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Essay / An argument for why sex education should be included in Kazakhstan's schools
Today, one of the most controversial topics in Kazakhstan is “Should sex education lessons be introduced into school curricula?” An interesting fact is that the majority of people are unaware of sexual activity between girls and boys, as well as its very unpleasant consequences such as early pregnancies, abortions and sexual diseases. According to Doctor Rolleri (2007), sexuality and HIV education programs have a great influence on adolescents. “There is clear evidence that programs do not accelerate or increase sexual behaviors,” he explained, “but some programs delay or decrease sexual behaviors or increase condom or contraceptive use.” Additionally, sex education gives adolescents great knowledge about sex, pregnancy and protection. In addition, they will know how to avoid problems, for example pregnancy. Sex education should be included in Kazakh schools because it will avoid many consequences that can be caused by lack of knowledge. Sex education will be effective in Kazakhstan, because adolescents should be aware of this topic and only receive credible information. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first reason why sex education should be included in Kazakh schools is that most parents always try to avoid this topic. The bottom line is that sex education will provide credible information that parents are not providing at home. Interestingly, in Kazakhstan, parents never talk about sex with their children; for them, it is not a good idea to discuss the “adult topic”. “I mean we don't have a culture in this area. In fact, we are embarrassed to talk about these things with children” (Romanovskaya, 2012). Some parents believe that sex education at school has harmful effects on their children. This kind of thinking is the result of shameful discussions with parents on this subject. Sex education would help provide basic information, which is not provided at home. For example, parents should explain what abortion is, sexual diseases, early pregnancy and how to use contraceptives, but most often they avoid discussing this topic with their children. Neilson (nd) states that children will get incorrect information about sex from non-credible sources if parents do not teach it at home (as cited in Jonathan, 2010)[1]. Parents, whether married or single, still have the greatest influence over their teenagers' sexual choices.* But bad things will happen if parents don't play a significant role in their children's lives. In this case, sex education at school will help these children provide the necessary information about sexuality. The second reason why sex education should be included in Kazakh schools is that students will receive correct information about sex. The bottom line is that sex education classes provide clear answers when students ask questions about their body changes. For example, they would understand more from a biological perspective, such as hormones, sexual development, gender roles, intimacy and body image. Additionally, through sex education, teens will know how to have sex safely with contraceptives. " Manyyoung people engage in risky sexual behaviors that can lead to unintended health consequences” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). Safe sex prevents sexually transmitted diseases and problems related to early pregnancy. For example, children of young mothers suffer more behavioral and neurocognitive disorders, poor academic performance, and higher rates of teen pregnancy before reaching school age. Furthermore, being a parent during adolescence often results in lower abilities for career success (Jordan et al., 2000). Additionally, being a young mother brings psychological and emotional problems. Unfortunately, over the past ten years, the number of young mothers has increased. Overall, sex education helps prevent teenage pregnancies and a high rate of abortions. After analyzing the information about sex education, students will think more about the harmful consequences of unprotected sex and start paying attention to their studies at school or college. The third reason why sex education should be included in Kazakh schools is that it will be effective in Kazakhstan. Parents and teachers should take sex education seriously because of its implications. Due to the high percentages of early pregnancy and marriage among adolescents under 18 in Kazakhstan, the majority of parents will likely support this idea. The second reason is that students will take sex education classes. Moreover, they can understand the main idea of the lesson and grasp the important information, which can be very useful in their life. The third reason is that sex education has the opportunity to provide personal data about each student if they need individual support, because for most students in Kazakhstan from religious families, sex is a taboo subject . Therefore, children might be afraid to discuss this topic. According to statistics, more than a thousand teenage girls had abortions in Kazakhstan last year. Furthermore, in 2016, in Kazakhstan, more than a thousand women terminated their pregnancies and 1,418 were adolescents aged 15-17 (Ivanovna, 2017). As mentioned earlier, Kazakh students may perceive sex education as a serious subject and pregnancy and early marriage rates may decrease, as they would have a good understanding of sexual intercourse. Nonetheless, some critics say the reason sex education classes should be introduced into school curricula in Kazakhstan is a bad idea. Studying sex education can attract students' interest in sexual activity. “It will attract attention, they are already interested, but when the forbidden fruit is sweet, no one will guarantee that there will be no more immorality,” says the school director, Tatiana Bruesevich, that this will lead many problems. In other words, as students acquire more information about sex education, their interest in sexual relationships will increase. For example, opponents claim that after sex education classes, adolescents will begin to seek out misinformation about sex from movies, radio, and some parents. fear that sex education will encourage their adolescents to have sex (Dyk, 2015). For this reason, opponents argue that adolescents do not need sex education in school and that it must lead to bad consequences. This is why the majority of school teachers and parents.