Research Papers about Should Sex Education Be Required In Public Schools

Despite the obvious statistics, restless debates on whether sex education should be obligatory in public schools flourish. Statistics of the Guttmacher Institute claims that the United States has â€Å"one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world—almost twice as high as those of England, Wales and Canada, and eight times as high as those of the Netherlands and Japan.† According to the Guttmacher studies among 750,000 teen pregnancies that annually take place, over 82 percent are unintended, one-quarter of which result in abortions. To a large extent, abstinence-only sex ed stands out against the broad sex education course that the majority American parents want — from the ABC of how babies are conceived to how condoms are supposed to put on to how to get tested for STD.  (Facts on Sex Education in the United States, 2006) When discussing the issue of introducing sex education as an obligatory course of public schools, conservatism conflicts with liberalism, religion collides with logic. Conservatives and adherents of the Bush administration strongly believe that sex education should add up to premarital continence. However, according to numerous surveys of public opinion teacher and parents are dissatisfied with such strategy. On the question of the Annenberg Public Policy Center if they support the fact that students should be taught not only abstention but other methods of pregnancy prevention and STD infection approximately 82 percent of the responders (liberal and conservatives) gave a positive response. In the past the majority of the states accepted federal funding, but teachers in violation of the law told their students about contraception and other â€Å"prohibited† matters. Some states (Ohio, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Road Island, Montana and New Jersey) decided to reject governmental g rants but give their children real sex education. California completely rejected such federal programmes. Some opponents of sex education in public schools are convinced that sex education should be taught at home. They believe that that gives parents more control over the child’s knowledge of sexual orientation as well as perception of moral and immoral outlooks on sexual relations. Sex education at home can also protect the child from sour topic (disease, pregnancy or sexual orientation). Some believe that sex education is a very private and intimate topic and should not be disclosed to the public. Sex education at home puts more responsibility on the parents. Antagonist of sex ed in public schools completely disagree with the opinion that it’s OK if you are using a condom. (Dailard, C., 2001) Nevertheless, specialist and author of the book â€Å"Ten Talks Parents Must Have With Their Children† Pepper Schwartz believes: â€Å"Parents arent sex education experts just because they are parents†. And at the same time Bruno Bettelheim, an Austrian-born American c hild psychologist and writer, wrote in one of his article Our Children Are Treated Like Idiots in  Psychology Today of July 1981 that â€Å"†¦ you cannot have sex education without saying that sex is natural and that most people find it pleasurable†. (Quotes on sex education, 2010) The issue of sexual education has been discussed for several decades. The founder of the American  radical right-wing John Birch Society  Robert Welch in 1960 wrote that sex education in schools is a â€Å"filthy Communist plot† aiming to undermine spiritual health of the American youth. Under suppressing circumstances US was forced to introduce a course of such nature, however according to the law money from the federal budget could only be spent on programmes that teach students abstention from premarital sexual activities as this method was considered to be the only reliable way of preventing extramarital pregnancy, spreading of various sexually transmitted diseases and other health problems connected with this issue. (Sexuality Education for Children and Adolescents, 2001) This law became even stronger under George Walker Bush, Jr. Although the federal government annually spends more than $176 million on these programmes, these courses are absolutely ineffective. Ameri can indicators of sexual health among teenagers are the worst among all developed countries. Many of the governmentally subsidized programmes provide inaccurate conception of sexuality. For example, from 13 examined programmes, 11 contained false statements such as HIV is transmitted through sweat and tears, touching genitals can cause pregnancy, 43 day embryos can think, half of the American male homosexual population suffers from HIV, condoms do not protect from HIV in one third of the cases etc. (Sex Education in America, 2009) Statistics talks for itself. As a result of the growing pregnancy percentage among teenagers as well as the increasing rates of teen sexual activity, for the benefit of the students parents together with public school counsellors are searching for the most effective sex education schemes. The majority (46%) of the Americans consider that the most effectual scheme of sex ed is the so called â€Å"abstinence-plus†, when students are taught about the essence of abstinence as well as the necessity to use condoms and contraception. All in all it is vitally important to teach teens responsibility and wise decision-making when it comes to sex. Work Cited Dailard, C.  Sex Education: Politicians, Parents, Teachers and Teens.  The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy. Guttmacher Institute. February 2001. November 23, 2010. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/tgr/04/1/gr040109.html â€Å"Facts on Sex Education in the United States†. Guttmacher Institute. December 2006. November 23, 2010. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_sexEd2006.html â€Å"Sex Education in America†. NRP. February 2009. November 23, 2010. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1622610 â€Å"Sexuality Education for Children and Adolescents†. Pediatrics, 2001;108;498-502. November 23, 2010. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/108/2/498 â€Å"Quotes on sex education†. Notable Quotes. 2010. November 23, 2010. http://www.notable-quotes.com/s/sex_education_quotes.html

