by Johan Dahlberg

Created on: January 29, 2008

In today's world, with the Internet and other media making topics such as sex available to everyone, the attitude known from past years has faded. What attitude am I speaking of? Well, before the "time of enlightenment", when information didn't get shared on such a wide range, for good and bad, topics such as sex were not something discussed as openly as it is today.

To realize whether sex education in school encourages teens to have sex or not, we first have to ask ourselves an important question: without sex education, how and what would teens think about sex?

In general, the answer is that the information would still be out there, but the teaching of responsibility, ways to prevent pregnancy, how the body works physically, etc. are all things most teens wouldn't look for. They would be aware of how common sex is from friends, the Internet, and so on, but they would be less aware of the downsides of sex and things to keep in mind.

However, there's no doubt sex education does contribute to this changed attitude towards the topic. While various media, the display of naked skin, etc. adds the most to the, in some people's eyes, "harsh" view on sex, sex education most certainly does contribute to it as well. If sex wasn't so openly and officially discussed at school, teens would have a slightly different view on the topic.

In the long run, though, sex education adds the essential means for teens to handle this modern view of sex in a mature, safe and health manner. By no means is sex education healthy if the goal is not to encourage sex, but by all means is sex education also necessary to protect teens from the downsides of sex. And, it can't be said that sex education encourages sex straight out. The encouragement is simply a side effect, one that can't be avoided as long as the aim is for teens to be able to discuss sex openly (which is a significant part of sex education).

In other words, things are rather clear: yes, sex education does encourage sex, as it makes the topic more open for teens to discuss and talk about. But no, sex education is definitely not a bad thing, and cannot be blamed for some teen's poor sexual habits.

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