Ethics of Sex Education in Public Schools Essay

Ethics of Sex Education in Public Schools - Essay Example irst understand and realize that the agencies involved in implementing these policies are in reality the Federal government, the state, the local agencies, the school board of education, the teachers and finally the students. Sex education is of vital importance and needs to be taught by an expert who is trained to impart a sensitive issue, the synonym of which is symbolic to the attitudes, beliefs and values of a stable mind set, in an expert manner. While the Federal government is the overall authority in formulating policies, it does not take interest in the execution of sex education principles and thus relies heavily on the state and local bodies for the same. (Irvine, 2002) At the same time, as all the major funding activities pertaining to the school education system is done by the Federal government and hence, it has the right to exercise control over the ways and means of compiling and executing the policies pertaining to sex education in a public school environment. On the whole, it is the state and the local bodies, with special regards to the school education board and the related teachers, who influence the curriculum and execute it to perfection. Hence, a majority of decisions are ideally made at the local level. (Irvine, 2002) It has to be noted that a state mandate is essential to implement a particular curriculum regardless of what the school thinks about it. For example, if the state mandate requires schools to include HIV/AIDS or the risk of having sex with multiple partners, the local body has no choice but to implement the same in their school prospectus. Similarly, if the state mandate puts a restriction on the use of HIV/AIDS or the risk of having sex with multiple partners, the local bodies would have to do as told and cannot overrule the state decision. (Went, 1985) The content of sex education is not fixed and varies in accordance to the community and the age of the students enrolled in the program. In all honesty, the course