The biggest difference in Europe was the attitude toward sex throughout the whole culture. In Holland when high school kids were asked if they had condoms with them, they said yes, they were within an arm’s reach and it was considered being prepared, it was expected. When students in the U.S. were asked what they would think of someone having a condom on their person, they called that person a douche or a pervert, or someone trying to get a lot of action. In Holland, sex seems to be considered natural, and wanting to have sex is expected and normal, whereas in the U.S., just anticipating having sex and wanting to be prepared for that somehow makes someone less of a person, when every statistic shows that most of these people are having sex, and everybody is going to have sex at some point in their life, with very, very few exceptions. The cultural attitude in the U.S. is not discouraging people from having sex, it is discouraging people from being prepared to have safe sex. The attitude in Holland is at least preparing people to be safe and healthy and not get pregnant before they are ready to take on that responsibility. The issue around sexuality in the U.S. boils down to residual cultural ideas from past eras, and a minority of people who make themselves louder than anyone else and shout from the mountain tops that sex will kill people and abstinence is the only option, and everyone else is afraid to challenge those ideas and piss those people off. It’s easier not to change, and it’s easier not to talk about sex with our kids, because it’s awkward. In the U.S., we have decided that not talking to kids, and pretending they don’t think about sex, will keep them from having sex, when this is precisely what is thrusting them out into a sexual culture, where they have sexual desire, and no knowledge of how to protect themselves and make decisions that will protect them and that they can stand behind. The abundance of abstinence only education programs showcased in the U.S. during the documentary was worrisome. Those “educators” clearly weren’t talking with their students and having open discussions, because those students were having sex in secret, and not talking to any adults about it. Those kids were even saying that the present structure isn’t working. How is it that these kids can see the problem, and the adults, these supposed educators, are blind to it? Whose idea was it to continue to teach abstinence only education to expecting mothers? It clearly didn’t work for them in the past, why would it now? Abstinence only education does not work, kids will still have sex even if we don’t tell them all the facts, and then they will be doing it in unsafe places, without protecting themselves. The way that parents in Holland were talking to their kids about sex was very important. It wasn’t this big scary conversation where everyone was red in the face and self-conscious. The kids were able to ask questions and have open dialogues and get the information and resources that they need. Their parent’s biggest concern wasn’t to shelter their kids from the world and keeping them in a glass case until marriage, but to provide them a safe and comfortable place to grow and learn about their bodies and make decisions. That attitude toward sex in U.S. homes could make all the difference in the teen pregnancy and teen STI rates. While watching “Let’s Talk About Sex”, I was constantly surprised by what I was hearing, on both the American and European sides. From parents in Holland not batting an eye at their child having sex upstairs in the house, to the way that an American father was so convinced that his daughter wasn’t having sex because she took a pledge as a child, that she didn’t felt forced to take. The differences are astounding, but it was good to see, at the end, that there are people in the U.S. that are committed to changing the attitude around sex and the way that we teach children about it, and it was good to see a clergy member apart of that group. It proves that there is hope for sex education in the U.S.
After viewing this video I was in shock, despair, sadness and in fear for American teenagers and children becoming pregnant. The way we define sex in America is not even defined; its used as a certain word that shouldn't be spoken about or thought of. Children and teens are getting information from google, books, friends; its rare to even see a sex education class in school now a days that speak about the safe procedures they need to take. Especially in our LGBCQ community; we don't ever hear about the possibly of getting a STD, HIV, Gonorrhea; everyone in America needs to be included in the topic.
Its almost like were blocking human nature and not acknowledging the fact that the teen pregnancy rate in the USA is the highest. Everyday 2400 American teens are becoming pregnant, one is three American girls become pregnant; LA has the highest birth rate right now, so high that they started a school pacifically for those teen mothers. Teen pregnancies are costing tax payers 9 million dollars a year! I question why we haven't took the right procedures to educate or children and teens and why are we acting as if sex is a joke and not reality? For example comedy centrals comments and remarks about sex, drugs, HIV and abortion.
I find the topic of sex to be helpful and informative and to be honest I'm jealous at the fact that Europe is so free and liberal; due to the fact that their parents or guardians share with them the safe procedures of sex and in return they have the lowest pregnancy and STD rate. What the Europe are doing is educating children at a young age and teens by school education classes.