The Yellow Wallpaper - 961 Words

The Yellow Paper is a symbolic story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is a disheartening tale of a woman struggling to free herself from postpartum depression. This story gives an account of an emotionally and intellectual deteriorated woman who is a wife and a mother who is struggling to break free from her metal prison and find peace. The post-partum depression forced her to look for a neurologist doctor who gives a rest cure. She was supposed to have a strict bed rest. The woman lived in a male dominated society and wanted indictment from it as she had been driven crazy by as a result of the Victorian â€Å"rest-cure.† Her husband made sure that she had a strict bed rest by separating her from her child by taking her to recuperate in†¦show more content†¦The yellow paper book has an insightful symbolism and it is a representation of a real problem that was not solved because of ignorance. John failed to give his wife proper attention leading to the decline o f her psychological state. As the reader is introduced to the main character in the story, she is heard talking about strange things happening around her. She secretly wrote her thought in a journal but her husband was against it and never wanted her to do anything. The nameless narrator in her madness sees a woman in the pattern of the wallpaper. In addition, she sees the woman struggling against the bars of the paper and this is a symbol for the struggle of women who attempt to break out from the infringing rules of the society. The woman the narrator sees caught in the wallpapers also parallels her virtual imprisonment in an isolated estate away from her child by her mean husband. The main character was suffering from more than just a post-partum depression but possibly a severe case of schizophrenia. While in the confinement, the narrator takes the reader through her declining mental journey and how she is affected by the solitary confinement in a yellow papered room. She was psychologically affected by her mental state and the confinement away from everybody. Her mental state became a fanatical delusional survival situation for her freedom which led to her mental demise. The narrator suffered psychologically because most of the time,Show MoreRelatedThe Yellow Wallpaper829 Words   |  4 Pages The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper first appeared in 1892 and became a notary piece of literature for it s historical and influential context. Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper was a first hand account of the oppression faced toward females and the mentally ill,whom were both shunned in society in the late 1890s. It is the story of an unnamed woman confined by her doctor-husband to an attic nursery with barred windows and a bolted down bed. Forbidden to writeRead More The yellow wallpaper619 Words   |  3 Pages nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The plot of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† comes from a moderation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s personal experience. In 1887, just two years after the birth of her first child, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell diagnosed Gilman with neurasthenia, an emotional disorder characterized by fatigue and depression. Mitchell decided that the best prescription would be a â€Å"rest cure†. Mitchell encouraged Gilman to â€Å"Live a domestic l ife as far as possible,† to â€Å"have two hours’ intellectual lifeRead MoreYellow Wallpaper1095 Words   |  5 Pagesand treatments played in reinforcing the prevailing, male-dominant gender roles through the subversion, manipulation and degrading of female experience through the use of medical treatments and power structures. Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å" The Yellow Wallpaper† is a perfect example of these themes. In writing this story, Charlotte Perkins Gilman drew upon her own personal experiences with hysteria. The adoption of the sick-role was a product of-and a reaction against gender norms and all of the pressuresRead MoreYellow Wallpaper1673 Words   |  7 PagesSvetlana Kryzhanovskaya Prof. Grajeda ENC 3014-MidTerm Paper March 12, 2012 Structuralism amp; Feminist Theory ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ written by Charlotte Gilman can be affectively analyzed from two schools of thought structuralism and feminist theory. Though structuralists’ deny the work of literature any connection to its author (it must be what it is, no underlying meaning) feminist theory must first and foremost be understood in its historical framework. By the turn of the century,Read MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper3202 Words   |  13 PagesEnglish 1302 22 November 2011 Main Character’s Outsider Theme In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, the narrator, Jane, is struggling to deal with her depression that she is suffering in a confined room that her husband, John put her in. John believes that this will cure Jane and make her better from her depression. Instead, Jane is slowly losing herself within the yellow wallpaper in the room causing her to become insane. Jane is not able to express her feelings with her husbandRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper1362 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† Charlotte Perkins Gilman â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is gothic psychological short story written in journal-style with first-person narrative. Other elements used in the story are symbols, irony, foreshadowing, and imagery. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper is about a woman who suffers from postpartum depression. Her husband, a physician, puts her on â€Å"rest cure of quiet and solitude.† (Wilson 278). This cure consisted of the narrator being confinedRead More The Yellow Wallpaper1466 Words   |  6 Pagesfeminist socialist and a realist novelist capture moments that make their readers rethink life and the world surrounding. Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was first published in 1892, about a white middle-class woman who was confined to an upstairs room by her husband and doctor, the room’s wallpaper imprisons her and as well as liberates herself when she tears the wallpaper off at the end of the story. On the other hand, Craneâ₠¬â„¢s 1893 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is the realist account of a New York girlRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper1844 Words   |  8 PagesSarah Kreeger EngWr 301 Professor Bradford 21 July 2013 Short Story Analysis The Yellow Wallpaper: The Power of Society’s Views On the Care of Mental Patients â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman takes the form of journal entries of a woman undergoing treatment for postpartum depression. Her form of treatment is the â€Å"resting cure,† in which a person is isolated and put on bed rest. Her only social interaction is with her sister-in-law Jennie and her husband, John, who is alsoRead Moreyellow wallpaper1165 Words   |  5 PagesIn the short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talks about a woman who is newly married and is a mother who is in depression. â€Å"The Yellow Wall-Paper† is written as the secret journal of a woman who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband - doctor forbid it. The narrator feels trapped by both her husband and surroundings. The woman she sees behind the wallpaper is a symbol of herself andRead More The Yellow Wallpaper1523 Words   |  7 Pages emotion and sentimentalism, Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote the short story The Yellow Wallpaper in order to help the oppressed females recover their voice, their rights, and their freedom. She skillfully leaded the reader’s interest from a little horrible opening; then, a curious feeling about Jane’s life immediately became anger because of the unexpected climax of the narrator’s own recognition in the yellow wallpaper. The author tried to show that female would stand up and do whatever they can,

