Sex Education in the SchoolsChildren across the country who sit in their classrooms learn sex education. There are books, videos, special speakers and qualified teachers for the subject. Depending on where the child lives, the education provided to them may vary. For example, Wyoming, North Dakota, Minnesota, Maine, and Utah do not require schools to provide sex or STD/HIV education (they teach abstinence). The District of Columbia, on the other hand, must include contraception with condoms available (Innerst). One day I was shown a book used to teach sex education to fifth graders at an inner-city school. The book was hardcover, about a hundred pages long, and featured colorful, cartoon-like illustrations. I flipped through the pages and couldn't believe what I saw. Some of the things in this book were things that even I had never seen before, and I was married with a child. The book taught (and showed pictures) about homosexual sex, masturbation, oral sex, proper procedures for condoms and diaphragms, female and male pleasure places. The list is long. This book did not teach a fifth grader about safe sex; it was about teaching them how to have proper sex and how to get the most out of it. There is no mention of abstinence in the entire book. This method of sex education teaches too much and too soon; it undermines children's ability to abstain, encourages sex and is really not safe at all; it needs to be reformed.My first experience with this topic was in fifth grade in 1988. My teacher divided the boys and girls into two rooms. She talked to the girls about things like menstrual cycles and hormones. I remember a lot of laughter and snickering middle of paper...... 265.4 (1991). CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 1995.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 45.53 (1996). “Choose to be Excellent.” Me, My World, My Future. 204. DeVincenzi, I . “A longitudinal study of 343 stable partners of infected men.” Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1993): 497-502. Hogan, Ruby. Innerst, Carol. Adolescent Girls Are Higher in States That Teach Condom Use." The Washington Times, October 1995: "Contraceptive Failure Rates on 1998 NSFG." Family Planning Perspectives. 24.1 (1998): 12. -19. Resnick, Michael. "Protecting Adolescents from the Findings of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health."?". 1994.