What I took away from the Europe's tactics was the openness, acknowledgement and natural subject of sex that they share with their children and teens. Showing them that sex is apart of life and to value your partner. The teens in return feel compatible bring their partners home and even asking their parents or guardians if they can stay over. Theirs no rules to follow; the parents and guardians feel its their choose to make. What we as American citizens need to take away is the fact that children and teens are going to have sex; showing a scary tactic what sex can lead to isn't going to stop them or work. Some seem to even think in Florida pregnancy can be prevented by mountain drew and marijuana. Aids can be prevented by capsules of bleach. It seems to my knowledge that we are poorly informed; 70% of teens in America are having sex and half of those teen parents still think their virgin. We need to put down the thought of abstinence and share the natural positives and negative effects that sex can lead to.
I was very surprised by the difference in approaches to sexual education between the United States and Europe. It seems that in America we are a little behind the times and failing our youth when it comes to sexual education. We live in a country that would rather endure many unnecessary teen pregnancies and transmission of STD’s so that we can bury our head in the sand and pretend that it is not an issue. Americans take on the attitude that our youth aren’t having sex, yet look our pregnancy rates are the highest.
In the beginning of the video they stated that 95% of our population is having sex before marriage yet there are some areas in the US that only teach abstinence until married. In my opinion, with statistics that high, that is an extremely irresponsible approach to sexual education. They also talked with teenage girls that had signed virginity contracts being promoted by abstinence only sexual education. Yet, they reported that several friends had sex immediately after signing the contract. That approach is not helpful in my opinion. I think that forces our youth to sign a contract just to please someone else and satisfy someone’s expectations other than their own. Resulting in a contract, that sets our youth up for failure from the beginning.
In Europe, they have open lines of communication. They teach their youth to make responsible choices. They talk about it, discuss it, allow it; youth are taught to be open and responsible in regards to topics that America considers taboo subject matter. For most American kids, college is their first taste of freedom. Whereas in the Netherlands, they are treated like young adults that in return have learned to be responsible. I found the one parents comment when asked about allowing her son to have his girlfriend stay over very open. She stated that they will have sex and she would prefer them do it in his bedroom rather than in public somewhere in a car. That is not a common practice you would find in America.
I think the US could learn quite a lot from following Europe’s lead. They seem to have a much better system for educating their youth when it comes to sexual education. They have much lower pregnancy and STD rates than we have here in the US. America as a culture needs to get over the awkward piece of sexual education. As parents we state we want what is best for our children. We readily teach and encourage learning academically to be successful, yet we fail to educated them in subject matter than can affect their lives in the most significant ways by failing to teach them to make responsible choices concerning sexual education.
Watching “Let’s Talk About Sex” reaffirmed and added to many of my beliefs about what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to sex education:
-Discussions with parents in the U.S. tend to focus far too much on parents’ expectations for their children when it comes to initiating sexual relationships as well as their own opinions about what’s right and wrong.
-There is an overall lack of respect for teen sexuality in the US. Sexuality and sexual expression is a healthy and important part of development and should not be shamed or oppressed.
-Parents in Europe want their children to have a safe, healthy and enjoyable sexual experience so they provide a supportive environment rather than trying to enforce limits and rules which drive children to resort to uncomfortable, unsafe experiences.
-An early start on sex education in Europe is working. Sex education needs to begin early and build upon itself rather than starting in middle school when some students are already sexually active.
-In Holland, sexuality is a normal part of daily life and conversation rather than a one-time, sit-down talk about “the birds and the bees.” The open, ongoing dialogue allows for trustful, honest discussions between parents and teens.
-If teens are trusted and have a sense of freedom, ongoing and from an early age, they are less likely to take advantage of their freedom. If they suddenly have the house to themselves, the freedom is a normal thing and not something to suddenly run with (similar to European attitudes about drinking).
-In Europe, condoms are offered openly and everyone carries one. Because carrying condoms is so prevalent, there is no stigma and the conversation about condom use is much more comfortable.
I think that a huge roadblock to adopting a comfortable attitude about sexuality in the US is the role of parents. In the documentary, most of what was discussed involved parent-child communication and parents’ attitudes and openness about sexuality. It was implied that the majority of European sexual education took place in the home and that’s where the openness begins and is the most important; school-based sex education is simply a reinforcement and almost an afterthought. In the US, however, sex education tends to be centered in the school which leads to disagreements over what to teach and how to teach it. If parents took the initiative and authority to educate their children, not only with the information but with the respect and honesty that European parents do, then school-based sex ed would not be such a focus and cause for disagreement. Ultimately, not only does sex education needs to begin early, be open, honest and respectful, but it also needs to include parents and families as this seems to be an integral part of European sex education.
