More sex education is needed to prevent underage pregnancy

Personal and Social Development lessons should be more frequent than once a week if young people are to understand the implications of becoming parents.

"Young people need to better understand the consequences of having sex and bringing kids into the world before they are ready to be parents"

 

This was one of the concluding points raised during a conference focusing on unborn children’s quality of life.
It emerged that young people need to better understand the consequences of having sex and bringing children into the world before they were ready to be parents.

Recent figures showed last year 32 babies were born to girls aged 16 or younger.

When the National Sexual Health Policy was launched two years ago, it highlighted the “scanty and uncoordinated” sexual education in many schools.

The Personal and Social Development Association had said that schools should undergo external audits to ensure sexual health education was provided in line with the national minimum curriculum.

Conference attendees also discussed the negative repercussions that smoking and drugs had on the unborn child and the need to empower mothers to take charge of their situation.

Consultant paediatrician Simon Attard Montalto said babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy were often 200 grammes lighter than other babies and their heads could be smaller.

Midwife Louise Bugeja said that too many mothers were not allowed to enjoy the pregnancy as a natural process as they was too concerned about what could go wrong medially.

During the conference, organised by the Unborn Child Movement in collaboration with the Family Ministry, those present also discussed the need to strengthen the law to offer better protection to unborn children.

Our View: Sex ed course proper call for junior high

A message left on our Sedline voicemail expressed opposition to the move to teach sexual health education to seventh- and eighth-grade students at Smith-Cotton Junior High beginning in December. We believes a stand others in our community share.

The caller said: I was very upset about the school district wanting to teach the seventh- and eighth-graders sex education, as i am sure a lot of other people were. These are just kids, why can't  we understand that and stop trying to make adults out of them? ... Sex education will do one thing: Listening to this each day will only make them curious, and make them want to go out and experiment and try it.

The fact is the junior high has experienced an increase in pregnancies, and as Principal Wade Norton told the Sedalia School District 200 Board of Education on Monday night, students are already asking teachers and counselors about reproduction and contraceptives. By initiating an abstinence-based sex education curriculum, the district isn't trying to make adults out of them,  it is trying to provide already inquisitive students with proper information about the ramifications of engaging in sexual activity.

Norton also told the board that students are receiving misinformation about reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases and contraception from unreliable sources, including friends and websites.
The Seattle Times reported in 2008 that University of Washington researchers found that teens who had comprehensive (sex) education, which typically discusses condoms and birth-control methods as well as abstinence, were no more likely to engage in intercourse than peers who were taught just to say no to sex before marriage.

Parents will have ample opportunity to learn what information the classes will include, and they will have the opportunity to withhold their child from participation. But since the program is focused on providing accurate information about sexual activity and encouraging students to hold off and make good decisions, we encourage parents to at least review the materials before rejecting it.

Ignorance is never beneficial. Junior high students are already beyond curious about reproductive issues. Providing them with appropriate information and an understanding of consequences is the best way to help them make wise choices.

NGO summoned by LHC over ‘sex education books’

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has summoned a representative of Bargad, a non-government organisation, for October 18 on a petition seeking action against the group and Education Department officials for handing out school books in Gujranwala that contain “objectionable material”.

Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh of the LHC issued this order on Tuesday on a petition filed by Muhammad Tanzeem Arif, a retired school teacher from the area.

The judge summoned the Bargad coordinator of the programme under which the books were distributed after hearing the statements of two former Gujranwala executive district officers for education on Tuesday.

Former EDO Ghazanfar Ali Sani told the court that while the books were circulated in schools during his tenure, the memorandum of understanding under which this was done was signed while Chaudhy Riaz was EDO.

Riaz confirmed this. He said that the memorandum was for the NGO to initiate a programme to teach “life skills” at schools.

According to the petitioner, the “objectionable” book  Ba Ikhtiar Larkian, Badla Hua Samaaj (Empowered Women, A Changed Society) – had been made mandatory for grades 6 to 8 at all government schools for girls in Gujranwala.

