Blog #4: Should sex education be taught in public schools?

If so, what kind of education: Abstinence-only, or Abstinence-plus?
===================================

Although we had a multitude of topics to choose from for our blog discussion this week, I chose to discuss the need for health/sex education in our public schools because I firmly, adamantly believe this is just as important as the required core curriculum classes necessary for graduation from high school.

In my opinion, the critical information taught and learned within this classroom setting will only serve in a positive way to educate and teach our youth about sexual health, disease prevention and healthy lifestyles, and this information is invaluable if we are to effectively promote healthy lifestyles to our children, students and families. To eliminate or dilute such sex education programs within our public school systems is a disservice to our youth, and only exemplifies the fact that “funding is more important than function.” I believe it is our responsibility as parents, family members, and educators to insist that our health and sex education programs continue within the public school system, and to become involved in the decision-making process regarding school curriculums.

As a very young child, perhaps age six or seven, I vividly recall having a “sex education” conversation with my mother. As I sat on the edge of the bed while she starched and ironed my school dresses, I remember asking her, “Mommy, how did you get me?” She thought about the question for a few minutes and then very matter-of-factly explained the “birds and bees” to me. That was the one and only sex education conversation I ever had with my mother. But at least I had that. Many children and adolescents have no education, whatsoever, from their parents or family members, and are left to learn on their own --- often with serious consequences.

Much controversy about school-based sex education programs continues to exist, and although the federal government has endorsed Abstinence-Only Until Marriage (AOUM) educational programs, the effectiveness of such programs show little improvement in changing adolescent behavior over comprehensive sexuality educational programs (Alexander, LaRosa, Bader, Garfield and Alexander, 2010).

My opinion is that we should continue comprehensive sex education programs at the junior high and high school levels. This is not meant to condone or promote sexual behavior among our adolescents, but to acknowledge that they will continue to learn and experiment despite what we tell them to do, as in the “Abstinence-Only Until Marriage” method of teaching sex education. As teen pregnancy, incidence of STIs and HIV continue to be a very prevalent issue among our adolescent population, I believe it is our responsibility to educate to the best of our ability, so our children and adolescents have the information necessary to make the best choices.

Carol Martin

References

Alexander, L.L., LaRosa, J.H., Bader, H., Garfield, S., Alexander, W.J. (2010) Dimensions in women’s health. (5th Ed.) Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Blog #3: How can we encourage adolescents to follow healthy behaviors?

I believe that the single most important thing we can do to encourage adolescents to follow a healthy lifestyle is to lead by example. We, as parents, educators and healthcare professionals have a duty and responsibility to teach our children to the best of our ability, and provide them with the educational tools and resources so that they can learn and make good decisions for themselves.

As adults we have an advantage over young children and adolescents, in that we have already gone through this phase in our lives and are now at the point where we can help them learn from our experiences. I would assume that most of us probably made some poor decisions during our adolescent years, as growing and trying new experiences are just a part of the teenage years. Unfortunately, as we have learned, adolescents who adopt poor health choices during this critical phase in their lives will tend to carry the behaviors into adulthood (Alexander, LaRosa, Bader, Garfield and Alexander, 2010). If we are able to educate these children and adolescents at a young age, then perhaps we can have an impact on the overall health of our next generation.

I would propose increased funding for health promotion classes offered at the junior high and high school levels, including a rigorous smoking prevention program, a drug and alcohol awareness/resistance program, a nutritional program, and a sex education program.

Just having this information available to adolescents doesn’t always get their attention, so I would incorporate several elements into this health promotion incentive:

1) An incentive-based reward system for performing and documenting good health practices. By incentives, I do not imply monetary reward, but perhaps class rewards, extra grade points or privileges based on incentives achieved.

2) A very frank, honest demonstration of what can happen as a result of poor choices. This would include presentations from people living with severe lung disease, a recovering alcoholic, a morbidly obese person, a person living with AIDS, etc.

