By Carina Melanson "Sexual Education"

I think that sexual education has failed to inform students about the reality of sexuality and should be changed in the school systems. It is a very important issue because children at a young age are being influenced by the media. Most of the television shows, magazines, and music videos are filled with representations of physical attractions. Children’s development seems to need a good understanding of the righteous ways for a male and female to act. Most sexual educations are like two hour lectures or ensembles that pass out condoms and list all the STDs. They show all the negative consequences of unprotected sex but never reach the topic of when to have sex, why it may benefit someone spiritually, or the psychological affects that becoming sexually active at a young age can have. All the times I experiences sexual education it was always a repetition of information that did not inform me of the positive outcomes of waiting to be sexually active with a partner that you love. I think sexual education should start spreading awareness of how important it is that people be selective with who they have sexual intercourse with because ultimately it is saying you would have that person’s babies. The meaning of sex and why it is a major aspect of life should be discussed. The way condoms are passed out just perpetuate the cycle of belief that having sex as many times as you want with whoever is accepted as long as you wear a condom. Sexual education needs an upgrade so that it makes children feel how powerful and life changing sexual intercourse is. All the contraceptives that are introduced just contradict the intention of teaching children about sex. After most of the ensembles kids would just walk away laughing or making jokes about how many condoms they have. I feel like sexual education is not as helpful because kids are starting to have sex at extremely young ages. The false motives to have sex and how it can become an addiction just like food, drugs, and alcohol. An interesting fact is that 19 percent puff people said that schools should not teach about oral sex. I also agree with this because it is introducing the ideas of other ways to receive pleasure without actually having the real thing. Abstinence- only education is another big issue. Should the curriculum be limited to teaching students to wait or should they also be taught how to make smart decisions when having sex like using protection. The whole idea of bombarding kid’s minds with all the different kinds of contraceptives is bizarre because contraceptives contradict the purpose of sex and make children think they can have their cake and eat it too. They walk away thinking “wow now I can still have sex if I use a condom, birth control pills, or dental dam and I won’t get an STD or make children.” I do think that safe sex is needed but it seems to be the biggest part of sexual education. The importance of the value of sex needs to be combined into the curriculum. Ultimately think the sex ed programs have failed and changes should be made.

Timmy Clark

In the college admission process, there are many factors that play into a student's decision of where to attend and many factors that play into the the college's decisions of who to admit. The SAT and ACT are the main focus on many college campuses. But, these standardized tests do not prove who the real person truly is or what he can accomplish. However, if your scores don't meet the minimum standard the school requires, the school may not even be willing to look at the other factors they say are part of the decisions. High school students stress way too much over these tests and the colleges put a lot of pressure on them to achieve success not only in the classroom, socially, and athletically, but also on the standarized tests.

To a certain extent, these test measure how good people are at taking a test. In fact you can take a prep course to learn how to do well on the test. In these prep courses, you aren't gaining any important knowledge, you are just learning how to beat the system. There are many students who work hard at school to get DECENT grades and then bomb these standarized tests. This kills them in the end. Many students put so much pressure on themselves to do well on a test that will not help them in any way in the future. The skills that these tests measure are only based on a certain amount of knowledge and kids with learning disabilities and other kinds of knowledge don't have a chance.

All and all these test are a waste of time. You can't measure a true value of a person using an SAT or ACT. A very smart kid who was lazy in high school and didn't put a lot of effort out there has a huge advantage going into these tests. Colleges should look at the whole person. I know some big colleges like UMass find it hard to look at every person in detail, but there are many things you can review other than test scores to prove that a student is worthy to be accepted into the institution.