An Educational Issue That is Important to Me.
There are too many educational issues that I believe are important. The issue I am going to focus on, though, is the issue of Sex Education and Drug Abuse Classes. These topics are usually covered in Health Courses, naturally, but the programs that schools provide are highly flawed. I am fresh out of highschool, I have just recently underwent these programs, and I have found that school did not prepare me or inform me AT ALL for real life experiences.
SEXUALEDUCATION: At my high school, we had a week long program about Sex. I believe it was called REAL LOVE WAITS. I am not dissing on the program at all- I do believe that it was helpful. However, it was very biased. Instead of giving students information on how to practice safe sex, they gave information on how to practice abstinence. YES- abstinence is key, but we all know very well that probably about 95% of high school students experiment and engage in some sort of sexual activity. Telling a child NOT TO PUSH THE BIG RED BUTTON only initiates them to push that big red button. It's the same thing with sex, if you sit there and tell them not to do it, it is only going to make them want to do it more. Kids don't need to be taught abstinence, they need to be taught safe sex, and the effects of what happens if they do not engage in safe sex. They also need to be taught that if they DO choose not to abstain from sex, it does not make them a bad person- It makes them human. It's clearly what no one wants for their kids: to be going around having sex. NEWSFLASH they are going to do it anyway, whether we are aware of it or not. Would you rather have your children running around having unsafe sex and getting STDs or would you rather them be engaging in safe sex? EXAMPLES OF HOW THE SEXUAL ED PROGRAM AT MY HIGH SCHOOL DID NOT WORK: Many Students got infected with chlamydia by not using a condom. Many girls became pregnant, one of which who graduated with me in 2011. She now has two children.
DRUG ABUSE CLASSES: In high school, we were taught what drugs were out there and what negative affects they have on our brains. Anything that I have learned about drugs has been from personal experiences, not from my health courses. It's the same thing with the Sexual Education classes, If a child is told not to do something, it makes them want to do it. Clearly drugs is a whole other era then sex. Drugs really actually do damage your brain, but what seemed that my Health teachers didn't exemplify were actual cases and scenarios of how that drug affects a person. Like I said previously, I have learned the dangers of drugs not by what was taught in school, but what I have experienced. EXAMPLES OF HOW THE DRUG ABUSE PROGRAM DID NOT WORK: Nearly everyone in my hometown who went to my high school has experimented with marijuana (although I'm sure in years to come marijuana will be legalized), many, if not all students have experimented with drinking, many students drive after drinking, I know personally many people who have experimented with varieties of pills and LSD, One of my best friends from high school got into 'snorting' pills. She has dropped out of school and is now in a rehab program.
IN CONCLUSION: The Drug Abuse and Sexual Education programs that schools provide are flawed. The problem of using drugs and engaging in unsafe sex persists and only gets worse.
I BELIEVE SOMETHING IN THE CURRICULUM NEEDS TO CHANGE.
