Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Adelola Ajayi
Professor Joshi
Pre-english
3 August 2017
Audience Analysis: My intended audience for this position paper are adolescents, parents,
legislators and school administrators. I chose this audience because these individuals are all
affected by sexual education. Adolescents decisions can be influenced by the type of education
they receive which is determined by legislators and enforced by administration within schools.
The decisions of administration and legislators can affects parents and what they want for their
adolescents.This paper is written for these individuals to learn about the effect sexual education
has on teenagers. They should care because the choices of the type of sexual education
abstinence versus comprehensive education , can affect their children and society as a whole, in
relation to the epidemics in sexual health. All adolescents should care about the type of education
they are receiving in school because it will benefit their future and their lifestyle. Education is
important to influence lifestyle choices, education has been seen to change the way individuals
think. Therefore if adolescents are taught sexual education in a different way then it will affect
the choices they make in regards to their own sexual health. The ethnicity of these adolescents
does not matter but the statistics among African Americans adolescents in regards to sexually
transmitted diseases and infections are high among African Americans, as a result this paper can
give African American youth insight into the type of education and knowledge about sexual
health. Income may affect this audience because education in certain schools in regard to the
quality and resources available determines the type of education individuals would receive,
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specific comprehensive education programs require more funds, therefore this article is intended
for all income levels to understand the effects of sexual education and how it is taught to other
effects of education.
Sexually transmitted diseases have risen to levels where the health service is unable to
cope, with annual diagnoses of syphilis up 500 per cent and one in ten people aged 16-24
infected with chlamydia(OKeefe 26). Sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers are
beginning to rise which is a significant problem in today's society. It is important for adolescents
to understand the importance of sexual education and how it can affect their sexual health when
engaging in risk behavior. To prevent further rise of STDs and STIs among teenagers we must
examine their actions to understand why they are contracting these diseases and infections when
they have been taught sexual education. If a teenager contracts an STD or an STI it may not be
curable and may affect future sexual endeavors. If students have a better understanding of sex
through means of sexual education, they will be more prone to converse with their partner before
Sexual educations begins in the fifth grade, with parent permission and continues
throughout high school. In school, students are primarily taught abstinence, which has not been
an effective method to teach sexual health to adolescents in our society. Although schools teach
abstinence they also teach students about STDs and STIs. However, even though teenagers are
taught about STDs and STIs, they are taught to avoid sex altogether which has not been effective
because they are still engaging in sexual activity. Adolescents are becoming more sexually
active, abstinence is not being practiced and teenagers are not concerned about their sexual
health. In health education, a curriculum that highlights how an individual can converse with
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their partner,about their sexual health is nonexistent. Essentially teenagers have been taught
about sexually transmitted diseases and infections, and the reasons they should not engage in
sexual activity, which has seen to be ineffective, but still were informed about the risks of having
sex.
In fact, in this paper I will show that the health education system does contribute to
teenagers lack of knowledge about sexual behavior and health, and how the education system
causes teenagers not to get tested or to discuss their sexual health. Other factors considered
include society and values, which contribute to the behaviors of adolescent youth. I will show
how teenagers are contracting STDs and STIs as a result of ignoring abstinence only education
and disregarding what has been taught in comprehensive sexual education. I will also illustrate
how others think it is important for the education system to teach more than abstinence, because
it is evident that most teenagers are not abstaining. Throughout this argument I will uncover the
reason the sexual education system is not effective because they are contracting sexually
transmitted diseases and sexually transmitted infections, refusing to abstain from sex and are
Abstinence-only education appears to help delay the onset of sexual activity for younger
adolescents who have not yet initiated sex; however, it may not provide the knowledge and skills
necessary to protect youth once they become sexually active(Walcott et al. 828). As a result of
abstinence programs it is shown that they will not receive the knowledge of protection if they did
information about protection. The sexual education programs are not geared to the age of the
group that is engaging in sexual activity and the culture of the society. Adolescents have high
sexual activity therefore having a program for that age group that teaches only abstinence would
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not be effective, the educational programs must analyze all aspects of the environment that they
are tailored to. Research has been done to discover whether or not sex education that teaches
only abstinence is effective, Based on systematic reviews, including a large federally funded
study of four abstinence programs, abstinence-only programs prove no more effective in getting
students to abstain from sex compared with comprehensive or general health promotion
