Contraceptives in the United States, Essay Example for Students

Contraceptives are approaches that allow people to enjoy sex while eliminating the pregnancy risk. The United States has experienced an escalation in the use of contraceptives in recent years. Different women are very active sexually but do not prefer getting pregnant. According to research, about 85% of couples who fails to use contraceptives are likely to get pregnant over the year. The desired family size in the United States is two children. Women use contraceptives to attain this goal. About 99% of women between 15 and 44 years have used contraceptives during intercourse. Contraceptives help do away with unintended pregnancies. Women use the approach to guarantee the successful elimination of unintended pregnancy. Women from all the religious denominations use contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies (Daniels, Daugherty & Jones, 2014). Majority of women use contraceptive methods such as hormonal methods, IUDs, non-permanent methods, and condoms. About 25% of women rely on the male sterilization.

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Use of contraceptives is also common among the teenage women. They use different contraceptive methods to prevent unintended pregnancy. Contraceptives are very effective when used appropriately. Consistent and correct use of contraceptives among the women prevents unintended pregnancies and guarantees high level of protection. Contraceptives guarantee healthier pregnancies among women. It also helps in achieving the desired family size, space birth, and help in appropriately timing the births. Appropriate spacing and delaying of childbearing among women is critical in their efforts to achieve economic and social advancement. Use of contraceptives also advances the women's participation in the workforce and education. Emergency contraceptives also help women prevent pregnancy in case of contraceptive failure or after engaging in unprotected sex. Contraceptives polices on the prevention of unintended pregnancies. It should also seek to educate people on the effective use. Unintended pregnancy is a great menace among the teens in the society today, and the contraceptive policy should aim at educating the teens on the appropriate application of the contraception methods (Daniels et al., 2014). Contraceptives are, however, costly and the government together with responsible health agencies should subsidize the cost to guarantee effective population regulation.

Content Analysis

History of birth control methods

People have used birth control methods since the 20th century. According to research, having children is the least motivating factor among people when considering sexual intercourse. People, therefore, wanted to control the process and guarantee safety and prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Both men and women want to have full mandate on when to have a child. Practice of family planning occurred even in religious, political and social dominated communities. Methods used in the early 20th century were ineffective as compared to the approaches used today. However, other traditional societies focused on continuous abstinence as the most appropriate method of protection from unintended pregnancies. Societies used methods such as fertility awareness approach, lactation method, and withdrawal technique and barrier methods top guarantee protection from the unintended pregnancies (De Arellano & Seipp, 2017). Birth control methods help states in controlling the population and creating a socioeconomic and political balance in the society.

Birth control measures are fundamental among the teenage population. According to research, teens exhibit high sexual desire but lack childbearing motivation. They do not want pregnancy. Society also prohibits early and unintended pregnancies among the teens. The use of birth control measures such as contraceptives is an elementary approach for both the present and future development of the society. It enables the prevention of the unwanted pregnancies among the youths and creates an effective balance in population if properly applied.

Issue Analysis

Sex Education among the Teens

Sex education includes issues that relate to human sexuality. Sex education enlightens people on the benefits of safe sex, reproductive health and appropriate use of contraceptives. It enables effective and healthy social relationship between girls and boys. It also educates children on their respective reproductive rights. In the traditional society, adolescents lacked adequate sexual matters. The society considered it a taboo for the children to discuss sexual matters. Such restrictions only left the childcare duties to the parent. Sex education enlightens the teens on how to maintain social hygiene and interact with others in the society (Lee, Florez, Holm, Horwitz & Waters, 2016). Introduction of sex education in the curriculum for schools helps children to learn about their sexuality effectively. Sex education provides the teens with adequate information about the STI's and teen pregnancy.

Influence of Sex Education on STIs

Youths engage in different risky behaviors that lead to the acquisition of STI or teen pregnancy. Forced sex is a common challenge experienced by the youths in the modern society. Forced sex is unprotected and subjects the teens into different STI diseases. Advancement and easy access to technology increase chances of student's indulgence in pornography. Pornography is detrimental to the social growth of the teens. It leads to negative sexual behaviors among the teens and subjects them to STIs and early pregnancies. The inclusion of sexual education on the life of the teens helps them comprehend and differentiate cruel and unethical behaviors from social laws of the society.

