Sex education provides “Immunization” against sexually transmitted diseases and prevents unwanted pregnancy

It was said at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that the only vaccination against the virus was knowledge. Knowledge about what is out there is essential to guarding the self. There are a several of ways in which this knowledge is essential; finding out about the risks of sex is just one, having accurate information about the pleasures as well as the risks is another.[1] Knowledge also prevents misinformation. Young people must be informed about sex, how it works and what the risks associated with it are, and how to access the risks and the pleasures. When sex is not talked about and kept behind closed doors, young people are forced often to grope around in the dark, so to speak. This can result in unwanted pregnancies, and even STDs, some of which can be permanent, a threat to fertility or even life threatening.  IT leaves young people confused.[2] The state thus owes an obligation to its citizens to prepare them adequately for their interactions in society, including those of a sexual nature. A mandatory sex education regime serves as a defence against misinformation about sex. Religious organizations, most notably in the United States, promote abstinence by lying about the effectiveness of contraception and about the transmission of STDs.[3] When such activity is not countered by a scientific explanation of sex and sexual practices a culture of ignorance develops that can have serious negative social and health effects on those who are misinformed. An example of the benefits of sex education is highlighted in the case of the United States. In primarily liberal states where sex education is mandatory, young people are statistically more likely to be sexually active. At the same time in states where sex education is banned or deliberately misleading, teen pregnancy rates are much higher.[4] Clearly the trade-off between high promiscuity rates on the one hand and much higher rates of teen pregnancy and STDs on the other stands in the favour of sex education. Young people live now in a society which is very sexualised[5] it has been described as a carnal jungle. Adults need to offer guidance about negotiating a way through the messages about sex which proliferate in the mass media and consumer culture.[6] Underlying this discussion is controversy about what sex education should be. Sex education has become a shorthand term for the broader subject of personal relationships , sexual health and education about sexuality[7]  it is clear that views about what sex education should be and what it should contain has changed significantly over time.[8] High quality sex education should not only contain factual information about the physiological issues of sexual development and reproduction. It should also offer safe spaces for young people to consider the social and emotional aspects of sexuality and the social and peer pressures that arise in youth cultures. [1] Sex Education Forum, Teaching about contraception, 1997 [2] Trudell, Doing Sex Education, 1993 [3] Mombiot, Joy of Sex Education, 2004 [4] NPR et al, Sex Education in America, 2004 [5] Roberts, Too young to unwrap a condom, 2998 [6] Sachs et al, How adolescents see the media, 1991. Moore and Rosenthal, Sex roles, 1990. Jackson, Childhood Sexuality, 1982. [7] Mayock et al, Relationships and Sexual Education in the Context of Social, Personal and Health Education, 2007, P.20 [8] Reiss, What are the aims of school sex education, 1990