He said the book contained material telling girls about the use of contraceptives and “how to have friendships with boys”. He said in a Muslim society, sex education could not be taught at schools. He said that in signing the memorandum with the NGO, government officials were guilty of misconduct and should be punished.

He said that he had complained to government officials after learning about the book and the chief minister had set up an inquiry committee headed by Punjab Education Foundation Chairman Raja Anwar. He said the committee’s findings had not been made public.

He said that the only action apparently taken on the committee’s findings had been the transfer of Sani, the former EDO. He said that the inquiry report must be made public.

Former Gujranwala district coordination officer Nabeel Ahmed Awan, the serving DCO, the education secretary, the PEF chairman, and the Gujranwala EDO (education) are named as respondents in the petition.
Project finished
Bargad Executive Director Bushra Shaheen told The Express Tribune that the NGO had ended the project and disposed of the books shortly after Gujranwala citizens had raised objections to the content.

Sarmad Raza Naik, Bargad’s operations manager, said that the project was initiated in good faith and through the proper channels. He said that other books had also been provided to students under the project.

He said that the books in question had been handed out at schools in Sanghar district in Sindh too, but there had been no objections. He said that the inquiry committee set up by the chief minister had exonerated Bargad officials of wrongdoing.

He said that Bargad had been working with the Punjab government since 1997 and had most recently helped draft its new youth policy.

Sex education to expand in Keys schools

Parents of Florida Keys public school students will have the option to opt their child out of a new sex education curriculum that for the first time will include discussion of contraceptive options.

The new programming is made possible by a $600,000, three-year grant from the federal Department of Health and Human Services and administered locally by Womankind in partnership with the Monroe County School District.

Established in 2001, the nonprofit Key West-based Womankind provides affordable access to woman's primary, gynecological and mental healthcare.

Formerly, sex education in the Keys taught abstinence as the only way to avoid pregnancy or contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

As teacher training is completed, the new curriculum will become available to students in grades six through 10 in 15 schools countywide.

Kim Romano, executive director of Womankind, called the grant a "dream come true" and stressed the need in the Keys to combat the increasing spread of STDs among teens.

Superintendent Mark Porter lauded the collaborative effort: "It was insightful to recognize that too often schools are the captive audience and people look to us to do certain things but there isn't that necessary support to make it successful."

School Board Chairman John Dick, a critic of short-term grants that leave the district on the hook after funding stops, said that wouldn't be the case here.

"The money is used to teach the teachers," he said. "Once they know the material, they know it. It can be continued on just by teaching" other colleagues.

During a Wednesday grant announcement at Womankind's Key West office, Dick arrived to find a bowl of condoms in his seat.

He drew laughter remarking, "I'm going to make sure these always stay in the Womankind office and never make their way into the schools. To be abstinent is the best way. That's the one you've got to push the most."

Individual schools have the ability to decide which staffers will attend training and later teach the classes. The money also pays for two employees, a program coordinator to arrange training sessions and a program manager to monitor implementation.

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders will receive instruction called Draw the Line/Respect the Line designed to postpone sexual activity and encourage condom use.

Ninth- and 10th-graders will go through the Safer Choices curriculum, which continues the message of the earlier program while adding information about the prevention of HIV, other STDs, teen pregnancy and sexual decision making.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/16/3052219/sex-education-to-expand-in-keys.html#storylink=cpy

More calls for sex education in schools

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 15, 2012): Sex education, including gender roles, should be taught in schools to better prepare children for present day challenges.

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) regional director Nora Murat said the subject should go beyond basic reproductive health studies, to also incorporate gender perspective issues, for instance, violence against women. 

"Every day we read about cases involving young girls ... baby dumping, domestic violence and many others," Nora told theSun

 

When contacted, Women's Development Research Centre director Prof Dr Rashidah Shuib said the government must take the lead in ensuring that children are taught the right information.

"It is much better for information to be given in a proper manner, rather than children finding out from other sources, like the internet," she said.

She said as children are less inclined to talk to their parents about "intimate" matters, introducing sex education in schools will be a good solution to the problem. 

Social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir said there is a lack of political will to heed repeated calls from civil society and concerned parents for sex education to be incorporated into the school system. 

