...Sex education in public schools has been a controversial issue in the United States for over a decade. Sex education needs to keep up with the sexuality of today’s young adolescents. Young adolescents are becoming more sexually active at a younger age; by the time they reach high school most have already acquired some knowledge about sex but little about sexual responsibility. With the number of young adolescents with sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies rising— sex awareness is definitely needed. The question remains whether sex education should come from their parent or from a qualified professional at school. In order to educate young adolescents about the consequences and responsibilities of engaging in sexual activities it is my belief that sex education classes should be taught in public middle school. Most goals of sex education classes are the promotion of adult sexual health. Four main goals, according to National Guidelines Task Force, are to provide accurate information about human sexuality, to provide an opportunity for young adolescents to develop and understand their values, attitudes, and beliefs about sexuality, to help young people develop interpersonal skills and to help young adolescents apply responsibility of sexual relationships. Such responsibilities include how to defend a teenager against the pressures of prematurely becoming involved in sexual intercourse, encouraging the use of contraceptives, and other sexual health measures. The...
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...My topic of interest is single-sex education schools and how it compares to coeducational schools. I am interested in this topic because I went to an all girl high school , so I have first hand experience. When I was in the eighth grade (co-educational, private catholic school) we were allowed to apply to three other catholic high school after taking an examination. I applied to Cathedral High School because the way they presented it was very good. It had a great science program, and internships at law offices, business companies and with doctors. This was the factor that attracted me most to the school meanwhile the other schools that were coeducational and offered similar programs were very large so that would mean less placement opportunities for students. I went to the school and regret nothing academically. I feel that I would of probably gotten the same education and to be honest perhaps it would have been better because most boy schools, and co-educational schools get better funding. I had a great time in high school, I met some very great people, I had some great teachers, and learned a great deal. It was rather easy though to hide from the realities of life. In the real world there are men and women. When you go off to college you will need to deal with guys, unless you go to a single-sex college, and there are not that many of them to begin with. Even though there are guys outside of the single-gender school environment, it is harder to interact with the opposite...
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...Sex education in public schools has been a controversial issue in the United States for over a decade. With the HIV and teen pregnancy crises growing, sex education is needed. Some of the American public believe that sex education should be taught at home by the children’s parents. Some argue that sex education in schools do not put an emphasis on abstinence and encourages children to have sexual intercourse. Sex is a prominent issue that constantly arises in the media and it is our duty to enforce and enhance a more effective sexual education program in schools. As Charles Krauthammer stated, “Sex oozes from every pore of the culture and there is not a kid in the world who can avoid it” (Krauthammer). As a Freshman in college, I have been fortunate enough to undergo more than one opportunity of sex education. I was introduced to sex education in the fifth grade. Some may say the fifth grade is too early to start, but I think that it is an effective age to begin simply because it is the point where puberty creeps up on us and it is important for adolescence to be aware what is happening to their bodies. From fifth grade to my junior year of high school, I was given the rare opportunity to be a part of a various sex education classes. However, not all students are lucky enough to get a chance at an effective and complete sex education or any at all. Schools today usually dedicate one year to sex education for students. Typically, this is done either their sophomore or junior...
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...Kendall Hoyt ENGL 202-13 Research Paper Sex Education: Truth or Taboo? Each and every year the government spends over forty million dollars to support families that have resulted from teenage pregnancies (“Statistics on Teen Pregnancy” Question 1). However, the government chooses to only fund abstinence programs in schools. If a school chooses to have an abstinence plus birth control program, the government will not present them with any federal funds to help cover the costs of the program (Lindberg, Laura, Duberstein, and Isaac Maddow-Zimet 332). Not only will the government refuse to fund the program, but the parents are also scared such courses will negatively influence their children and churches say it goes against moral conduct. The church argument should be invalid if our country wants to live up to the separation of church and state. The church should not be able to dictate what students learn. However, that is beside the point. Until schools have the backing of the community and parents, this will not be changed. The media also plays a big role in negative influences on teen pregnancy. In my opinion, this is something that classes could change. Deciding on who should receive this education is another debate. Everyone should receive this education. The information is very helpful and useful. When asked about sex education, Helen B. Shaffer had this to say, “while sex education in the schools has become fairly prevalent, much of it still skirts around the very questions...
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...Who is Responsible for Sex Education? Writing 291 Joseph A. Marco 22 July 2010 Public schools systems have been implementing sexual education into their classrooms as a regular part of instruction for decades. Ongoing controversies exist when dealing with this issue whether sex education being taught in the public schools or whether it should be considered the responsibility of the parents. It seems most parents are either for or against it and very rarely are they standing on middle ground. Given the statistics does it matter who teaches the children of the United States the basics of sex education? Children should receive a basic unbiased and informative sex education in school, from their it should be the parents responsibility. By their 18th birthday, six in 10 teenage women and more than 5 in 10 teenage men have had sexual intercourse. Of the approximately 750,000 teen pregnancies that occur each year, 82 percent are unintended with more than one quarter ending abortion. The United States continues to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world – almost twice as high as England, Canada, and Wales and eight times as high as the Netherlands and Japan. In addition to the teen pregnancy rate, the teens in the United States contract roughly nine million new sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) each year. Though teens in the United States have levels of sexual activity similar to levels among their Canadian, English, French, and Swedish...
