There are many different ways to address sexual education in high school. Some people believe abstinence-only programs are the best way to keep teenagers from having sex. Joe S. McIlhaney, the President of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, exposes his belief that maintaining "abstinence until marriage" is the ultimate way to keep students from devastating their young lives by becoming pregnant, not finishing school or contracting a sexually transmitted disease. On another level Debra Haffner, President of the Sexuality of Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), declares that there is a better way to approach sexual education in high school other than abstinence-only programs. In her article she concludes that sometimes abstinence-only programs can "result in more students engaging in sexual intercourse after participating in the- program. Haffner believes that sexual education programs should teach students how to "handle the challenges of dating, intimacy and sexual limit setting." My personal experience with these types of programs lead me to believe Haffner is more aware of what young adults need to learn from a sex-ed course. Any sex-ed program should explain relationships, affection and ways to prevent pregnancy and disease in order to be effective. .
One of the first ways for a sex education class to be beneficiary to high school students is to let them become aware of the challenges of dating. Beginning classes with topics students are familiar with, and most likely interested in, lets the students become more engaged in the information. There are many obstacles in the challenge of dating; peer-pressure, television, older partners and movies that imply sex is an every-day activity. These things challenge the boundaries of young people who do not know if they are ready to have sex. Dating, relationships and intimacy are closely intertwined and should be the foundation of any program trying to teach young people about sex.