What seems to be working when it comes to sex ed is being honest, open and real with our youth. There were numerous examples throughout the video, mostly from Europe, of individuals talking about sex in a real way. They talked about sex in a way that embraces it as a part of life, just like we do with many other aspects of health. It was pretty surprising to hear parents from Europe talk about letting their child’s boyfriend or girlfriend stay the night, only because that is so foreign to the U.S. culture, but after hearing their explanations of why they did, it made sense. They are realistic about what really goes on in teenager’s lives; they don’t hide from the fact that their child is going to have sex, drink alcohol, and try to experience life. They educate them and give them freedom until they abuse it, opposed to sheltering their child like many U.S. parents do, only to have their child go wild once they do have some freedom. We all have been teenagers before; we understand what it is like to be curious, so why should we hide this knowledge from teenagers today? We should embrace them as young adults; empower them to make the right choices and stop treating them like children, because when we do they act out like children.
One of the major hang-ups with sexuality education in the U.S. is our attitude toward sex. We make it such a taboo subject that it never gets talked about or when it does it is so awkward we don’t get anything accomplished. We need to change our attitude toward sexuality to be more open and that starts with family. One of the consistent things we saw in the movie was the European parents talking to their children about sex and how comfortable they were doing it. They didn’t make it a big deal, rather they made it a normal conversation, so that when it does come up teens don’t have to sneak around and lie about what they are doing. As a whole, we as a nation need to change the culture to one that embraces sexuality and doesn’t hide from it. Another hang-up when it comes to sexuality education is the religions attitude towards sexuality. Now, I’m not saying that religion is the problem but I’m saying they might be out of touch when it comes to the reality surrounding sexuality and teens. From what some of the teens were saying in the movie, that girls would take the virginity pledge and go have sex the same day means to me that the church might not be as effective as they think. I know that was one example but I feel from just being a teen myself and the experiences that I’ve had, this is not an isolated incident. What was encouraging to hear was that some churches are embracing the idea of educating teens on sexuality and not just relying on abstinence, which I feel is a step in the right direction.
Because we look at sex as taboo in our nation, teens are acting out by doing what they are told not to do and because we don’t give them the proper information surrounding sexuality they are not making healthy choices when they do act out. I feel if we are open, honest and real with our youth when it comes to sexuality, starting with family, and not make sexuality such a taboo thing we would have teens making a lot healthier choices when it comes to sex. I think one of the teens from the Netherlands put it best when he said something along the lines of “if my parents make stupid rules of course I will act out, I would just wait till they are asleep and seek out.”
I was really surprised at how much teenagers are influenced by stereotypes when it comes to sex. For example, when they compared a man or woman carrying a condom, in America teenagers view that as “bad” and looked down upon the situation but Europe teenagers view that as a precaution and a way to stay safe. They are much more open about sex and talking about it because it’s viewed as an everyday thing. In America we have somehow managed to place sex under the same category as heroin as to imply that it’s as bad as the drug.
When it comes to sex education, its scary to know that educators are actually providing false information to teenagers that in the long run will create consequences. If anything, it’s causing teens today to be unaware of the truth behind sex, which is why they are not being successful in practicing safe sex. Also, when we look at abstinence programs either in churches or schools, we realize that those are not being successful at all. Teen birthdate is at its highest rate and 10,000 teens catch a STD per year, which goes to show that the programs aren’t helping. On a good note, we were able to see that here in Oregon comprehensive sex ed is being offered in middle school and a church is on board with providing honest sex education among those who are conflicted with beliefs when it comes to sex. I really enjoyed seeing how much more open parents are with their kids in Europe when talking about sex. It builds trust in their relationship and teens are MORE likely to practice safe sex because they know they can talk about it with their parents. The video did a good job on shedding light on the issue of mistrust among teens here in America with their parents. Some of the teenagers from the video mentioned how they were afraid to talk to their parents about the subject because they have been told to not do what they already have done.
We need to be more open about the subject and allow teenagers to practice freedom as the video mentioned. By allowing teenagers to go out and experience their own freedom and get to experience things on their own without having someone always telling them that what they are doing is bad. Matter of fact it’s causing them to involve themselves more in the act because they are being told not to! As a society and community we all have to offer support in improving sex education for the youth. In order to improve an issue as big as this one, it will take a lot more than just a handful of programs.