Sexual education provides the teens with the knowledge about contraceptives. It enables the teens to learn more about sexual protection and ethical sexual conducts. It also provides the youths with knowledge about the difference in the methods of conceptive such as condoms, morning pills, and abortion (Daniels et al., 2014). The education program also provides the youths with the time duration stipulated for every precaution measure. There is huge information gap among the youths. Teenagers do not have the necessary sexual education and knowledge required to live a healthy and respectful life. According to research, early pregnancy leads to life-threatening conditions and even death of the teens. Sex education allows schools and different institutions to conduct discussions and debates on the significance of sex awareness. The program also sensitizes teachers and students. Biases and prejudice are some of the factors that prevent the youths from comprehending the importance of sex education. Every teen should be responsible enough for their social life and understand the significance of healthy sexual behaviors. Future of every community depends on the development of the teenagers in the society.

Sexually transmitted diseases affect the lives of the youths. It negatively affects the health status of the teens in the society. Activeness of the youths depends on their health status. Sexuality education provides teens with information about the sexually transmitted diseases. It enables the teens to acquire knowledge on the practical ways of preventing sexually transmitted diseases. It also provides the teens with information about pregnancy. It enables the teens to confront diseases such as HIV/AIDS effectively.

Sex education includes the socio-cultural roles and obligations assigned to both the men and women in the society. It shapes the personality of a person by influencing one to build up a given origination viewing oneself as a female or a male. Sex education assumes a huge part of the teen's advancement. It enables the teens to acquire knowledge about abstinence and grow uprightly in the society. Some of the STI diseases are dangerous and leads to the death of children. They also negatively affect the emotional build-up of people. Individuals suffering from STIs do not freely associate or interact with others in the society. The performance of teens depends on their psychological build-up. Teens participate in the different chores of the society. They help in household chores such as cooking and taking care of the family assets. They also participate in educational activities while in the school. Attracting STIs affects the level of participation from the students. Sex education is fundamental since it provides teens with such information as early as possible before attracting such diseases. Sex education enables the students to abstain or acquire the best information about sexuality and plans well to prevent the acquisition of the STIs.

Sex education enlightens the teens about their rights. They learn of their rights in the society and understand all the constitutional procedures in case of violation of their rights. Forceful sex is the most significant cause of STIs among the youths (Goesling, Colman, Trenholm, Terzian & Moore, 2014). Children who do not understand their rights in the society undergo forceful sex but fail to seek the appropriate help. Understanding one's rights and obligations as either a woman or a boy in the community enables the teens to behave and interact effectively with the opposite sex. Sex education teaches girls how to act in the society appropriately. It shows them how to put on clothes and interact with boys appropriately. Forceful sex in most cases results from the transparent garments that ladies put on. Such garments arose the sexual desire of men resulting in sexual harassment of the women. Sex education teaches women to put on respectable clothes that do not provoke people in the society. It also educates ladies on how to report and channels of administration to follow in case of sexual harassment in the organization.

One develops an identity by mastering the daily activities practiced since childhood. According to the schema theory, a child mainly develops different social traits and characteristics depending on the learning experienced during the childhood. A child especially acquires the identity based on the influence the elder individuals have on the child as postulated by the theory. In the traditional society, sexual education was primarily the role of parents in the community. People hardly talked about sexuality, and it affected the growth of the children. In the current society, the inclusion of the sexual education in the curriculum results in the beliefs that both teachers and parents are responsible for the appropriate growth and development of the children.

Sex awareness in the society affects how people view the teens in the community. Different organizations also organize sex education to the members of the nation and enlighten them on the proper sexual upbringing of the society. The socio-cultural responsibilities assigned to both the girls and boys in the community affect the behavior of the children as they imitate the elder sisters and brothers. Sexual education ensures parents gain knowledge about the appropriate measures of engaging both the girls and boys in the society. Sex education shapes the identity of people in the community. It enlightens the community on the dangers of STIs on the life of the children. It also educates the elderly population of the society to acquire more knowledge about the STIs. Acquisition of such expertise enables the parents and elders in the community to teach children on the sexuality matters appropriately. According to statistics, STIs have significantly dropped in the society since the incorporation of sex education in the curriculum.