sex education in traditional societies

Essay by Anonymous UserUniversity, Bachelor's April 1996

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INTRODUCTION

This paper discusses sex education in traditional societies, rumors surrounding the topic, the results from different techniques and the different views of each. Five countries were chosen for this analysis and were chosen based on their economy, culture, and availability of information. The countries are the United States, England, Canada, the Netherlands, and Sweden. It is measured by the rate of teen pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in teens.

DISCUSSION

Sex education deals with all aspects of human sexuality. It is often used when talking about educating young people. It covers topics such as reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), contraceptives, relationships, behavior patterns, cultural issues, and gender issues. Sex education can be taught in many ways. Children learn about sex from their peers, their parents, schools, and sometimes church. Television has a large impact on children in developed countries, especially in the United States.

There are varied opinions on the topic of sex education. Many people feel that educating teens on contraceptives makes them more likely to have premarital sex, but despite this 'nine out of ten parents want their children to receive it.' (Haffner and Sowell, 1993:426) Some opinions are for sex education while some are against it. A recent change is that many groups who were against sex education have moved toward a very conservative program supporting abstinence.

England

England is trying to drastically cut their rate of teen pregnancy. By the year 2000, England wants its pregnancy rate for teens 13 to 15 to be down to 4.7 per 1,000 girls from its rate of 9.5 in 1989. Their plan was to increase the number of family planning clinics for young people and to increase the sex education program in schools. The annual report showed a drop from 10.1 to 9.3...