Rebuttal Essay - Sex Education at the Elementary School Level

In a recent podcast, Sex Ed Should Not be Taught in Schools, Candace Owens, a popular activist political commentator, argues that like Shakespeare, sexual education should not be taught at the elementary school level. In support of her position, Owens maintains that during the 1960s, the overwhelming majority of young people graduated with their virginity intact; however, after the introduction of sexual education which was promoted based on the assertion that everybodys doing it, the majority of students graduate without their virginity. In addition, Owens also cites other potential motivations for the introduction of sexual education at the elementary school level including most especially an insidious plot by Planned Parenthood and like-minded organizations to exploit children in the United States by grooming them for future sexualization and monetize the process. The purpose of this paper is to explain why Owens claims are flawed because she fails to cite any evidence in support of her misguided assertions and ignores the critical importance of teaching young people about sex to help them avoid sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. To this end, the paper presents a rebuttal to Owens arguments that sexual education should not be taught at the elementary level, followed by a counterargument highlighted the reasons in support of these curricular offerings. Finally, the paper presents a summary of the review and significant findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.

Rebuttal

According to the podcast by Owens, sexual education (sex ed) was not taught in public schools in the United States prior to the 1960s and its introduction during the 1970s resulted in a cascade of evils on the American people thereafter. Indeed, if Owens is to be believed, sex ed was not even a twinkle in lawmakers eyes until Planned Parenthood and their like-minded ilk decided there was money to be made by sexualizing children through the sales of condoms and textbooks.

In addition, Owens makes the point that proponents of sex ed was justified because young people were engaging in sex anyway so sex ed was appropriate since it could help keep young people safe and even prevent unwanted pregnancies. Without any evidence in support, though, Owens claims that most young people were still virgins when they graduated from high school, thereby allowing them to enter adulthood as moral and productive citizens. This situation was unacceptable to Owens and like-minded critics since it actually encouraged children to have sex. It is also noteworthy that Owens inflates her arguments against sex ed in the public schools at the elementary level with inflammatory and alarmist rhetoric by blaming any interest in gender transitions in her calculus especially now that their sex ed...

…prior to the introduction of sexual education in the 1960s is simply false and unsupported by evidence. Research shows almost half of women born in the 1930s-1940s engaged in premarital sex. Moreover, Owens also ignores the many benefits of sexual education, including equipping youth with knowledge and skills to protect their health, develop healthy relationships, and make responsible choices. Ultimately, Owens inflammatory arguments against elementary school sex ed lack factual basis and overlook the needs of young people in modern society. In the final analysis, more sexual education can help protect children, not harm them. The evidence clearly supports introducing age-appropriate sexual education earlier, not later.

Works Cited

Comprehensive Sexuality Education. (2023). World Health Organization. Available: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/comprehensive-sexuality-education#:~:text=Sexuality%20education%20equips%20children%20and,protect%20the%20rights%20of%20others.

Finigan-Carr, Nadine M., et al. Predictors of Condom Use among System-Involved Youth: The Importance of Sex Ed. Children & Youth Services Review, vol. 127, Aug. 2021, pp. 1-5.

Keegan, Julia, et al. Unlearning and Relearning Sexuality: A Qualitative Exploration of The Sex Wrap, a Sex Education Podcast. Sexual Health, vol. 20, no. 6, Dec. 2023, pp. 53137.

Lavin, Lauren A. (Summer 2020). The History of Sex Education in the United States: With Application to South Dakota. Honors Thesis. 119.

Owens, Candace. (n.d.). Sex Ed Should Not be Taught in Schools. YouTube video [podcast]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/ shorts/EHm5iFzreBs?feature=share.

Wu, Lawrence L. et al. (2020). Sexual Abstinence in the United States: Cohort Trends in Abstaining from Sex While Never Married for…