Every state has policiesin place in regards to sex education in schools. According to the NationalAbortion Federation (2010), sex and HIV education is required in twenty states,including the District of Columbia. Seventeen states sex education to includethe proper use of contraception. As well as, thirty-seven states providing dataon the benefits of. However, there are eleven states that do not require sexeducation or HIV to be taught, which those states happen to have the highestteen pregnancy rate.Before 2011, New York onlyhad HIV education programs that also referenced the use of condoms and benefitsof abstinence.
Today, the sex education programs are a one semester publichealth/gym requirement. The issues in New York schools are that these programs needto be updated and consistent especially since everything is found on the Internetin a few seconds. In New York, about 90% of middle schools and high schools inthe city are do not have a licensed health education teacher (GuttmacherInstitute, 2013). I would recommend implementing a policy to require the NewYork education system to have licensed and trained educators to providemedically accurate information.According to the federallaw (Title IX), it bans any form of sex discrimination in public schools,especially pregnant students. The extent of discrimination that did occur wasone of the main reasons for the increased school dropout rates.
NationalAbortion Federation (2010) stated, the lack of support and indirect forms ofdiscrimination includes: · Schools refusing to give excused absencesfor pregnancy related doctor’s appointments · Teachers refusing to allow make-up work · Counselors pressuring students into transferringto alternative schools · Exclusion from school activities based on”morality” codes · Discouraging and disapproving commentsfrom adults and students
