Sexuality education ... To teach or not to teach?

Heather Little-White, Contributor

Debate on the subject of sexuality education in schools continues to capture the spotlight and gets even more intense, especially among those who feel uncomfortable with issues of sexuality and the content of what should be taught.

I refer to the subject as sexuality education, which is a lifelong process of acquiring, forming attitudes and values to sexual development, sexual and reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, intimacy, body image and gender roles (www.siecus.org).

We know that schools provide support to what parents may teach at home or, in many instances, fill the breach for what is not taught at home. Teaching sexuality education is like teaching any other subject, where you have to have a comprehensive syllabus to cover all the critical areas for a holistic grasp of the subject. Sexuality education is no different, but because it is a sensitive subject for some persons, it requires careful age-sensitive dissemination of the information to students.

Sexual Experimentation

With the rates of increase in teen pregnancies, sexual experimentation in schools, same-sex liaisons among young people and HIV and other sexuality transmitted infections, schools have to support parents in teaching children about issues in human sexuality. The old practice of advising children to abstain from sex until marriage is unrealistic for the mass of our young people and is no longer effective as a message by itself. Several organisations reap rewards from this message because it is supported by activities for self-appreciation and achieving life's goals.

It is wrong for schools to assume that every parent will talk to his or her child about sex at home. Therefore sexuality education has to become the responsibility of schools in teaching survival issues. Children are engaging sex at very early ages and it is important to introduce age-appropriate sexuality information as children develop and before they decide to make rash decisions about having sex, especially with peer pressure. Children need to be taught about the likely changes in the body and how their raging hormones trigger sex drive. Teaching sexuality education is not to increase sexual activity but to teach students about safe sex.

Lessons learned from others

There are lessons to be learned
from other countries where sexuality education is given its rightful
place in the education system and where parents are integrated in the
programme.

United Kingdom

According
to www.news.bbc.co.uk, in the United Kingdom, all
government secondary schools must provide sex and relationship education
for children. Lessons must be provided in sex and relationship
education, human reproduction and must include education about HIV and
AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The broad term of
'sex and relationship' was expanded to include moral and emotional
aspects, as well as the physical facts of sexuality, recognising "the
importance of marriage for family life; stable and loving relationships,
respect, love and care".

However, the primary
curriculum allows for earlier sexuality lessons introducing the concepts
of life cycles and parents having offspring. It may take the form of
talking to children about their pets having babies. Of course, the
content and tone of the sexuality education lessons is guided by
schools' policies on sex education set by school governors in
consultation with parents.

Curriculum
guidelines

Interestingly, parents have the right to
withdraw their children from sexuality education classes if they feel
that the lessons are inappropriate. Parents need to be fully aware of
what their children are taught about sexuality at school. This is to
ensure that the information is complete, accurate and reflects sound
family's values. Further, parents want to be in a position to answer
questions their children may have. However, there have been clear
messages set by the Government on how sex education should be taught
within the national
curriculum.

Cuba

Our closest
neighbour, Cuba has embraced a Dutch-style sex education, according to
Mariele Castro Espin, daughter of Cuban President Raúl Castro, in an
interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Ms Castro - a qualified
sexologist - says that current data from the United Nations have
highlighted the effectiveness of the Dutch model. Dutch children are
informed about sex at a young age through a sex education programme
slotted into the national curriculum at primary
schools.

Ms Espin who is also director of the Cuban
Center for Sex Education further believes in the general openness about
campaigns promoting the use of condoms resulting in the reduction of
teenage pregnancies, STIs and creating a sustainable sex education
programme among young people. Data from the Netherlands show that
children delay first-time sex when compared to children in other
countries where the issue of sex is still taboo
(www.expatico.com).

Transsexualism

According to Chiara Simonelli, president of the
European Federation of Sexology, speaking at the sixth Cuban Congress on
Education, Guidance and Sexual Therapy in Havana recently, the quality
of Cuba's National Programme of Sex Education is commendable because of
its contribution to the struggle for gender equality and its treatment
of the thorny issue of sexual diversity which is still a challenge in
Europe. Commendation was also given to Cuba's treatment of
transsexualism, health campaigns and AIDS prevention
(www.tvcamaguey.co.cu).

United
States

In the United States, state policies determine
the nature of sexuality education, including HIV/AIDS education in
public schools. Policies vary among states with each state determining
what is 'medically accurate', with curriculum reviews by health
departments and facts taught from published authorities on which the
medical professionals rely. Many of the statutes consider parents'
rights concerning sexual education, allowing parental involvement in
sexual education programmes. Three states even require parents to give
consent before a child can receive sexual education and 35 states and
the District of Columbia allow parents to opt out on behalf of their
children (www.ncsl.org).

Currently,
there are two different types of sex education classes. Depending on
what the state or local school district mandates, teenagers will either
learn Comprehensive Sexuality Education or they are part of the
Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programme. Comprehensive Sexuality
Education starts in kindergarten and continues through high school with
age-appropriate sexuality topics covering the broad spectrum of sex
education, including safe sex, STIs, contraceptives, masturbation and
body image. Parents should be ready to buffer some of the information as
it may have come sooner than your children are ready for
it.

On the other hand, abstinence-only-until-marriage
programmes emphasise abstinence from all sexual behaviours until
marriage and do not cover information on contraceptives, STIs,
masturbation and so on. It means that parents have to take up the slack
and teach those topics to their children
(http://sitemaker.umich.edu).

Morning-after
pills in NY schools

The latest practice in New York
City is that 13 high schools are offering the morning-after pills to
female students 14 years and older. Parents have the option of not
permitting their daughters to take the pills by signing a form. If there
is no opt-out provision, the child is free to obtain from the school
nurse the Plan B emergency contraception in the form of a pill or
injection. New York schools have for some time distributed birth-control
pills and condoms but there is a radical move to distribute the
morning-after pill which, if taken within 72 hours of having of
unprotected sex, prevents pregnancy
(www.imperfectparent.com)
(www.abcnews.go.com).

The arguments
supporting sexuality education in schools are convincing. Teenagers are
naturally curious about sex and often turn to unreliable sources rather
than parents or teachers for information. However, parental involvement
in sex education at schools has to be strong as research shows that the
more time parents spend discussing sex with their children, the less
likely the children are to engage in risk-taking behaviours. Youngsters
who feel more comfortable talking with parents about sexual matters are
less likely to have unwanted pregnancies and STIs, including HIV
(Clawson, 2003).