"Actually, what I would like to see is gender equality education. If sex education (only) perpetuates the idea that women are less equal, are inferior (to men), it does not help," she said. 

Asked whether sex education should be introduced as a dedicated module or incorporated into existing subjects, Marina said it must first begin with a policy approach that applies across the board.

These comments reflect a renewed public interest in cases highlighting possible consequences of entering into an unplanned sexual relationship, or of young couples unable to cope with the pressures of married life. 

The government was also urged to take the lead in introducing sex education in schools, rather than leave it to NGOs such as the Yayasan Guru Malaysia Berhad and Putrajaya Consultative Council of Parent-Teacher Association, responsible for organising a series of "Parents Handling LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transsexual) Issues" seminars. 

A purported "guideline' for parents to identify LGBT traits in their children, distributed during the seminar, attracted brickbats and bouquets from concerned parties, including parents, rights groups and educationists. 

In response, Deputy Education Minister Puad Zarkashi told theSun the government has no plans to introduce sex education as a dedicated module in school, but rather, it will remain incorporated in other core subjects such as science, biology and moral studies.

Blue print for sex education

My son Atharva is 13. Last year, he asked me why his female cousins and the girls from our neighbourhood didn’t play with him any more. I was stumped. Here I was, this evolved parent who thought talking about the birds and bees was the most natural thing. And yet, strangely, I got queasy about his question,” says filmmaker Ravi Jadhav, who’s made acclaimed films like Natrang and Bal Gandharva. It was Atharva’s innocuous question that led him to make Balak Palak, a film on the need for sex education and the opening up of dialogue between parents and children.

Jadhav, who grew up in a middle class milieu, says he was about his son’s age when he first got curious. “The city was plastered with posters of a wet Mandakini in Ram Teri Ganga Maili. Sagar was released soon after and I remember being gripped by the song ‘Jaane do na’. Then came Tarzan starring Hemant Birje and Kimi Katkar, and though he was a children’s character, our parents astutely kept us away from the movie. I had questions about the way I felt, but all I could do was ask a senior about it. He encouraged us to read street-side porn, and catch BPs or ‘blue prints’ (which we called Bhakta Prahlad).”

When his son asked him why the girls didn’t play with him anymore, Jadhav realised how little had changed since he was an adolescent. “Soon after, I chanced upon a Time magazine article on the rising problem of teenage pregnancy in the West,” he says. He was en route to Pune with writers Ganesh Pandit and Amber Vinod Hadap when they told him about their 20-minute one-act play on sex education, called ‘BP’. “I told them I wanted to make a film on the subject, and after some convincing, they agreed.”

Jadhav has handled large canvases in both his earlier films. Yet, he feels Balak Palak was tougher. “I didn’t want to hold back on what I wanted to say, yet I felt that both children and parents should be able to watch the film together comfortably. I’ve always used humour in my ad films, but for this, if I wasn’t careful, there was the danger that it could become vulgar or ribald. Right from the writing stage to the shoot and edit, this is what made the process longer than usual and I spent one year on the film.”

The film was screened at the Marathi International Film & Theatre Awards in Singapore last week. Film critic Amit Bhandari says he was amazed at the 1,400-plus audience’s response. “With Natrang, Jadhav re-visited the long forgotten tamasha movie genre; with Bal Gandharva, he took on a larger-than-life personality and humanised him; and now, with BP, he has again pushed the envelope,” says Bhandari.
Before its release in theatres, Balak Palak will travel to New York for the South Asian Film Festival and then be screened at MAMI festival in Mumbai on October 20.

Abstinence education gets an 'A' from parents

Melvella Bryant was delighted when her 12-year-old daughter said she wanted to wait until marriage to have sex. But Bryant is concerned the seventh-grader may hear a different message at her public school.

“I want my daughter’s school to reinforce, not contradict, what I’m teaching at home,” says Bryant, of Yonkers, N.Y. “I want her school to support her decision to wait until marriage.”

Bryant’s view is hardly unique among parents, according to a recent national survey.