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...debate and draws the attention of several governments worldwide to help prevent a problematic trend. While there are several agencies in the United States designed to educate and attempt to lower the teen pregnancy rate, the United States still maintains one of the highest rates in the world. I believe that while we in the United States try to lower this rate, we are not doing enough to educate and better inform the youth. We need to invest in comprehensive sex education and change the messages were sending teens through the media. I’m from an area where teen pregnancy is a norm. It frightens me knowing that my two younger sisters may become part of a tragic statistic. People blow off teen pregnancy like it is not a big deal, but we need to fix the “solutions” that our government has set out. We have several programs currently available to youth in the United States one of which is sex education. However the media play the most negative role in offsetting the work we as a society perform to help our teens be healthy and not fall into a trap. While sexuality is completely natural and healthy, teens are still not fully aware of some of the consequences that come with teen sex. The first thing I see that needs to be changed is our sex education system. The United States has two major forms of sex education: abstinence only and comprehensive sex education. The first, abstinence only, has been the program of choice for our government to fund. However, research has shown little promise...
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...Equality in Marriage for Gay and Lesbians. Growing support for same-sex marriage allowing same-sex couples the right to marry legally has been significant. Support for same-sex marriage has increased up to 70% from 51% back in 2003 with the millennial generation, according to the Pew Research Center March 13-17, 2013. There has been an increase with generation x and baby boomers. Reasons for the increase in the support of same-sex marriage can range from, knowing someone gay or a lesbian, and recognizing same-sex couples should be able to marry whoever he or she love regardless of sexual preference not to mention infringement of one’s civil rights. Homosexuality is as natural as heterosexuality, and there is not one societal benefit for denying same-sex unions. Seems the argument against same-sex marriage it is forbidden in the Bible and thinking of the act itself. Acceptance continues to increase among generations, marriage equality will be law and such unions will be recognized. Historically marriage is seen as a heterosexual privilege, not even interracial marriage was acceptable and many people continue to believe this, regardless of the many changes in today’s world. Times have changed and advocates argue same-sex couples deserve right to the same benefits of marriage appreciated by heterosexual couple, and by denying same sex marriage is unconstitutional discrimination. On the other hand the oppositions argues changing the acceptable definition of marriage...
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...think we’re cute and to check the yes box or the no box. Then we grow into high school age where we began getting sexually active, some more than others not all teenagers go through this phase. While going through the school aged, we ignore the fact that we are different. Were taught in our history and social studies classes that the United States of American is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. If we are so free, why do we stand by and let others ban the rights of marrying the one they love? Who cares if you see an inter-racial couple walking down the street? Who cares if you see two women or two men raising a child? What ever happened to loving everyone, sharing, caring, playing together. Should we have the right to fight for equality? Well sometimes that funny thing called love happens and that’s where everyone who feels have an opinion try to ban this act. Not only do people who are against these acts of love try to protest, some also take the violent action. Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is marriage between two people of the same sex. Legal recognition of same-sex marriage or the possibility to perform a same-sex marriage is sometimes referred to as marriage equality or equal marriage, particularly by supporters. The legalization of...
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...know that the Missouri State Constitution currently states that marriage is only between a man and a woman even though the United States Supreme Court overruled it in 2015? Banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory, especially when there are benefits only married couples can get. There are benefits for family values due to same-sex marriage due to things like adoption. Marriage is marriage no matter who is allowed to get married or not. Same-sex marriage is a fundamental right because banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory, there are benefits only married couples can get, same-sex marriage benefits family values, some people do not view it as a sin, and it will not change the definition of marriage. Gordon Babst states that...
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...under the age of 25 (SEICUS). When comparing teen pregnancy rates in countries like France, Germany, and the Netherlands, to the United States, the rate is almost eight times higher. Within the states, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi have the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections. However, in West Virginia, one of the poorest states alongside the previously mentioned three, has one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates. The reason? They have no abstinence-only education. Having a lack of a strong sexual education system added with the spread of misinformation has created numerous problems compared to other developed countries. “Rights, respect, responsibility,” is the motto for the Advocates for Youth organization that has been the basis for France, Germany, and Netherlands’ philosophy on sexual health. Creating an open, safe, and informative environment has made it easier for people of all ages to feel comfortable dealing with and discussing their sexuality, as well as having sensible and realistic government policies results in overall better results when comparing teens across the Atlantic Ocean. The older generations have a responsibility to give the tools youths need to prepare them the responsibility that comes with sexuality. The younger generations have a right to know. Statistically, the United States falls behind in it’s sex education for teens, such as preventing pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and infections, and giving more available and socially...
