Both students and teachers know little about sexuality

JAKARTA (JP): Participants of a seminar on teen sexuality chuckled often at the bold statements of speakers and the "hot" pictures shown on the giant screen.

Some blushed and tried to avoid looking at pictures of nude men and women. For others, such pictures are nothing new as they have seen more than a few pornographic VCDs and X-rated films.

The students told The Jakarta Post after the seminar that the pictures, which in a nonsexual manner showed the human anatomy, were nothing compared to what they had seen on the VCDs, but they found that the information offered at the seminar was new to them.

"I have seen pornographic films twice with several of my female friends at one of my friend's house when her parents were not at home. It showed clearly how sexual intercourse takes place," said a student from SMUN 33 high school in West Jakarta.

She said watching such films was startling and became a topic of conversation among her peers. She also said they never discussed with their parents or teachers what they had seen.

"Of course it would be embarrassing to ask parents or teachers, moreover, we might get yelled at for (watching these VCDs)," she said.

No wonder that participants at the seminar, hosted by PT Procter & Gamble at Waroeng Kemang in South Jakarta last Sunday, did not have adequate information about their own anatomy and sexuality. This was also reflected in the questions they asked during the seminar.

The questions included one on the popular myth that a man's knee will become hollow if he masturbates frequently (based on the mistaken belief that sperm comes from a man's knee). Another student asked whether it was true that taking a nap was dangerous for women on their period.

Such "innocent" questions were, in fact, not only asked by students, but also by teachers.

A male teacher asked whether the more sex men had the easier it was to break bones in their back, while one of his colleagues asked if a pregnancy without cravings for particular foods would have negative effects on the baby.

The speakers at the seminar were Ramona Sari, a medical doctor who specializes in reproductive health, and a psychologist who works with patients who have problems with sex and drugs, Joyce S.H. Djaelani Gordon. They said such questions were asked at almost every seminar on sex education, forcing them to continually repeat the same basic information.

Joyce said the acceleration of information on sexuality was never as fast as the maturing process.

"The problem with teenagers now is that their physical and mental development is faster, but it is not accompanied by an emotional and spiritual maturity," she said during the seminar.

People today also tend to postpone marriage as they pursue their educations and careers, but at the same time their sexual drives are increasing, she said.

Another problem facing today's teenagers, Joyce said, is that they have more freedom, and curiosity, compared with the past, but they still have limited accurate information on sex and the associated risks.

Everybody should agree that the sex drive is normal, something given by God, but most people still consider sex a taboo subject, which is why sex education at schools is rarely successful, she said.

"Whereas, if there was no sex drive the world would be empty and you wouldn't exist," Joyce added.

Commenting on a teacher's question whether sex education would make teenagers hypersexual, Joyce referred to data from the World Health Organization based on research in 13 countries. According to this data, sex education does not increase the possibility of early sexual intercourse.

Sex education, in fact, decreases sexual intercourse among teenagers because they are aware of the risks that come with sex.

Ramona gave a few examples of the devastating impact of a lack of information on sexuality.

She said she once had a teenage patient who had difficulty urinating because she had pushed a small dry-cell battery into her vagina while masturbating.

"She became sexually aroused after watching pornographic VCDs when she was alone at home," Ramona said.

However, although there are numerous examples of such dangerous, sometimes fatal, incidents occurring because of a lack of proper information, people continue to reject sex education in the schools, "although school is the most effective place for (sex) education", she said.

Data from the Ministry of Health shows that in 1995 the maternal mortality rate was 373 per 100,000 births, while the infant mortality rate was 54 per 1,000 births.

"The problem with sex education outside the schools is the discontinuation. For instance, we have to repeat the same basic information at every seminar or discussion because, for example, after we are successful with a certain group there will always be others who have never received the information," Ramona said. (ind)