The survey shows that 79 percent of parents with children ages 9 to 16 want them to receive abstinence education. Support among African-Americans parents, like Bryant, is even higher, with 86 percent supporting abstinence education for their child.

“This survey’s findings shows abstinence education is a women’s issue, a Hispanic issue, an African-American issue, a health issue and a common-sense issue with strong support across ethnic groups, age demographics and political affiliation,” says Valerie Huber, president of the National Abstinence Education Foundation (NAEF), which commissioned the survey.

Other findings include:

* Nearly eight of 10 Democrats and nine of 10 Republicans support abstinence education.

* Almost 60 percent of Democrats and more than 70 percent of Republicans oppose the idea of eliminating all funding for abstinence education.

* Democrats and Republicans alike support more equality in funding between abstinence education and comprehensive sex education.

* Eighty-five percent of parents believe that all youth, including homosexual youth, benefit from skills that help them choose to wait for sex.

Now a parent with a 14-year-old son, Katrina Hobbs of Conway, Ark., recalls how she didn’t hear a positive message about abstinence in her home or at her school.

“I never heard the beauty of why you should wait,” says Hobbs. “I really wish I had heard that message so I could have had all of the information I needed to make a good decision. I want that for my son.”

The survey shows nearly nine in 10 parents strongly support their children knowing the limitations of condoms for preventing pregnancy and disease. Hobbs wants her son to have those facts as well.

“You can’t help but see the truth in abstinence,” says Hobbs. “It’s self-evident that if you are abstaining until marriage, there is zero chance of pregnancy. It’s self evident that if you are abstaining there is zero chance of sexually transmitted diseases and zero chance of emotional scars that come with all those broken sexual relationships.”

While other surveys have addressed opinions on sex education in general with a question or two about abstinence education, this is the most extensive poll focusing specifically on abstinence education's approach and themes.

Conducted by Pulse Opinion Research in mid-September, the survey asked 23 questions of 1,683 parents across the country with children ages 9-16. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

A full survey report and an opportunity to sign an open letter to Congress that asks for increased abstinence education funding can be found at www.whattheytoldus.org, a website that reports polling data about abstinence education.

Sex education 'lacking' in schools

Near one third of Irish people have not recieved any form of sex education at school.

Nearly a third of Irish people have not received any form of sexual health education in secondary school, a new survey has revealed.

The global average of those who did not receive sexual health education in school stands at 22 per cent, but in Ireland that figure rises to 30 per cent, according to the Durex Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey.

The survey of 29,994 adults in 36 countries was carried out as part of National Condom Week by Harris Interactive.

It shows that 55 per cent of 18-year-olds will leave Irish secondary level with some formal sexual health education but an additional 15 per cent of people said they cannot remember their school's attempt at sex education.

Nearly half of all survey participants said their friends are a major source of sexual education, with books, magazines and mainstream television all ranking more informative than school.

The survey also revealed the average number of sexual partners for men was 17 while the women surveyed said they had eight different partners on average.

National Condom week, which kicks off today and concludes on October 21st, aims to promote safe and well-informed sex, according to brand manager for Durex Ireland Hazel Roche.

“National Condom Week gives us the chance to ensure safer sex is at the forefront of everyone's minds. By partnering with the [Dublin Aids Alliance] and [Union of Students in Ireland] we want to raise the awareness of the value of good sexual health education, and the importance of safer sex,” she said.

“It is vital that we educate our nation because a condom can quite literally be a lifesaver.”

Throughout the week, over 30,000 condoms and information cards will be handed out by the Dublin Aids Alliance.

“This is our ninth year supporting Durex with National Condom Week and we did not hesitate to commit our time and energy again,” DAA’s coordinator for prevention education and training Susan Donlon said.

“We are thrilled that this year Durex has supplied us with 30,000 condoms to distribute to communities throughout Ireland, including young people and at risk groups.”

Comprehensive sex education has a role

The Gazette Editorial Board

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Sex education can be a touchy subject for school districts.

Most, rightly, don’t want to stick their noses too far into such personal and emotional subject matter; one which touches on a number of core values for families.