The biggest difference in Europe was the attitude toward sex throughout the whole culture. In Holland when high school kids were asked if they had condoms with them, they said yes, they were within an arm’s reach and it was considered being prepared, it was expected. When students in the U.S. were asked what they would think of someone having a condom on their person, they called that person a douche or a pervert, or someone trying to get a lot of action. In Holland, sex seems to be considered natural, and wanting to have sex is expected and normal, whereas in the U.S., just anticipating having sex and wanting to be prepared for that somehow makes someone less of a person, when every statistic shows that most of these people are having sex, and everybody is going to have sex at some point in their life, with very, very few exceptions. The cultural attitude in the U.S. is not discouraging people from having sex, it is discouraging people from being prepared to have safe sex. The attitude in Holland is at least preparing people to be safe and healthy and not get pregnant before they are ready to take on that responsibility.
ReplyDeleteThe issue around sexuality in the U.S. boils down to residual cultural ideas from past eras, and a minority of people who make themselves louder than anyone else and shout from the mountain tops that sex will kill people and abstinence is the only option, and everyone else is afraid to challenge those ideas and piss those people off. It’s easier not to change, and it’s easier not to talk about sex with our kids, because it’s awkward. In the U.S., we have decided that not talking to kids, and pretending they don’t think about sex, will keep them from having sex, when this is precisely what is thrusting them out into a sexual culture, where they have sexual desire, and no knowledge of how to protect themselves and make decisions that will protect them and that they can stand behind.
The abundance of abstinence only education programs showcased in the U.S. during the documentary was worrisome. Those “educators” clearly weren’t talking with their students and having open discussions, because those students were having sex in secret, and not talking to any adults about it. Those kids were even saying that the present structure isn’t working. How is it that these kids can see the problem, and the adults, these supposed educators, are blind to it? Whose idea was it to continue to teach abstinence only education to expecting mothers? It clearly didn’t work for them in the past, why would it now? Abstinence only education does not work, kids will still have sex even if we don’t tell them all the facts, and then they will be doing it in unsafe places, without protecting themselves.
The way that parents in Holland were talking to their kids about sex was very important. It wasn’t this big scary conversation where everyone was red in the face and self-conscious. The kids were able to ask questions and have open dialogues and get the information and resources that they need. Their parent’s biggest concern wasn’t to shelter their kids from the world and keeping them in a glass case until marriage, but to provide them a safe and comfortable place to grow and learn about their bodies and make decisions. That attitude toward sex in U.S. homes could make all the difference in the teen pregnancy and teen STI rates.
While watching “Let’s Talk About Sex”, I was constantly surprised by what I was hearing, on both the American and European sides. From parents in Holland not batting an eye at their child having sex upstairs in the house, to the way that an American father was so convinced that his daughter wasn’t having sex because she took a pledge as a child, that she didn’t felt forced to take. The differences are astounding, but it was good to see, at the end, that there are people in the U.S. that are committed to changing the attitude around sex and the way that we teach children about it, and it was good to see a clergy member apart of that group. It proves that there is hope for sex education in the U.S.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLets Talk About Sex
ReplyDeleteGaby Harper
Oct 11 2015
After viewing this video I was in shock, despair, sadness and in fear for American teenagers and children becoming pregnant. The way we define sex in America is not even defined; its used as a certain word that shouldn't be spoken about or thought of. Children and teens are getting information from google, books, friends; its rare to even see a sex education class in school now a days that speak about the safe procedures they need to take. Especially in our LGBCQ community; we don't ever hear about the possibly of getting a STD, HIV, Gonorrhea; everyone in America needs to be included in the topic.
Its almost like were blocking human nature and not acknowledging the fact that the teen pregnancy rate in the USA is the highest. Everyday 2400 American teens are becoming pregnant, one is three American girls become pregnant; LA has the highest birth rate right now, so high that they started a school pacifically for those teen mothers. Teen pregnancies are costing tax payers 9 million dollars a year! I question why we haven't took the right procedures to educate or children and teens and why are we acting as if sex is a joke and not reality? For example comedy centrals comments and remarks about sex, drugs, HIV and abortion.
I find the topic of sex to be helpful and informative and to be honest I'm jealous at the fact that Europe is so free and liberal; due to the fact that their parents or guardians share with them the safe procedures of sex and in return they have the lowest pregnancy and STD rate. What the Europe are doing is educating children at a young age and teens by school education classes.