Winters Bone and Unknown comparison free essay sample

The poster for the first film gives very little away about the plot of the film, although it holds enough information to interest viewers. First of all, it contains lots of reviews from different newspapers and websites who are well known for reviewing the most popular movies. This in itself will interest followers of the website/newspapers, as the reviews positively reinforce the quality of the film. The reviews are enough to interest many film enthusiasts as they will be curious to experience the film and determine whether it lives up to the hype which has been built around it. The second poster oesnt have any reviews on it however, considering the Liam Neeson is a well-known actor and every film he has done has always had a good review so it was unnecessary to display the reviews that are used in order to interest the audience. The poster for the second film is different in terms of layout compared to the first poster, the positioning and the montage of the images in the middle of the poster suggests narrative. The main character is enlarged on the poster, the intent gaze of his facial expression is very direct, almost patronizing. The poster for Winters Bone uses a range of graphic design features. The font uses a mottled effect and a bold white colour. The use of the white font symbolises the whiteness associated with winter and snow and cold. The use of the white font also links with the word bone and the colour of bones being typically white. The association of the white font with the word bone triggers pejorative meanings for the audience which can link to the cultural symbol of bones signifying death and skeletons. It is the largest sized text on the poster which emphasizes that its the title of the film and also its importance. The awards that the film has won is displayed on the poster which really helps to add to he hype of the film as it will pique the viewers curiosity even more knowing that awards have been won. In the second poster for Unknown, the font is in large bold capital letters. Compared to the first poster, the font is much bigger and more inviting. The word Unknown suggests that either there is a piece of unidentified information that hasnt been established and he is trying to find out what it is or maybe hes trying to locate someone but their location is unknown. The main actors who star in this film are Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes and Garret Dillahunt. These ctors names are displayed at the bottom of the poster amongst the credit block which suggests that they arent well known and not one of the main focuses of this film. On the poster itself, it is very obvious that the three characters in the boat are in fact the three main characters. They are located in the middle of a large lake surrounded by giant trees which in comparison with the surroundings, this makes the characters look small and isolated. In the top right hand corner there is a large image of a female character merged into the background dressed in thick winter nspired clothing with a worried expression on her face. The connotations of this are that she is the main character in the movie and the worried expression on her face expresses the dangers that this certain character is going to face. On the second poster, Just above the title Unknown, there is a name, Liam Neeson, a famous male actor who is very well-known for action/thriller movies. Considering his fame, Just his name has been highlighted on the poster and this suggests a sense of familiarity and also predictability as you know what to expect considering that most ot his movies re very familiar. The poster has an overall dark, gloomy colour scheme, the low key lighting overshadows the slight areas of the poster where bright light can be seen. This could suggest to the audience that there are some positive events however they are outweighed by the scarier events. The low key lighting suggests that the genre of this film is a mixture of mystery, drama and thriller. You get a sense of horror however it is very small considering the worried/anxious look on the girls face reveals that something terrible is about to take place but not so terrible that it is considered s freighting, more thrilling. The second posters genre can be immediately identified by looking at the tagline and the title, it suggests to the audience that the genre is action. The iconography of the gun, setting and the clothing of the character also suggests action and the montage of images suggests enigma as its almost as if it is revealing clues and action. The poster uses a range of mise-en-scene codes such as setting and costume. The main character is dressed in thick clothing which suggests to the audience that the movie will be set during the winter and warm clothing is a uitable idea. One of the characters who is in the boat surrounded by large trees in the middle of a lake is holding a flashlight, this implies that they are searching for something as they are most likely also in a remote area which suggests that the narrative will be circled around the genre of mystery. The name of the film, Winters Bone suggests that this film is going to involve lots of drama as both words of the title release a negative impact. Bone relates to death and Winter relates to coldness or maybe the end of something. In poster 2, the placing of the central image is irectly in the middle of the poster. The lighting on this image is half dark/half light and this adds on the genre of the movie, the character is hidden and hes trying to find himself. The poster is made of three main colours; black, white and dark blue which gives off a negative impact as it makes the poster look rather gloomy and plain. The cold/dark colours have connotations of metaphorical darkness of the film. The dark colours can relate to the idea of death or evil and the white which would normally represent goodness is outweighed by the dark colours, initially suggesting hat the film is going to be mainly centred around negative activities most likely involving the main character which could explain why she has such a worried expression on her face. The images are both broken up into parts; a small image is used for the three main characters on the bottom half of the poster and a much larger image is used on the top half. This immediately emphasises to the audience that the female character has the most significant role in the narrative and it is placed near the centre of the poster so it will be one of the first things the viewer will

