to a lack of sexual activity or
bad experiences with their partners, which provoke people to commit these inhumane
crimes.

There must be a curriculum to guide students on dealing with stress in relationships so

they can get help directly and not fall for the bad paths.

Sometimes in middle school, students experience such devastating sexual violence that
they consider sex bad and are afraid their whole life to even talk about it.

Sexual health education helps people have healthy relationships that can even promote
human development in developed nations or developing nations. When people are
healthy mentally and physically, only they can contribute their all to the nation’s
development.

8. To Prevent Ill Practises

Vatsyayana wrote Kamasutra in which he talked about the crucial thing: position is the
main thing while having sex. People think their sex organs are only for having sex, but it
is more than that.

It tells the beauty of the functions of our sex organs so that we learn to respect them
and not commit demeaning crimes against any person’s sex organs.

Lack of knowledge about our sex organs results in many ill practices like washing of
vagina with chemically obtained solutions that are present in the market but here,
people need to understand that vagina is a self-cleaning organ, and it does not need
any solutions.

9. Labs for Sex Education in Schools

Theory cannot be compared with practical learning, and schools should have practical
labs for the classes of sex education in that they can show the various necessary things
by different explanatory models so that students can relate to them completely.

Presentations can be of good use while learning about sex education so that students
can remember the teachings for a long period.

Different innovative activities must be developed so students can evolve through them
by respecting each other’s personal space.

When boys are aware of girls’ problems, their friendships will automatically reduce.
They will develop compassion for everybody, so they can never think about assaulting a
girl.
10. Learn About Sexual Assaults
Everybody talks about girls when it comes to sexual assault. Still, people need to
understand that boys face sexual assault and cannot even speak about it because we
made it difficult for them to open up by saying that males are supposed to be strong.

Schools must teach boys to open up about their feelings more in case of any assault
because when it happens to them, some become rebellious towards people, and some
lose interest in sexual activity.

Is Sex Education Worth Having?

To know about our sex organs, everybody needs sex education to learn, understand
and be aware of ourselves. When students are not allowed to learn in a conducive
environment, they find a way to know about it, which can prove dangerous to them and
others.

Crimes can be reduced to many folds when people are guided properly about their
gender and others. People commit crimes when they lose compassion for others but
having an education system that provides sex education will develop compassion and
awareness in young people.

Students should also promote sex education by organizing campaigns in their locality to
create awareness.