They should include such topics as abortion, contraception, and safe sex. Also, sex education should be a separate class; it should not be incorporated into a science, health, or home economics class (Teal A18).
The sooner sex education begins, the better, even as early as elementary school. Sex education has filtered into elementary schools because more and more children have to care for themselves after school and have limited supervision in the home (Lively A1). However, sex education in elementary schools should be limited to things children have observed such as their own bodies or the birth of animals. The more technical and detailed information should start showing up in the fifth or sixth grades. These lessons should do more than teach abstinence. Children need to hear the truth and should be provided with the best information they can get. Parents and teachers need to be open and honest with their children. Just saying "NO" doesn"t always do the job.
In the same sense, schools should not shoulder all of the responsibility for teaching children about sex. Parents need to be involved in devising sex education programs. If not, children may wind up with conflicting messages at school and at home (Teal A18).
Although sex education programs in school have been around for many years, most programs have not been nearly as effective as hoped. Schools across the country .
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need to take a rigorous look at their programs and begin to implement more innovative programs that have been proven effective. Educators, parents and policy-makers should avoid emotional misconceptions about sex education. Based on the rates of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV among teenagers, we can no longer ignore the need for both, education on how to postpone sexual involvement, and also how to protect oneself when sexually active (Decardo 3).