Lack of Adequate Sex Education Programs in High Schools: Center for Disease and Control

Sex education is often considered a taboo in many schools and they hesitate to educate children about the cause and effects of sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s).The Center for Disease and Control Prevention has recently released a report on the sex education programs offered by high schools in America. They reported that 94% of high schools educated their children on sex abstinence, 88% on the importance of monogamy and 92% talked about how culture influences sexual behaviors.

Some schools also taught children about the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and its preventive measures. CDC reports that several teenagers are diagnosed with STD’s and early pregnancies. Therefore, it emphasized the importance of sex education programs in schools.

"We need to do a better job of giving our young people the skills and knowledge they need to protect their own health. It's important to teach students about healthy relationships and how to reduce sexual risk before they start to have sex," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention.

CDC has recommended 16 key points on which schools must educate its children. It included topics like prevention of HIV/ AIDS, early sex education, diagnosis for STD’s, pregnancy prevention etc. However, sex education programs in certain schools still fall short of CDC recommendations, they also indicated that some schools do not offer sex education at all.

"Lack of effective sex education can have very real, very serious health consequences. Young people who have multiple sex partners, don't use condoms, and use drugs or alcohol before sex are at higher risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. School-based sex education is a critical opportunity to provide the skills and information they need to protect themselves," said Dr. Stephanie Zaza, director of CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health.

Source-Medindia