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United States Education System
United States Education System
Why is reproductive and abortion rights education in schools important for younger generations?
Simply put, reproductive and abortion rights education leads to positive health in kids and teens, therefore, a lack of education in these prevalent topics can cause an increase in young pregnancy, unsafe abortion methods, and a decline in mental and physical health. Abortion education for young students allows them to have an early understanding of what rights they are given and able to uphold. Although this can be a sensitive topic for a younger audience, and even for all ages as well, the importance of the need for this education at an earlier age is crucial.
Dr. V. Chandra-Mouli, an expert from the World Health Organization, goes into depth in his TedTalk discussing the importance of why these topics need to be discussed and not ignored in education systems.
"Sex education is much more than giving information, it is to prepare young people for a healthy and happy sexual and reproductive life."
-Dr. V. Chandra-Mouli
Are parents responsible to educate their children, or is it up to the school?
Are parents responsible to educate their children, or is it up to the school?
According to a study from 2005, 88.4% of those that submitted responses, reproductive and sexual health education is the responsibility of the parents, whereas other research shows that "implementing medically accurate, unbiased school-based sexual education curricula may improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes”(Cameron, Smith, Mercer, and Sundstrom).
A big reason why parents do not want their children to be taught these things by teachers is because of their lack of professional qualifications to teach about these topics. Not all teachers are doctors and most of the information they are sharing with students, they learn themselves. Some parents feel that it would be more beneficial for their children to learn about these topics in the home where it is a safe environment and parents could speak the truth.
On the other hand, parents feel that it is important for these topics to be spoken about in school because not all students are able to have those conversations with those they live with. It is more than possible that the education curriculum is the only place where students learn this information which is why parents support the lessons.
What do schools offer in their programs?
What do schools offer in their programs?
An academic journal named Sex Education states that schools have the option to choose from a comprehensive sexuality education(CSE) or an abstinence education path. All students have the right to have access to the CSE approach which includes:
"...access to services for the prevention, detection, and management of reproductive cancers; counseling and access to a range of modern contraceptives; safe abortion services and treatment for the complications of unsafe abortion; and protection from sexual and gender-based violence and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections" (United Nations Population Fund).
The abstinence approach that is taught in schools is heavily enforced due to the idea that it can benefit students' physical and mental health. All schools have different practices of what they would like to teach their students which is why these two different paths exist.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization created this video speaking about what specifically CSE is saying:
"Comprehensive Sexuality Education or CSE, can make this journey easier, more certain, and healthier for young people around the world." -UNESCO
What is taught in CSE?
What is taught in CSE?
How does social media help with education?
How does social media help with education?
One of the most popular social media platforms, Tik Tok, has been seen as a tool for teaching all ages about the topics of reproductive rights and reproductive health. The scholarly journal Sex Education talks about how this is done, explaining how with this app, accounts relating to these topics can put content out that can be viewed by a large audience at one time. Within this type of content, there can be a sense of community where conversations happen. It has been seen that medical professionals take these kinds of platforms to share videos that are engaging and educational; this was very popular during COVID. Since social media is a big source of information that today's society intakes, having Tik Tok be a platform where these topics are spoken about, the engagement is very high.
International Education
International Education
Reproductive education is important in all parts of the world. This leads to a healthier lifestyle for young girls as well as all ages. For the safety of young children, they need to be taught this information early in order to live freely with no fear. The world does not deserve to have danger revolving around reproductive rights and education.
What is this kind of education like in Africa?
What is this kind of education like in Africa?
The comprehensive sexuality education(CSE) system has been involved in African countries since the mid-1990 when it was seen to be necessary for those that were about to become married. The different approaches that occur are based on faith and culture, public health, and what were considered rights. Within these approaches, it was seen that a lot of the time when this education was taught, the abstinence approach was taken, where this was heavily encouraged. CSE benefits countries who are underdeveloped as it:
"...improves children and young peoples’ sexual knowledge, self-confidence and esteem, positively changes attitudes, gender and social norms, strengthens decision-making and communication skills and builds self-efficacy" (Wangamati).
Education in Pakistan
Education in Pakistan
This country has struggled with the development of this kind of education. Religion is a big factor that comes into play within this country, so by working around that, there is a chance that this education can reach about 500,000 students. Due to the lack of education, there have been higher rates of sexual abuse, early pregnancy, and substance abuse. When creating curriculums, those behind it made sure that there was no negative stigma behind the content due to the different beliefs that people hold. Some topics that are spoken about are child marriage, gender-based violence, as well as other gender issues and life-related experiences one may face.
The education system in India
The education system in India
In 2005, the AEP, Adolescence Education Program was started in India but due to cultural and political beliefs, it was not favored as people thought it would promote behaviors that were considered wrong, such as those that would choose to have sex at a young age. It has been chosen by education professionals to not teach this information within their studies as well as parents at home. In a study done in Chandigarh, India, 88% of teachers supported the idea of this type of education. Teachers were also given different surveys based on the topics that this education focuses on and their education experience in order to teach the students. Also within this study, it was found that only 8.9% of teachers were experienced with teaching this information while 91.1% said that it is necessary to teach reproductive health education. Slowly, the implementation of this education is being brought into different schools across India, but there needs to be a great change to the amount of training that the teachers receive.
All countries should have the right and access to reproductive health education to better the lives of young girls.
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