Psychology

Most of the youths who become sexually active do so without the necessary information which would guide them in the same. This kind of inadequate information can expose such youths to risks like teen pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted diseases. These can have major negative repercussions on their education and lives in general. However, sex education can be one way to prevent such from happening. They can also contribute to improved reproductive heath. The purpose of this paper is to explain how the current sex education programs in America are structured. It will also discuss whether they are effective and how they can be improved.

Structure of the current sex education programs in America
There are several sex education programs in America. These include abstinence based programs whose aim is to educate the youth that abstinence from sex until one gets married is the best approach towards making sure that they do not get infected with sexually transmitted diseases and HIV as well as getting teen pregnancies (Halstead  Reiss, 2003). They also work at ensuring the youth see sex abstinence as the best approach to maintain sexual health. Most proponents of this program believe that sex before marriage is morally wrong. Approaches used by abstinence programs include True Love Waits and Aspire which aim at making the youth to choose to delay sexual intercourse until they get married. There are differences in the various abstinence programs but they all have a fundamental role to teach health, psychological and social gains which are realized when one abstains from sexual intercourse. Abstinence education programs have objectives like a) Significance of achieving self sufficiency before one engages in sexual activities, b) rejecting sexual advances and the facts that the use of drugs and alcohol leads to increased vulnerability to sexual advances, c) getting kids before getting married has potential harmful effects to the society, childs parents and the child, d) sexual activity before marriage has potential physical and psychological problems, e) a mutually monogamous and faithful relationship in marriage context is the right and expected standard when engaging in sexual activity, f) Sex abstinence is the only sure way through which the youth can keep way from sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy and other health problems, and g) sex abstinence is the expected standard for children going to school (Brown, 2009).

Comprehensive sex education programs on the other hand explain the benefits associated with delayed initiation to sexual intercourse. They also teach the youth on the ways to protect themselves from pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases if they are already sexually active. There are many programs under comprehensive sex education program and they all aim at reducing risky sexual behavior among the youth, increasing sex knowledge and promoting responsible behavior among young people. Some school districts have made it compulsory to have these programs in schools from a certain grade (Dyson  Mitchell, 2005).

Effectiveness of the sex education programs
Studies indicate that the comprehensive HIV prevention and sex education programs which tend to affect a variety of behaviors mostly result into positive impacts. Behavioral results show that these programs are able to achieve more use of contraceptives and condoms, reduced incidences of engaging in unprotected sex, reduced acquisition of number of sex partners among the sexually active members.

They also show that the participants who have not yet engaged in sex intercourse usually have delayed initiation. The long term effects of these programs have been decreased rate of getting sexually transmitted diseases and lower pregnancy rates (Sprecher, Harris  Meyers, 2008). From 1994 to 2004, teen birth rate in America dropped by 21. 25 of this decline is attributed to the delayed sex initiation and 75 to the increase in the use of contraceptives. Other analysts are of the opinion that delayed sex initiation and use of contraceptives have equal credit to the same. Irrespective of which takes the higher percentage, it is clear that the use of contraceptives has helped to reduce the rates of teen pregnancy in America (Brown, 2009).

However, some commentators are of the opinion that some of the programs like abstinence only programs are inaccurate, ineffective and dangerous. They continue to argue that such programs threaten the basic human rights to life, information and health. Researchers at Columbia University claim that programs which pledge virginity increase the rate of pregnancy and STIs among the pledge takers. Among them, 88 started having sexual intercourse before getting married. The members also have fewer chances of using contraception and going for STI testing. Programs like abstinence- only until- marriage were found to be ineffective since they have not managed to delay initiation to sex (Sprecher, Harris  Meyers, 2008). Evaluations indicated that the participants only had change of behavior which was short term. Others found that the participants increase their rate of having sex and others showed no effects among the participants. Among the evaluations, it was also found out that there was no long term effect in decreased sexual activities among the youths (Bowden, Lanning, Pippin  Tanner, 2003).

Risk behavior surveys showed that between 1991 and 1997, there was a decline in sexual activity in high schools which is before abstinence only-until-marriage programs started being funded in large scale. However, when the federal government started funding such programs, there were reversed results. Analysis has showed that more than 80 of the curricula which is supported by the Health and Human services department of U.S. has distorted, misleading and false information regarding reproductive health. The misleading information included scientific and medical errors of fact, stereotypes between girls and boys as scientific facts religious beliefs which were taken to be scientific facts, misleading information about the risks associated with abortion and false information concerning the contraceptives effectiveness (Dyson  Mitchell, 2005).

Improving upon the sex education programs
To many, sex education is a very emotional subject. It is however argued that for it to be effective, it should be multi-faceted. The approaches which support the just say no may not apply to the youths who are already sexually active. Since teens are different and they behave differently, sex education programs should aim at providing enough information regarding the subject. Such comprehensive programs should give accurate information about the anatomy of human beings. They should also review contraception and reproduction and the protection against infections (Sprecher, Harris  Meyers, 2008).

Proponents of sex education argue that providing the children and teenagers with information about sex and related issues is not enough. These programs should be aimed at developing and improving strong character needs among the youth. Sociologists are opinionated that the programs should strongly urge teenagers to keep away from sexual activities and should also provide enough information for the youth who are sexually active without necessarily making these two sides to cancel each other out. Generally, effective sex education programs should have the following elements a) should be given by people who believe in the information they are passing on in addition to having access to the necessary support in form of consultation and training with other relevant sex educators, b) should make use of learning and teaching which are appropriate and relevant to the cultural background, experience and age of the young people, c) Should use various approaches to learning and teaching which should engage and involve teenagers and children and should have the capacity to make them to personalize the information given so that they can act on it, d) should deal with social pressures affecting the youth like peer pressure and should provide opportunities to practice assertion skills, negotiation and communication, e) should provide accurate and proper information regarding the methods of differing or avoiding sexual intercourse, birth control methods and contraception and the risks which are associated with sexual activities, f) should reinforce the message on sexual activities and behavior and reducing risks associated with the same, g) should be a basis in theories which give explanations to the factors which influence peoples sexual behavior and choices, and h) are focused on reducing risky behavior which are risky (Brown, 2009).

 Having met all these elements, the youths sex knowledge is likely to be increased and this would promote their making the right choices regarding the same. Policy makers can also improve sex education programs by making sure that such programs respond to the needs of the children and adolescents and it should not ignore what they already know about this topic from friends and the media. The programs should aim at correcting the information they have and clearing the misconceptions as this would give clarity between facts and fiction (Sprecher, Harris  Meyers, 2008).

Conclusion
Providing sex education which is effective is not an easy task because it means dealing with sensitive issues and involving various groups of people i.e. health service providers, community groups, schools and parents. It also involves a lot of funding. However, it can lead to more responsible sexual behavior among young people and reduced rates of making mistakes regarding sexual activities. It is an investment worth making because it promotes a more health nation.