Lady With Dog By Chekhov Essays (1496 words) - The Lady With The Dog

Lady With Dog By Chekhov In the beginning of the story, Chekhov begins with the simple line, "It was said that a new person had appeared on the sea-front..." This passage shows that the local residents of Yalta have discovered an outsider, a person they know nothing about. Chekhov asks the reader to consider who is she with and why is she there? The character of the sly womanizer, Dmitri Gurov, also asks these questions. When first reading I began to form a certain opinion of Dmitri. We know he is married and has children. He also admits to being unfaithful to his wife on numerous occasions. He appears to not like women as he referred to them as the "lower race." This characteristic of his personality leads to the encounter between himself, the unfaithful husband, and the young mysterious Anna, in the gardens. "If she is here alone without a husband or friends, it wouldn't be amiss to make her acquaintance." He stated of her. In the character of Dmitri, Chekhov gives a man who seems to despise women; "he almost always spoke ill of women..." However, I believe that this was an act that he showed. "When he was in the company of women he felt free, and knew what to say to them and how to behave; and he was at ease with them even when he was silent." If Gurov regarded women as the "lower race" than why was he only at rest when in their company? In truth I think that he liked women, he needed women. The reason he puts on this "tough guy" act is because he has never found a woman that he truly loved. Every time he had met a new woman, "he was eager for life, and everything seemed simple and amusing." However, "Every intimacy inevitably grows into a regular problem of extreme intricacy, and in the long run the situation becomes unbearable." Gurov did not know how to handle long complicated relationships that took work to maintain. That is why his marriage was a failure and unhappy. That is also the reason why he always became frustrated and used women as a scapegoat. Dmitri is excited when he sees the new mysterious woman; he sees a new opportunity to escape the monotonous marriage he is trapped in. Even though everything always failed him before he was unconsciously compelled to try and find something that worked. After meeting"the lady with the dog", he thought of "her slender, delicate neck, and her lovely gray eyes." Before he fell asleep though, he thought, "There's something pathetic about her, anyway," as a reaction to what always seemed to inevitably happened. He needs to protect his own feelings. As Gurov soon learns after he meets her, the woman's name is Anna Serveyevna. She struck me as a very young, nave woman who can sometimes be controlled by men. "She was not sure whether her husband had a post in a Crown Department or under the Provincial Council ? and was amused by her own ignorance." She does not even care what her husband's occupation is! She is not happy with her marriage. She was shy and did not seem to be comfortable around men. When she had her first conversation with Dmitri, she would answer him without looking at him as if glancing at another man was forbidden. However, as the author stated earlier in the story, Gurov knew how to approach unfamiliar woman and make them feel comfortable in his presence. He was able to break through Anna's shell and coax her into opening up and discussing random things such as "strange light on the sea" and "how sultry it was after a hot day." As they continued to meet, Anna's passiveness continued to be reflected in the way she acted. He asked her "Where shall we go now? Shall we drive somewhere?" to which her replies were mere silence. Again later he drew his arm around her and kissed her and requested that they traveled to her hotel. Nowhere in the text does the woman suggest anything. She never appears to be the flirtatious one interested in Gurov. Instead, she thinks of her high morals and values. After their first sexual experience together, she described herself as "a low bad woman." She stated "I despise myself and don't attempt to justify myself." However, her passiveness prevailed and she continued to care for the man who is not her husband. She also did not think highly of her