Sex is a natural part of human's life. At one point, sex will happen with or without sex education and reproductive health. Statistic document that 71% of American 19 years have had sex. Same data reveal that 99% of individual will have sex in their lifetime. It means that just because we feel embarrassed to share sexual and reproductive education topics with kids does not justify that children will not have sex ( Schalet et al., 2014) . The debate on whether it would be important to have children exposed to sexual and reproductive education at an early age is critical. The opposers claim that exposing children to sexual topics at young age conflict with religious beliefs. They further argue that some parents and teachers are not experts in this field and, thus, may not healthily facilitate the teaching. It would, therefore, lead to unhealthy issues for the children. The proponents claim that at an early stage, it would be healthy to exposed children to sexual and reproductive education for them to stay safe from related sexual injustices. In this article, the author maintains that exposing children to early sexual and reproductive education is healthy.
Teaching children about sex and reproductive system at an early age grant them a chance to know more about their body parts and their functions. This knowledge is healthy as it helps children stay safe from sexual harassments and injustices. Most children have fallen victims of sexual harassment from their fellow children and adults. The rationale behind such harassments is that children may not know the intentions of another child or an adult touching her or him at his or her most sensitive part. They end up being duped and fall victims of injustices such as rape cases. What if they are told early about these issues? The chances are that children will have an opportunity of leading a safe and healthy sexual life. Such children shall have known the functions of each body part and the sexual organs. Moreover, such children would be in a position to predict or read the intentions of any person trying to touch them in a sexually suggestive manner. Lastly, they shall have known how to raise the alarm to such behaviors either to their teachers or parents at home. The result is that such children would be more sensitive to sexual and reproductive practices. They would be able to avoid people who try to intimidate them sexually. They will have a chance to stay safe from sexual harassments or report them to their parents or teachers. This would improve their health and make them stay safe from sexual predators.
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Exposing children to sex and reproductive education at an early age is critical in enhancing awareness about sexual related diseases and infections; this makes them stay safe from such conditions. There is no point of feeling embarrassed to share sexual and reproductive topics with teens. Sharing such issues give them a chance in knowing that having sexual intercourse comes with consequences such as infection and diseases. Notably, a child will at one point have sex whether they are told about it early or not ( Chandra-Mouli et al., 2015). When they are not exposed to these topics early in their life, there is a high chance that they may have unprotected sex. This is putting them into risk of contracting sexual related diseases and infections. Some of these conditions sometimes take before their clinicallymanifest. It, thus, means that children may sometimes take before eventually feeling sick. It further suggest that parents or teachers may take sometimes before realizing that their kids are infected. This will affect their health. If children are told all about the sexual topics and the conditions they are exposed by having unprotected sex, they will take cautions when involved in such behaviors. There is a possibility that they will protect themselves when having sexual intercourse. This will keep them safe from sexual infections and avoid pregnancies. Moreover, in case they get infected with sex-related conditions, the child may not feel shy, but will share with their parents. In this case, the early interventions will help in keeping them safe from devastating effects of such conditions.
Lastly, exposing children to early education on sex and sexual topics is healthy since it helps in cautioning them about the risks of involving in sex, and also keeping the types of friends they have under check. At this age, sex education should be more pronounce and audible. Nothing should be held in the dark ( Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2015). Female children should be told how to get pregnant and the dangers associated with being pregnant at an early age. The risk of abortion should be mentioned too. On the other hand, male children should be told about the consequences of unsafe sex and how the society views them in case they make ladies pregnant. They should be told the effects of rape and how to stay safe from them. At this point, knowing about good and bad friend should be important in making children remain healthy and safe sexually.
In summary, exposing children to sex and reproductive education at an early age is critical in enhancing safety and a healthy lifestyle as far as sexual consequences and discriminations are concerned. It helps children in recognizing and positively reacting to sexual harassments and body changes to stay safe. It also helps them select their best friend carefully, be aware of pregnancy-related issues and infections related to sex. This enhances their safety and better health.
References
Chandra-Mouli, V., Lane, C., & Wong, S. (2015). What does not work in adolescent sexual and reproductive health: a review of evidence on interventions commonly accepted as best practices. Global Health: Science and Practice , 3 (3), 333-340.
Guilamo-Ramos, V., Lee, J. J., Kantor, L. M., Levine, D. S., Baum, S., & Johnsen, J. (2015). The potential for using online and mobile education with parents and adolescents to impact sexual and reproductive health. Prevention Science , 16 (1), 53-60.
Schalet, A. T., Santelli, J. S., Russell, S. T., Halpern, C. T., Miller, S. A., Pickering, S. S., ... & Hoenig, J. M. (2014). Invited commentary: Broadening the evidence for adolescent sexual and reproductive health and education in the United States.