And it’s only right that parents take the central responsibility for sharing their own values and expectations with their children about sexual activity, relationships and reproductive health. Still, there are health-related matters all young people should know about, especially when it comes to sex.

Iowa does not have required sex ed curricula and a recent survey by the Sexual Health Alliance of Linn & Johnson Counties found that local school districts have widely varying curricula when it comes to sex ed.

Some area students are receiving comprehensive instruction regarding sexuality, contraception, abstinence, healthy relationships, sexually transmitted diseases and related issues. Others aren’t learning nearly as much.

We don’t think the state needs to mandate sex education programs, but the State Department of Education can and should play a supporting role, making it easy for districts to access curriculum choices that are research-based and focus on health and decision-making.

Well-designed sex ed curricula are a valuable part of any comprehensive health education program.

Respected education associations have worked hard to craft standards for sex education that don’t presume to circumvent family beliefs about when and under what circumstances a young person should become sexually active.

Contrary to what some people believe, comprehensive sex ed programs don’t put the idea of sex into teenagers’ heads, or otherwise encourage sexual activity.

Several studies, including one released this past spring by researchers affiliated with the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit sexual and reproductive health research organization, show that sex ed can help delay the onset of sexual activity, reduce the frequency of sex and number of sexual partners and increase safer-sex practices.

Districts and parents need to have the final say, of course, about what students learn. However, the ongoing struggle against teen pregnancy and alarming recent rise of sexually transmitted diseases among young people is reason enough for every district to strongly consider providing comprehensive sex education.

Opinion: Sex education must be reformed to combat sexual abuse

This post carries a trigger warning for domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape. 

The allegations of Jimmy Savile’s serial sexual abuse of young girls have been met with universal outrage. It has helped many more women to speak up about their own horrific stories. Rape and sexual harassment happens to women daily across the country, the majority of whom never speak up.

I was raped by a friend from university earlier this year. He never apologised and I suffered abuse from his friends worse than the incident itself. They routinely mimicked my screams under the guise of ‘lad banter’. The boys have never acknowledged that the event was rape, believing that ‘if a man is with a woman it is his biological urge to have sex’. I was isolated and felt like a ‘drama queen’ for being affected and upset about the situation. I blamed myself for over-reacting, not my rapist. This is a common symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I discussed the incident with a female friend whose reactions exposed serious flaws in our society and exposd attitudes which must be changed. She commented very blankly that every woman she knew had suffered from rape or, at the very least, sexual harassment. She told me about a relationship in which she was routinely beaten, as well as date raped. She told me of abandonment by her female friends and ‘slut shaming’ amongst her social group. She too felt isolated and blamed herself. None of the men have shown remorse.

I have asked male friends about their perceptions towards sex. Responses have been concerning. Alongside the belief that sex is a ‘biological urge’, men do not understand what constitutes consent. One blamed years of watching pornography for his attitudes towards women. Indeed, the pornographic standard of anal sex convinced teenage girls at my school that it was the expected norm. Of course, it isn’t just pornography that confuses young people. Magazines like Cosmopolitan also have their fair share of peculiar sex tips. With an education based entirely upon pornography and magazine articles, young people have a bizarre perception of sex.

People will always have access to pornography and Liberal Democrats must not attempt to ban its distribution. Porn can be empowering and healthy when it isn’t degrading. Young people are always looking for sex advice and often get false information from the internet. We can attempt to change men’s attitudes towards women through curriculum reform in Personal, Health and Social Education. The current teachings of contraception must be expanded to include gender and sex equality. I am not calling for instructional sex classes but it is important to educate children about what is acceptable conduct in a sexual relationship, and what constitutes abuse.

Unfortunately there is a long way to go to even have these proposals considered. British society is still prudish about talking about sex and equality. We are still struggling to allow people who love each other to get married. Equal marriage still warrants 900 protestors to rally together against love.  Trying to reform sex education will take some time. I just hope that until then more women can speak openly about abuse, instead of suffering alone in silence.
* Anne Smith is a pseudonym. The author's name has been changed to protect her identity.