The problem of irresponsible sexual behaviours has led to widespread problems such as unplanned pregnancies, increasing risk of STIs and increased stigmatisation around the spectrum of gender and sexual identities. Left unchecked, it has also led to more sexual crimes committed by minors. This has long sparked a worldwide debate on the importance of whether sexual education is to be introduced into education syllabuses around the world. This problem can be attributed to a lack of adequate knowledge of the topic. If sexual problems can be mitigated through sexual education, why then is it not common practice for sex education to be taught in schools? Should it be common practice? Should parents play a bigger role, if at all for this front?
Firstly, it is important to understand what exactly sex education is and what it would entail. Sex education is more than just learning about the anatomy and our biological physiology. It essentially aims to teach a broad variety of topics related to sex and sexuality, which allows people to learn the necessary values and skills to navigate their own relationships. Such topics include proper sexual behaviour, sexual health, consent in relationships and more. However, sex education can also encompass a more holistic syllabus by including matters pertaining to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, safe sex, birth control, age of consent and so on. This form of sex education is known as comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). This education is often contrasted with abstinence-only sex education, which as the name suggests, is a sexual risk avoidance education that teaches not having sex outside of marriage.
Francis Bacon coined the phrase that āKnowledge is powerā. If so, having a comprehensive form of sex education surely can only be beneficial to a society if it provides the most knowledge on this front. Yet, we do not see this form of education being implemented in Malaysia. While there is a form of sexual education in Malaysia, it merely focuses on abstinence and the reproductive organs of the human body. Before deciding whether or not a comprehensive sexuality education should be implemented, it must be understood first why it is not.
Malaysia is a multicultural society with a diverse population, consisting of many ethnic groups. Of course, with a multicultural society comes multiple religions and cultures that come with its own sets of beliefs. To curate a national curriculum that is deemed acceptable by every belief without challenging the sociocultural values in multicultural Malaysia is a tall order.
Furthermore, this form of cultural difficulty translates to our education system, which has long been known to consist of subjects that are, in my opinion, safe. As such, it does not offer students avenues to learn more about modernising issues that may be considered taboo such as sexuality. Consequently, teachers then are not trained to teach such subjects, which leads to them being neither comfortable nor adept in teaching subjects that may be labeled as ātabooā by the society at large.
To implement a holistic sexual education would be difficult as it would involve revamping a syllabus that teachers have long been accustomed to teaching, which would take years to adapt. Additionally, a subject like sex education would be difficult to fit into the current syllabus, which prides itself on its longstanding tradition of being examination-heavy and resistant to change. To do so would not only require new training for teachers, but also convincing parents that this form of education is essential to their childrenās learning pathway and that it is worth revamping the syllabus for.
However, are the challenges to implement this new form of education worth overcoming in the first place? To determine this, we must first ascertain whether our current form of sex education is effective. Currently, Malaysia practices a sexual education, namely the Reproductive Health and Social Education (PEERS), which is primarily focused on abstinence. While sexual and reproductive health topics are integrated into subjects such as Biology, they are fairly vague, which defeats the essence of a proper and holistic sexual education. In my opinion, this form of education at this time and age, is ineffective. In a time where information is our way of life and can be accessed simply by pressing a button, it is of paramount importance that individuals are equipped with all the facts and information. However, the issue with an abstinence-only education is that it does not arm individuals with the correct information and facts. To put it into perspective, any child or adolescent can curiously and easily stumble their way onto a wrong site and get the wrong ideas. Consequently, these sites project wrong ideas of sexual intimacy that could harm an adolescentās perception and expectations of a healthy and intimate relationship in the future. Without a proper authority to guide the youth on what is right, they will resort to these sites to satisfy their curiosity, which will prove detrimental to their health and mindset in the future.
Furthermore, an abstinence-only sexual education has proved ineffective in curbing sexual problems. Relating to when I was an adolescent, telling a teen that you should not do something is the quickest and most efficient way for them to do it. Additionally, an adolescentās natural inclination to rebel and be curious further compounds the ineffectiveness of an abstinence-only sexual education. The Journal of Adolescent Health published findings that abstinence-only education programmes do not succeed in reducing rates of teen pregnancies or STDs or even in delaying the time at which teens decide to engage in intercourse. In our current time and age, where information is of paramount importance, this form of education can also be argued to be unethical, as it deliberately withholds information needed for individuals to make a correct and informed decision on their actions.
We now come back to the question posed earlier: are the challenges that come with implementing a comprehensive sexual education worth overcoming? In my humble opinion, yes. A report by ARROW established there is strong evidence that this form of education is effective in improving contraceptive use and STIs. Furthermore, a report by UNESCO found that a comprehensive sexual education is five times more likely to be successful in preventing unintended pregnancies when the curriculum encompasses topics of gender and power.
Away from the factual and statistical realm, our youth is too susceptible to receiving contradicting information as they enter their adolescence period. Combined with a lack of a proper curriculum catered to their curiosity, it is only natural they turn to the internet. A comprehensive sexual education would serve as an avenue of correct information. Consequently, this provides them with the necessary skills and information required to make informed decisions about any relationships they choose to pursue. Being equipped with these skills and the correct information also allows for a proper understanding of the serious risks associated with improper navigation into relationships, such as unintended pregnancies, gender-based violence and sexually transmitted infections. This not only allows adolescents to safely navigate relationships, it also establishes and outlines proper and healthy dynamics for relationships, which can instill a sense of respect between genders among the young.
Of course, a poorly implemented comprehensive sexual education would be utterly catastrophic. Given that teachers would likely be ill-equipped to tackle topics like that, schools could partner with NGOs and healthcare professionals in curating and delivering a curriculum that is not only effective, but one that can be universally accepted by multicultural Malaysia. Logistics aside, parental roles are paramount in providing an effective and comprehensive sexuality education. Ganji et al. found that 86.9% of parents who participated in the study agreed that parents were the right source to provide sexuality education to their child. Up until a childās adolescence before they begin their rebellious teenage phase, parents are the leading figure of authority and knowledge for a child. While the broader notion of sexuality is a difficult topic for a child to grasp, parents can introduce topics gradually, tailored to the childās developmental stage. This would ensure that children grow up learning the proper etiquettes of how to treat opposite genders, which creates a safe environment for healthy friendships and relationships to form.
While the notion of sexuality is a paramount topic to tackle, it depends on whether our country is brave enough to embrace modernity and ditch the preconceived notion of sexuality being a taboo. I believe that the time has come for us to move past that notion, as we ensure that all of us play our parts in creating a safe and healthy environment for our youth to learn and explore.
Writerās Note:
Objectives:
- To ascertain whether sexual education is needed.
- Even if it is imperative, is Malaysia ready?
- When will we ever be ready? If not now, then when?
Links
