DEBATE COMMUNICATION – PRO SEX EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

RESOLUTION : Lessons about sexuality and relationships should be compulsory in schools.

INTRO - In these times of precocious pre-teens, pregnancy among teenagers, and sexually transmitted
diseases and infections (STDs), children and adolescents need much more than a one-time chat about
the birds and the bees. Pregnancy prevention and safe sex really should be ongoing, age-appropriate
topics.

VALUE : Health

CRITERIA : Inform the youngsters about their body

DOT :

Abstinence-only programs

A form of “sex education” that teaches abstinence (not having sex) as the only morally correct option for
unmarried people. They don’t include information about protection from STDs or pregnancy. See
"abstinence-only-until-marriage programs."

Amenorrhea

Not having a period (menstruating).

Sex education

Sex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual anatomy, sexual
reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of human sexual behavior.

Chancre

A sore on the skin or mucus membrane that’s caused by syphilis during the first phase of infection.

CONT 1

With problems, such as teenage pregnancies and transmission of STDs on the rise, it is only appropriate
that sex education is made accessible in school so that the most number of children can be made aware.

According to Save the Children (a leading international organization), 13 million children are born to
teenagers each year; 90% of these births occur in the developing countries.

Sexuality education is mandatory in most Member States of the European Union, except in Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom.

It has been concretely observed, that Nordic and Benelux countries are known for having the highest
quality of sexuality education, while Eastern and Southern European States have deficient or inexistent
sexuality education programmes, with exceptions being, for example, for Portugal and Spain.
Romania and Bulgaria have the highest proportion of teenage mothers in the European Union. Nearly
one in ten births in both countries was to a teenager or girl even younger in 2015, the latest year for
which data is available. That is more than three times the EU average. (euronews)

Netherlands has 0% , Luxembourg 1%, while Romania has 3.5% or Bulgaria 4.7% (also the highest)

CONT 2

Did you know that only 34 % of young people around the world can demonstrate accurate knowledge
of HIV prevention and transmission? And that two out of three girls in some countries have no idea of
what is happening to them when they begin menstruating? (UNESCO , INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL
GUIDANCE ON SEXUALITY EDUCATION)

It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will
empower them to realize their health, well-being and dignity; develop respectful social and sexual
relationships; consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others; and understand
and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.

The HIV epidemic is not over and young people remain disproportionately at risk. As outlined in
UNESCO’s 2016 Strategy on Education for Health and Well-Being, those aged 15-24 account for 16 per
cent of the global population, but represent 34 per cent of people in the age group 15-49 years
acquiring HIV each year. In many settings, new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women
are substantially higher than among males of the same age. Girls and women are also disproportionally
affected by gender inequality, which further limits their access to education and health information and
services.

To be effective, CSE content must respond appropriately to the specific context and needs of young
people and include a concerted focus on gender discrimination, sexual and gender-based violence, HIV
and AIDS, child marriage and harmful traditional practices.

A UNAIDS review (1997) of 53 studies which assessed the effectiveness of programs to prevent HIV
infection and related health problems among young people concluded that sex education programs do
not lead to earlier or increased sexual activity among young people, in fact the opposite seems to be
true. 22 reported that HIV and/or sexual health education either delayed the onset of sexual activity,
reduced the number of sexual partners or reduced unplanned pregnancies and STD rates. 27 studies
reported that HIV/AIDS and sexual health neither increased nor decreased sexual activity, pregnancy or
STD. The review concluded that school based interventions are an effective way to reduce risk behaviors
associated with HIV/AIDS/STD among children and adolescents.

CONT 3

Child sexual abuse is a social malice that is afflicting thousands worldwide. Sex education in schools can
play an active role in curbing the incidence of abuse as through this medium children can be made
aware of the difference between good and bad touch.
Open discussion of sexual matters with trusted adults is usually absent at the very time when it is most
needed. This, in turn, is compounded by the pervasive, confusing and conflicting (and predominantly
negative) messages received by children about sexuality and gender. In turn, these may contribute to
creating and sustaining vulnerability to coercion, abuse and exploitation. Effective sexuality education is
therefore essential in order to redress this balance.

According to Unesco (2009), the primary goal of sexuality education is to equip children and young
people with the knowledge, skills and values to make responsible choices about their sexual and social
relationships in a world affected by HIV. In addition to learning about the risks of pregnancy and sexually
transmitted infections (including HIV), children and young people also need to learn about the risk of
sexual exploitation and abuse in order to recognise these when they occur, to protect themselves as far
as possible and to identify and access available sources of support.

Sexual vulnerability is also linked to other forms of risk and vulnerability, such as racism and
homophobia, drug and alcohol use and to gender inequality and violence in the household.

STATISTICS
According to the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance Survey, or YRBSS, in 2015, 41% of high school
students had had sex at least once. Eleven-and-a-half percent had had four or more sexual partners.
Fifty-seven percent of sexually active students had used condoms the last time they had sex, but only 18
percent had used birth control pills.

Furthermore, one-fifth of sexually active high school students had used drugs or alcohol before the most
recent time they had sex.

A 2007 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that teens who start using
condoms from the first time they have intercourse score higher on several sexual health measures than
teens who don't. The scientists followed more than 4,000 teens for an average of almost seven years.
They found that those adolescents who used condoms at their first intercourse had the same number of
sexual partners as those who didn't. However, they were 30% more likely to have used condoms during
their most recent sexual experience. They were also only half as likely to have been infected
with chlamydia and gonorrhea.

A study in Pediatrics found that parents who talk to their male children about sex are more likely to have
boys who go to the doctor. It's all about setting a good example. (MAYBE A MEETING WITH THE
PARENTS TO HAVE THEIR SUPPORT)

Statistics show that more than 50% of American teenagers lose their virginity by the age of 17. It also
shows that sex education in schools is well accepted by only 7% of American parents. The other 93% still
consider it a taboo to talk about sex to their children, and resort to making up the ever popular stories
of birds and bees. But do they stop for a moment and think that it is not the presence of sex education
in schools, but its absence that has made the rate of teen pregnancy.
According to data from the World Bank, European countries tend to have the lowest rate of teen
pregnancies. Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, among others, had fewer than 4 teen births per thousand
babies born. What accounts for these numbers? Experts point to the generally progressive approach to
sexual education in the countries listed above as well as Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Denmark,
and Belgium, all of which reported between 5 and 6 teen births per thousand people. Teachers in these
countries tend to put less emphasis on the dangers of sex. Instead, they gear the curriculum to teach sex
as a normal, healthy, positive act.

On the other hand, the U.S. reported around 30 teen births per thousand. Sex-Ed in the U.S. tends to
veer toward repressive and cautionary teachings. Many states rely on abstinence-only curriculum, which
prevents students from learning about pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. It should be noted
this is not necessarily a causal relationship between sexual education policy and teen birth rate, but
shouldn't all students be entitled to clear, comprehensive information, just as they are with other
subjects?

BLOCKS
Argument contra - Abstinence-only education doesn't affect the rates at which teenagers decide to
have sex. Contra-argumentul meu- Admittedly, comprehensive sex education doesn't discourage kids
from having sex either. However, it does teach them how to do so more safely.

Argument – having condomns in school would encourage kids to do sex

My argument - Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have consistently demonstrated that teaching
comprehensive sex education in schools doesn't have the downside most people are afraid of. In other
words, providing condoms in schools doesn't encourage adolescents to start having sex earlier, or even
more often.

Having those condoms available does seem to encourage teens to use them, but only if they would be
having sex anyway.