This is the con argument for whether students should be taught safe sex in schools.  To read the pro argument, click here.

“Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant. And die.”

Most people remember this hilarious quote from gym and sex education teacher Coach Carr during the movie Mean Girls. I’m not going to say if you have sex you will die, but I don’t believe that schools should teach teens about sex education.

By teaching sex education in schools, the schools are encouraging teens to have sex. The classes teach students the nuts and bolts of having sex and are basically saying “If you want to have sex, this is how to do it.”

From 1993 to 2003, the Kaiser Family Foundation did research studies on teenage sexual activity in the United States. The study showed that in 1993, 56 percent of male and 50 percent of female high school students have had sex.  From 1994 to 2003, the numbers remained about the same, with 48 percent of high school males and 45 percent of high school females having had sex in 2003.

The same study showed that 98 percent of the teens who reported having sex had used some form of contraceptive. Ninety-four percent of teens used condoms and 61 percent used birth control pills.

Teens already know from the Internet, their parents, or peers that if they don’t want to get pregnant, they should use a contraceptive.

According to a data brief by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010, two out of three male teenagers and four out of five female teenagers reported having talked about sex education topics with a parent.

So if the teens already know how to protect themselves from other sources, why waste the time teaching it in school?

Sex education doesn’t stop the majority of teens from having sex. According to researcher Douglas Kirby for the National Campaign to End Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 60 percent of teens continued to have sex or started having sex even after receiving formal sex education. This shows that sex education, for the majority, doesn’t help prevent teens from having sex.

In addition, sex education shouldn’t be encouraged at Catholic high schools. The Catholic Church is against sex before marriage, so if parents are sending their children to a Catholic school, they obviously believe the Church’s teachings and want them to be followed. Parents who send their children to Catholic schools should take on the responsibility of educating their own children about sex. It shouldn’t be encouraged and it definitely shouldn’t be a requirement.

So remember, if you have sex, you will die. No, I’m totally kidding, but sex education isn’t going to stop teens from having sex anymore than the fruitless threats of death from Coach Carr.

Emily Clarke is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.