Sexual Education the Age Group

Sexual Education The age group for which I would begin sexual education would be the elementary school, 8-12-year-old group, grades two through five. As today, children younger than nine years of age are curious about sex and participate in some sexual experimentation, it is necessary to begin before, rather than after a child faces the option of fathering or bearing a child.

Even though the rate of pregnancies among teenaged women, ages 15-19, is falling in the United States, it was still high in Nevada, with 113 per 1,000 giving birth, while North Dakota had the lowest rate, with 33 per 1,000 (Guttmacher, p. 3). In Wales, England, a study by the Institute for Public Policy Research recommended that sex education and means of contraception be taught in the schools to children aged 10 and 11. The report recommended that lessons should be compulsory.

In Europe, Britain has the highest birth rate among teenaged women (26 out of 1,000 women aged 15-19). The researchers make the statement that "starting sex education at the age of 11 years is too late" (Hughes, p. 1). Girls and boys are experiencing puberty at younger and younger ages. Girls now reach menarche between the ages of 8 and 13, while boys enter puberty between 9 and 14.

Therefore, it is important to acquaint students as young as 8 with information about theirs and the bodies of the opposite sex in a factual and straightforward manner, so that they may know why and how their bodies function and what they may expect to discover as they grow sexually. Children are extremely curious about all things sexual and if, by the age of 12, they haven't already experimented with a member of the opposite sex, they soon will (Senanayake, p. 470).

The Age Group for Which Curriculum is Being Developed Other parents' organizations and experts urge parents and schools to talk to children at least by the age of 10 about sex, even though they squirm. Young children today have a great need for sex education. The influence of the internet and television creates false rumors and sex gossip among children this age. Sexual predators look for ignorance when they are looking for a child to abuse, so knowledge and a vocabulary to match are important.

Experts claim "this is the most crucial time to talk" (Hickley, p. 34). It is important for children to learn about sex from teachers at school, as most parents are not well educated in this area and are usually hesitant to discuss such things with their children. Courses for preadolescents should be taught by teachers familiar with the subject who are able to couch the discussion in.