3) Establish a school/community garden so that children and adolescents can participate in actually growing healthy, nutritious foods, then incorporate this learning into the curriculum and serve the food as part of the school menu plan.

In fact, community/school gardens are increasing in popularity throughout the country and many exist in the greater Houston area. (urbanharvest.org) Establishing a community/school garden can have many positive outcomes, and providing healthy food for our children is just one of many.

Carol Martin

References

Alexander, L.L., LaRosa, J.H., Bader, H., Garfield, S., Alexander, W.J. (2010) Dimensions in women’s health. (5th Ed.) Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

(2009, September). Start a community garden or school garden. Retrieved 18 September, 2009 from http://www.urbanharvest.org

Blog #2: Access to Health Care: Right or Privilege?

As one of the millions of insured Americans, I know I am fortunate to have access to excellent medical care. I pay the monthly premium, co-insurance and copays required by my health care plan, and in turn my provider pays the rest. But so many other Americans are not as fortunate, and, in fact, over 45 million of our citizens lack health insurance (Alexander, LaRosa, Bader, Garfield and Alexander, 2010). I see this issue as a national crisis, and feel it is the duty and responsibility of our legislators to finally address this issue and develop a health care delivery system that is fair and equitable for all Americans.

Yes, I believe that access to health care is a Right, not a privilege. As Americans, we live in one of the wealthiest, most technologically-advanced countries in the world and enjoy a high standard of living, yet our free market health care system seems to have failed so many by making insurance inaccessible, and therefore limiting access to basic medical care (Alexander et al., 2010).

After viewing the PBS Frontline videos, “Sick Around America” and “Sick Around the World” (Public Broadcasting Service, 2008-2009), my opinion regarding the basic “right” to health care has only intensified. In my opinion, if other major industrialized countries can take a hard look at their dysfunctional health care system and make the difficult decisions to do what is best for their citizens (PBS 2008), then we, as Americans, should be shown the same respect by our own government.

Perhaps as our leaders work through the arduous process of health care reform, they will look at the successful reforms from other major, industrialized countries and apply these principles to create a system that is fair and equitable for all Americans, despite age, gender or socioeconomic status.

Carol Martin


References:


Alexander, L.L., LaRosa, J.H., Bader, H., Garfield, S., Alexander, W.J. (2010) Dimensions in women’s health. (5th Ed.) Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.


Reid, T.R., Correspondent. 2008, April 15. Sick Around the World. [Television broadcast]. Public Broadcasting Service.
http://video.kera.org/video/1050712790/program/979358040/topic/979379181


2009, March 31. Sick Around America. [Television broadcast]. Public Broadcasting Service.
http://video.kera.org/video/1050712790/feature/87

TWU - Women's Health 3350 - Blog #1

Blog #1:

What health issues you are most concerned about? Why? Interview 2-3 women (different ages, ethnicities and/or cultures if possible) and ask them the same question. Are your concerns similar or different? Explain.

My response:
My major concerns with women's health issues relate to the alarming rate of breast cancer, HPV and resulting cervical cancer, and HIV. This concerns me because I see how such illnesses affect every aspect of our lives, and if diagnosed with such an illness, how devastating this can be to our own health and the health and well-being of our families.

I interviewed several members of my own family, neighbors and friends, with ages ranging from 25 to 75, and asked all of them the same questions: "As a woman, tell me the three things that concern you most from a health care standpoint?" Nearly everyone agreed, at least to some degree, on what was the most pressing concern regarding women's health: breast cancer. While the younger women seemed slightly more concerned with HPV, the risk of cervical cancer, and HIV, the middle-aged and senior women seemed to be more concerned about breast cancer risks, but all agreed that breast cancer is a very serious health care concern.... not only in the U.S., but worldwide.

As far as my own concerns, I would have to agree that breast cancer is extremely concerning to me, as I have lost several good friends and coworkers to this devastating disease, and I realize that this disease has no age discrimination .... young women, middle-aged women, and senior women are all affected. This is why I encourage every woman I know to have routine checkups and yearly mammograms.