What I took away from the Europe's tactics was the openness, acknowledgement and natural subject of sex that they share with their children and teens. Showing them that sex is apart of life and to value your partner. The teens in return feel compatible bring their partners home and even asking their parents or guardians if they can stay over. Theirs no rules to follow; the parents and guardians feel its their choose to make. What we as American citizens need to take away is the fact that children and teens are going to have sex; showing a scary tactic what sex can lead to isn't going to stop them or work. Some seem to even think in Florida pregnancy can be prevented by mountain drew and marijuana. Aids can be prevented by capsules of bleach. It seems to my knowledge that we are poorly informed; 70% of teens in America are having sex and half of those teen parents still think their virgin. We need to put down the thought of abstinence and share the natural positives and negative effects that sex can lead to.
I was very surprised by the difference in approaches to sexual education between the United States and Europe. It seems that in America we are a little behind the times and failing our youth when it comes to sexual education. We live in a country that would rather endure many unnecessary teen pregnancies and transmission of STD’s so that we can bury our head in the sand and pretend that it is not an issue. Americans take on the attitude that our youth aren’t having sex, yet look our pregnancy rates are the highest.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the video they stated that 95% of our population is having sex before marriage yet there are some areas in the US that only teach abstinence until married. In my opinion, with statistics that high, that is an extremely irresponsible approach to sexual education. They also talked with teenage girls that had signed virginity contracts being promoted by abstinence only sexual education. Yet, they reported that several friends had sex immediately after signing the contract. That approach is not helpful in my opinion. I think that forces our youth to sign a contract just to please someone else and satisfy someone’s expectations other than their own. Resulting in a contract, that sets our youth up for failure from the beginning.
In Europe, they have open lines of communication. They teach their youth to make responsible choices. They talk about it, discuss it, allow it; youth are taught to be open and responsible in regards to topics that America considers taboo subject matter. For most American kids, college is their first taste of freedom. Whereas in the Netherlands, they are treated like young adults that in return have learned to be responsible. I found the one parents comment when asked about allowing her son to have his girlfriend stay over very open. She stated that they will have sex and she would prefer them do it in his bedroom rather than in public somewhere in a car. That is not a common practice you would find in America.
I think the US could learn quite a lot from following Europe’s lead. They seem to have a much better system for educating their youth when it comes to sexual education. They have much lower pregnancy and STD rates than we have here in the US. America as a culture needs to get over the awkward piece of sexual education. As parents we state we want what is best for our children. We readily teach and encourage learning academically to be successful, yet we fail to educated them in subject matter than can affect their lives in the most significant ways by failing to teach them to make responsible choices concerning sexual education.
Watching “Let’s Talk About Sex” reaffirmed and added to many of my beliefs about what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to sex education:
ReplyDelete-Discussions with parents in the U.S. tend to focus far too much on parents’ expectations for their children when it comes to initiating sexual relationships as well as their own opinions about what’s right and wrong.
-There is an overall lack of respect for teen sexuality in the US. Sexuality and sexual expression is a healthy and important part of development and should not be shamed or oppressed.
-Parents in Europe want their children to have a safe, healthy and enjoyable sexual experience so they provide a supportive environment rather than trying to enforce limits and rules which drive children to resort to uncomfortable, unsafe experiences.
-An early start on sex education in Europe is working. Sex education needs to begin early and build upon itself rather than starting in middle school when some students are already sexually active.
-In Holland, sexuality is a normal part of daily life and conversation rather than a one-time, sit-down talk about “the birds and the bees.” The open, ongoing dialogue allows for trustful, honest discussions between parents and teens.
-If teens are trusted and have a sense of freedom, ongoing and from an early age, they are less likely to take advantage of their freedom. If they suddenly have the house to themselves, the freedom is a normal thing and not something to suddenly run with (similar to European attitudes about drinking).
-In Europe, condoms are offered openly and everyone carries one. Because carrying condoms is so prevalent, there is no stigma and the conversation about condom use is much more comfortable.
