Sex education in schools: To be or not to be...

TTUTA

A DYNAMIC debate is sweeping over our land like a tornado twisting in the hearts of men and women. It is the question of sex education in schools and whether it should “be or not be.” Like any tornado, it can bring tumultuous storms, upheavals, and tearing down, but when it is all over, a clear and wide pathway is established due to its nature.

As we navigate life with a 21st century approach it is worth remembering that holistic learning is education that seeks to engage all aspects of the learner, including mind, body and spirit, which involve educating a child so that they will become a balanced and confident adult who contributes responsibly and respectfully with wisdom and truthfulness to their community.

Comprehensive sex education has become a controversial topic as various members of the community debate its appropriateness. Disagreement arises as communities contend over who should teach students about sex and where this learning should take place – the school or the home.

Its opponents express concern that it may encourage pupils to become sexually active due to the exposure while advocates see factual knowledge about sex, contraception, and STI/STDs as effective in delaying sexual initiation, reducing disease transmission while having the knowledge and skills for safeguarding one’s body from abuse and harm, and the wisdom to make informed health decisions.

Children need to learn about themselves without being shamed, misunderstood or punished, which often result in the need to hide. We cannot have a fear-based approach from adults because social pressure and rigid interpretation of the traditional roles of femininity and masculinity concerning sex and relationships are two of the root causes of mental and physical violence towards our nation’s youth.

It is indeed right for parents to teach their children about sexual health, but we cannot deny that schooling in the 21st century, in lieu of holistic education, must also bear responsibility for the shaping of minds that are within bodies. These bodies are the vessels through which we all experience the world. Therefore, they must learn all they can about their bodies and be empowered with knowledge that can foster safety and a sensible life.

Students are now in possession of technological devices from a young age and despite parental controls may find themselves prey to online abusers, pornography and various types of deviants who benefit from hurting them. Arming them with appropriate facts is a prevention strategy and can help them make complex choices concerning sex in the real world.

Adults and children often have gaps in communication with the open non-judgmental discussions needed for sex-related topics. Many youths’ sources of sexual information are their peers, the songs they listen to and television. It is the culture which exists and thus school-based sex education is a valuable source of sexual health and relationships information which can empower the youth to make good choices in the future. Sex education is a useful tool that would help them identify the miseducation from media and peer influences that otherwise shapes the youth’s mind on the topic of sex.

Multiple research findings have shown that the attempt to restrict responsibility of youth in their interest, prevents adolescents from acquiring useful skills that help alleviate the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases as well as teenage pregnancies. Sex education can make a real contribution by empowering young people to have healthy responses to their emotional, physical, social and sexual development.

Remarkable progress has been made in the European region in developing and integrating sexuality education in formal school settings. Teacher training is indeed needed for transferring knowledge and discussing harmful norms, developing positive values, and behavioural skills while coping with physiological, social and mental changes.

In a time rampant with horrific incidents of child sexual abuse, abandonment, violence and coercion, students must be taught to understand their bodies, the concepts of consent, equity and respect for one’s own boundaries and the boundaries of others. Parents play a key role in helping their children form healthy relationships and must realise that they are unable to influence the peers or friends of their children. The entire society, inclusive of the school and parents, must accept this task of securing children’s well-being and preventing violence by empowering them with crucial skills and knowledge.

Parents and schools can share this responsibility of teaching students to reflect critically, identify distorted information and decide the degree of their personal and social transformation.