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...Cool?” from Maclean’s Magazine published in Canada, Gulli shows the rise in pregnancies of teenage girls from fifteen to seventeen years old. With the movies and television displaying under aged teens getting pregnant makes yesterday’s stigma on teen mothers a “no big deal”. Statistics from both the United Sates and the United Kingdom shows a jump of underage teens getting pregnant in the last three years. With the rise in numbers, more “feminist motherhood movement” supports the efforts of these young teens. From new family structures and society views on greater issues makes these new motherhood teens capable on having both adolescents and motherhood. With all of these factors and many more ways of avoiding getting pregnant there seems to be no real reason for this to be happening. Today’s movies and television shows display teen pregnancy is a part of everyday culture and is not seen as a real issue. As more teens are getting pregnant, it becomes more socially acceptable and the media depicts it as not a big deal. But statistical data is showing a big rise for the first time in fifteen years. The two countries with the highest jump are both the United States and the United Kingdom. In a time, when there are many ways not to get pregnant the numbers are climbing higher and higher. There is no real reason for the climb, however most experts think that this is just a “blip” the numbers will soon fall. Others think that old abstinence only programs are the reason for the...
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...Sex Offender Policy Team C CJA/464 February 4, 2013 Paul Brouillette Sex Offender Policy While the rate of sexual offenders has risen to around 234,000 in the past decade, the debate in our society has noticed the rise. In many states, victims are violated, and due to mental health issues and continue to be repeat offenders. Children have become the most unreported victims of all. While it is important to have sex offender registers in every state, it is another issue that most do not register, or give changes of address in many towns. While the concerns are on the rise the public and law enforcement look for new ways in preventing such violent crimes and the policy that are in place provide some security but not enough. In the 1930’s the United States began the first sex offender registry requiring sex offenders to register with local state and federal agencies. Offenders were required to give their address and any other information used to identify them to the agencies. The early policies required only focused on high profile or repeat offenders. The attention given to the offenders are used to drive offenders or the “undesirable” persons out of the communities. Today’s policies give law enforcement so much easier method of identifying sex offenders, as they are required to register as a sex offender once convicted of a sex crime. Sex offender registration is open to view from the public and many review it on a regular basis when concerned...
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...Mr. Stonefield to consider complying with in his new business venture. I will discuss in this memo the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding employment discrimination, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 regarding people with disabilities, Equal Pay Act of 1963 regarding wage discrimination between men and women, and lastly the Texas Minimum Wage Act regarding the least amount of an hourly wage payable in the state of Texas. I will give a brief summary of each of the four Acts and consequences for noncompliance. Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is regulated and enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). As a new business, if you receive any federally funded monies such as grants, assistance, or subsidies The Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to you. The EEOC “enforces laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age in hiring, promoting, firing, setting wages, testing, training, apprenticeship, and all other terms and conditions of employment” (The United States National Archives and Records Administration, n.d., para. 3). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for employers to “fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions or privileges or employment,...
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...United States V. Virginia was a Supreme Court case in 1996 that argued the Virginia Military Institute only accepted men for their program was unconstitutional, it violated the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause, by which the admission policy at Virginia Military Institute only accepted males. Theodore B. Olsen, (Virginia Military Institute/Defendant) suggested to create a Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership as a way to make an alternative route for women. Paul Bender (United States/Plaintiff), argued if the all women’s institute would compare to the men’s and if it would meet the qualifications of the Equal Protections Clause. The Court found the suggestion unconstitutional in a 7-to-1 decision. Chief Justice, William Rehnquist...
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...America. The basic tenants of this legislation prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin and other protected classes as amended. Passage of the Act ended the application of "Jim Crow" laws, which had been upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court held that racial segregation purported to be "separate but equal" was constitutional. The Civil Rights Act was eventually expanded by Congress to strengthen enforcement of these fundamental civil rights (United States Senate - Committee of the Judiciary). In the 1960s, Americans who knew only the potential of "equal protection of the laws" expected the nations political leaders and the courts to fulfill the promise and guarantee of the 14th Amendment. In response, all three branches of the federal government, as well as the public at large, debated a fundamental constitutional question: Does the Constitution's prohibition of denying equal protection always ban the use of racial, ethnic, or gender criteria in an attempt to bring social justice and social benefits (National Archives, 2012)? The simple answer is no. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 In 1964 Congress passed Public Law 88-352 (78 Stat. 241). The provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race in hiring, promoting, and firing. The word "sex" was added at the last moment. According to the West Encyclopedia of American Law, Representative Howard W...
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