"An Alluring Implication of Sex Education to Reduce the increasing Rate of Teenage Pregnancy

in Bintawan NHS"

Eric A. Saludares

Student Researcher

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

In the Philippines, we uphold the belief of our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, that "Youth is the
hope of our Motherland." The future generations rely on the young individuals of today.
However, the current situation presents a stark contrast to this ideal. With a marked rise in
pregnancies each year, teenage pregnancy has become a common problem among Filipino
youths.

This is the real world, and in the real world, you need protection, the simplest form, sex
education is basically an education about sexuality, contraceptive methods (condoms, drugs or
surgery), to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, the importance of protection and last but
not the least, attitudes and principles about sex. Teenagers need informations and the right
sources to help and protect themselves. This is because when they have no knowledge, they
turned to media or even sometimes pornography to get information as their parents are not
open enough about sex.

Nowadays, sex scenes are heavily portrayed in movies, TV shows, and on the internet, which
teenagers are exposed to. Even when clicking on a certain link to a website, adverts containing
sexual messages and pictures are posted to the side of the pages as if they were normal.

Teenagers could have strayed easily to such websites and unknowingly received incorrect
information about sex. In movies and TV shows however, though there is a limit to underage
children, the older teenagers are accessible to demonstration of sex scenes in this media. Sex
scenes in the media are portrayed as casual and harmless and seemed to bring no serious
consequences, causing the teenagers to view such media to be fooled by the producers who
are using sex to promote their production (Collins, R et al (2017).

It should be noted that without truly knowing about it, sex can be dangerous. Parents'
discomfort about discussing sex related issues with their children drives them to the internet
and other unreliable media sources to find out more about the topic, as they have no other
means to get more information. Sex education in schools can be taught by a classroom teacher,
school nurse, or an outside speaker, and often begins in fifth grade (Hyewon Shin, Jung Min Lee,
& Ji Young Min. 2019)

Sex education should be implemented in schools because sex education can reduce teenage
pregnancy, it's better for the teenagers to get information about sex and sexual protection
methods from right sources (schools) rather than from the media and sex education in schools
can also protect children and teenagers.

This study will show convincing and undeniable evidence of why sex education should be
implemented in schools not just to educate the youth but also to reduce the increasing rate of
teenage pregnancy to the country. Teenagers need good and correct information from the right
sources about sex, sexual relationships and various other related issues in order to make a right
decision for their present and future. They need to understand about what can happen if there
are misconceptions about sex, it in turn becomes dangerous.

The implementation of sex education in schools will be able to prepare them properly.
According to a review article by Rabbitte. M., and Enriquez, M. (2019), comprehensive sex
education (CSE) programs have demonstrated the ability to decrease teen pregnancy and delay
initiation into sex. Not only that, based on the evidences and research done as well as collected
carefully, it proves that sex education brings many benefits by reducing the rate of teen
pregnancy, providing teenagers with accurate and helpful information, and also protecting
them from harm.

References by

"X-Rated Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors Associated With U.S. Early Adolescents' Exposure to
Sexually Explicit Media" by Jane D. Brown and Kelly L. L'Engle

Rabbitte, M., & Enriquez, M. (2019). Comprehensive Sex Education as a Primary Prevention
Strategy for Sexual Violence Perpetration. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 20(2), 243-256.
doi:10.1177/1524838017691575

Cantor, J., Fischer, J. L., & Thomas, J. A. (2021). Sex Education: Politics and Evidence. The Future
of Children, 31(1), 161-181. doi:10.1353/foc.2021.0007.

Collins, R et al (2017). Sexual Media and Child well-being and health. Journal of the American
Academy of Pediatrics. 140(2).

Hyewon Shin, Jung Min Lee, & Ji Young Min. (2019). Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Attitudes, and
Perceptions and Actualities of Sex Education among Elementary School Parents. Child Health
Nursing Research, 25(3), 312–323 Jang HJ. Effects of sex education programs for preschool
parents [master's thesis]. Seoul: Hanyang University; 2016. p. 1-74.