I think that a huge roadblock to adopting a comfortable attitude about sexuality in the US is the role of parents. In the documentary, most of what was discussed involved parent-child communication and parents’ attitudes and openness about sexuality. It was implied that the majority of European sexual education took place in the home and that’s where the openness begins and is the most important; school-based sex education is simply a reinforcement and almost an afterthought. In the US, however, sex education tends to be centered in the school which leads to disagreements over what to teach and how to teach it. If parents took the initiative and authority to educate their children, not only with the information but with the respect and honesty that European parents do, then school-based sex ed would not be such a focus and cause for disagreement. Ultimately, not only does sex education needs to begin early, be open, honest and respectful, but it also needs to include parents and families as this seems to be an integral part of European sex education.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat seems to be working when it comes to sex ed is being honest, open and real with our youth. There were numerous examples throughout the video, mostly from Europe, of individuals talking about sex in a real way. They talked about sex in a way that embraces it as a part of life, just like we do with many other aspects of health. It was pretty surprising to hear parents from Europe talk about letting their child’s boyfriend or girlfriend stay the night, only because that is so foreign to the U.S. culture, but after hearing their explanations of why they did, it made sense. They are realistic about what really goes on in teenager’s lives; they don’t hide from the fact that their child is going to have sex, drink alcohol, and try to experience life. They educate them and give them freedom until they abuse it, opposed to sheltering their child like many U.S. parents do, only to have their child go wild once they do have some freedom. We all have been teenagers before; we understand what it is like to be curious, so why should we hide this knowledge from teenagers today? We should embrace them as young adults; empower them to make the right choices and stop treating them like children, because when we do they act out like children.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major hang-ups with sexuality education in the U.S. is our attitude toward sex. We make it such a taboo subject that it never gets talked about or when it does it is so awkward we don’t get anything accomplished. We need to change our attitude toward sexuality to be more open and that starts with family. One of the consistent things we saw in the movie was the European parents talking to their children about sex and how comfortable they were doing it. They didn’t make it a big deal, rather they made it a normal conversation, so that when it does come up teens don’t have to sneak around and lie about what they are doing. As a whole, we as a nation need to change the culture to one that embraces sexuality and doesn’t hide from it. Another hang-up when it comes to sexuality education is the religions attitude towards sexuality. Now, I’m not saying that religion is the problem but I’m saying they might be out of touch when it comes to the reality surrounding sexuality and teens. From what some of the teens were saying in the movie, that girls would take the virginity pledge and go have sex the same day means to me that the church might not be as effective as they think. I know that was one example but I feel from just being a teen myself and the experiences that I’ve had, this is not an isolated incident. What was encouraging to hear was that some churches are embracing the idea of educating teens on sexuality and not just relying on abstinence, which I feel is a step in the right direction.
Because we look at sex as taboo in our nation, teens are acting out by doing what they are told not to do and because we don’t give them the proper information surrounding sexuality they are not making healthy choices when they do act out. I feel if we are open, honest and real with our youth when it comes to sexuality, starting with family, and not make sexuality such a taboo thing we would have teens making a lot healthier choices when it comes to sex. I think one of the teens from the Netherlands put it best when he said something along the lines of “if my parents make stupid rules of course I will act out, I would just wait till they are asleep and seek out.”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised at how much teenagers are influenced by stereotypes when it comes to sex. For example, when they compared a man or woman carrying a condom, in America teenagers view that as “bad” and looked down upon the situation but Europe teenagers view that as a precaution and a way to stay safe. They are much more open about sex and talking about it because it’s viewed as an everyday thing. In America we have somehow managed to place sex under the same category as heroin as to imply that it’s as bad as the drug.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to sex education, its scary to know that educators are actually providing false information to teenagers that in the long run will create consequences. If anything, it’s causing teens today to be unaware of the truth behind sex, which is why they are not being successful in practicing safe sex. Also, when we look at abstinence programs either in churches or schools, we realize that those are not being successful at all. Teen birthdate is at its highest rate and 10,000 teens catch a STD per year, which goes to show that the programs aren’t helping. On a good note, we were able to see that here in Oregon comprehensive sex ed is being offered in middle school and a church is on board with providing honest sex education among those who are conflicted with beliefs when it comes to sex. I really enjoyed seeing how much more open parents are with their kids in Europe when talking about sex. It builds trust in their relationship and teens are MORE likely to practice safe sex because they know they can talk about it with their parents. The video did a good job on shedding light on the issue of mistrust among teens here in America with their parents. Some of the teenagers from the video mentioned how they were afraid to talk to their parents about the subject because they have been told to not do what they already have done.
We need to be more open about the subject and allow teenagers to practice freedom as the video mentioned. By allowing teenagers to go out and experience their own freedom and get to experience things on their own without having someone always telling them that what they are doing is bad. Matter of fact it’s causing them to involve themselves more in the act because they are being told not to! As a society and community we all have to offer support in improving sex education for the youth. In order to improve an issue as big as this one, it will take a lot more than just a handful of programs.