programs (Trenholm et al., 2008; Underhill, Montgomery, & Operario, 2007). Schools that
teach sexual education or programs that teach sexual education have not been more beneficial
than those that teach strictly abstinence. Parents have realized that comprehensive education
highlights all aspects related to sexual education of those that participate in sexual activity, and
this method is effective, Parents thought it was appropriate to provide high school and middle
school youth with broad information on sexual issues, including sexually transmitted infections
(99%), how babies are made (96%), waiting to have intercourse until older (95%), how to
make responsible sexual choices based on individual values (91%), how to use and where to get
(72%), and that teens can obtain birth control pills from clinics and doctors without parents
discuss everything related to having sex that adolescents may be exposed to, and this type of
The research on sex education programs is dominated by the notion that sex education
programs should only teach abstinence versus safe sex choices. Research states that effective
sexual education programs would be those that educate on waiting to have sex, protection and
less sexual partners (Walcott et al. 828). Many individuals would argue that sexual education
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programs should only teach abstinence. They believe that teaching abstinence would prevent
sexually transmitted diseases and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents, and also
prevent pregnancy, Abstinence from sexual intercourse represents a healthy choice for
teenagers, as teenagers face considerable risk to their reproductive health from unintended
pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including infection with the human
ensuring physical, emotional and mental health within adolescents because it prevents all of the
Research also indicates that sexual activity among adolescents are high, which has led to
sexually transmitted diseases and infections among teenagers. Early sexual activity, multiple
partners and unprotected sexual activity can increase the risk of HIV and sexually transmitted
infections (Walcott et al. 828).Since adolescents are sexually active they are more at risk for
diseases, in the United States, one of every four teenagers who is sexually active will contract
an STI (Kirby, 2002), and one in four college students will contract an STI during his or her time
at school, human papillomavirus (HPV) being the most common. Unfortunately, increasing rates
of STIs among college students may be extending to HIV infection as well (e.g., Hightow et al.,
2005). Comprehensive educational programs are geared to prevent sexually transmitted diseases
and infections among adolescents by teaching them effective contraceptive methods. However,
individuals that were taught through abstinence only programs have not effectively been taught
about contraceptives and how to prevent STDs and STIs because they have been taught to stay
away from sex. With increasing sexual activity among teenages it is evident that educational
Adolescents do not converse with their partners about their sexual health before engaging
in sexual behavior. Research indicates that, Fifty-three percent of females and 45% of males
discussed contraception or STDs before having first sex(Walcott et al.828). There are various
reasons that adolescents do not converse with their partners, one reason being the type of
greater likelihood of discussing contraception with ones partner before first sex... the more
dating activities they will engage in before sex and the older they are at first sex, the greater their
likelihood of discussing contraception or STDs before first sex(Ryan et al.). Adolescents that
are not in a strong committed relationship or those who do not interact with their partner are least
likely to converse with their partners about contraceptives and stds. Conversing about
contraceptives can prevent STDs and STIs among adolescents. Also, conversing with a partner
about their sexual health can stop the spread of STDs and STIs among adolescents. It is
important for partners that engage in sexual activity to converse with each other to ensure they
are maintaining their health, this would lead to prevention of diseases and show that they have
In conclusion, sexual education programs teach adolescents not to engage in sex, the risks
of sexual activity and protection if they decide to have sex . One of the most used technique in
sexual education is abstinence but it has proved to be unsuccessful because many teens are
becoming pregnant and catching STDs and STIs. To improve the sexual behavior of sexually
active teenagers, sexual education should be more well-rounded putting equal focus on options
besides abstinence. Comprehensive education has been effective on educating and preventing
STDs and STIs which has led to adolescents being able to converse with each other about their
sexual health.
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Works Cited
Abstinence-only education policies and programs: A position paper of the Society for Adolescent
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Aggarwal, Rajesh K., and Andrew A. Samwick. The Other Side of the TradeOff: The Impact
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Dehne, Karl L., and Gabriele Riedner. Sexually Transmitted Infections among Adolescents:
The
Ryan, S., Franzetta, K., Manlove, J. and Holcombe, E. (2007), Adolescents Discussions About
Contraception or STDs with Partners Before First Sex. Perspectives on Sexual and
www.jstor.org/stable/3776411.
Gupta, Niodita, et al. "Discovering Sexual Health Conversations between Adolescents And
O'Keeffe, Alice. "Teenage Sex: Don't Scoff at Abstinence." New Statesman, vol. 132, no. 4663,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=11298286&site=ehost-live.
Sonfield, Adam. "New study points to high STI rates among teens, major disparities among
Viewpoints in Context,
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A180406620/OVIC?u=umd_um&xid=410ac1c6
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