SEX EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS With approximately 750,000 American adolescent girls becoming pregnant between the ages of 15 and 19 (Guttmacher, 2011), they need to be educated on how to prevent pregnancy. The rate of teenage pregnancy is increasing and continues to be one of the highest in the developed world (Guttmacher, 2011) since 2006. To reduce the risk, the Mid-Prairie School District should implement a course comprehensive mandatory sex education to inform adolescents on how to protect themselves from pregnancy and other illnesses. Through the implementation of this course by the school district, we will be able to educate adolescent girls on how to protect their health and prevent them from getting pregnant, as this would affect them for the rest of their lives. life. Not all schools have this form of education, some only have abstinence programs and this is the cause of some pregnancies in our country, such as those in the Mid-Prairie school district. Comprehensive sex education is accurate, factual, and developmentally appropriate information. training on human sexuality. (Teenwise Minnesota) This education is presented to students, both male and female, in middle and high school. During these courses, the information provided teaches respectful, responsible, non-exploitative and non-violent behavior. (Teenwise Minnesota) By providing this information, students are provided with the most effective and safest methods for sexual activity. Teaching as students enter adolescence will be more effective because it will help them not only in the present but also for the rest of their lives. In the United States, from 2005 to 2006, the national teen birth rate increased 3 percent, from the previous year and the middle...... middle of article..... .Institute, Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health, (2011). Retrieved May 11, 2011 from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html Hedman, AS, Larsen, D., Bohenblust, S. (2008). Relationship between comprehensive sexuality education and teen pregnancy in Minnesota. American Journal of Health Studies, 23, article 4. Accessed April 29, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=12&sid=64008c7f-378c-4967-9b6d . -1cb43c457e9e%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=hch&AN=38213170March of Dimes: Teen Pregnancy (2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011 from http://www.marchofdimes.com/medicalresources_teenpregnancy.htmlTeenwise Minnesota. Definition of Comprehensive Sex Education that Guides MSERRP Exams (nd) Retrieved May 27, 2011 from http://www.moappp.org/resources/mserrp/compsexed_definition.html