Is sex education important for you?
Is sex education important for you?
Leo Wahyudi S, Contributor, Jakarta
Sex education is not a how-to course in having sex, although that
is what many teenagers we spoke to seemed to think. It's about
the responsibilities that we have to take on when we graduate to
the big world of relationships.
Boo Boo, 15, student of a private senior high school:
There are positive and negative aspects to sex education. The
positive side is that students are exposed to the impact of
misunderstanding what sex is about. At least students can think
and can make decisions because they are exposed to what should
and should not be done.
However, such education sometimes is just too theoretical when
the youth of today has already been exposed to so much about sex.
I think, for some experienced students, such education will
not be effective because they are already sexually experienced.
For example, watching a porn movie is not something tantalizing
anymore because almost all of my classmates have watched them.
Just to watch is still OK for me provided we don't practice
it. And at this point, there is a need for us to have sex
education so that we know the risks of having sex.
On the other hand, I have only superficial knowledge about sex
from my friends, although I reckon they are unreliable sources.
Delicia, 17, student of a private senior high school:
I think it's better to have reliable exposure to sexual
matters from sex educators or books or leaflets rather than
getting to know everything about it from experimentation.
I believe that sex education provides trustworthy information
for young people.
Just like many other parents here, mine never told me
explicitly about such matters. My mother talked to me about my
period the first time I had one, but never again.
I have a boyfriend, although my parents once asked me not to
go out with him. But now I'm allowed to go out on dates. I have
to keep my parents' trust, so I don't want to experiment sexually
with him.
Despite the interaction with my classmates, I almost never try
to look for misleading information on sex. And I'm not interested
in seeing porn books or magazines. I'd rather read comic books
and Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Febi, 18, student of a state senior high school:
It is necessary to have sex education here in anticipation of
the alarming trends in behavior among young people. It's too bad
that many still perceive it as taboo to discuss sex. I've never
had any sex ed. at school.
Well, a friend of mine got pregnant out of wedlock. She's a
victim of sexual ignorance, and that's a pity.
Besides, I also see that many schoolgirls work after school as
prostitutes, and I've even heard that some of them go to school
with me ...
Many times my classmates have invited me to spend the night at
cafes or discotheques, but I keep saying no. I just think that I
don't belong in such places.
Yasinta, 16, student of a state senior high school:
We need sex education to correct misperceptions. I had a wrong
idea about what reproductive organs looked like until I was shown
a video at school.
However, I cannot deny that I still feel embarrassed to study
together in class when we are looking at images of genitalia.
I have to force myself to remember that it's only a scientific
explanation.
One thing I cannot tolerate is young people who abuse their
knowledge by doing things that put them at risk. It's really
embarrassing, if I may say so.
Yosimar, 16, student of a state senior high school:
I believe that promiscuity is now so rampant among the young
generation that they need reliable resources to enlighten them
about sex.
It's a pity that our school doesn't have a sex education
program. I deal with the situation by sharing information with
friends and reading books or surfing the Internet.
Worse still, our parents make sex off-limits for discussion.
I'm afraid that we really know nothing about sex. When we
discussed student reproduction in class, it was so unpleasant and
embarrassing. Some friends tried to be serious about it, but the
rest joked about it to deal with their unease.
Lack of knowledge about sex can also be seen in the alarming
number of rapes committed by people my age.
Kuat, 17, student of a private senior high school:
I don't see the need and importance of sex education for us.
Many people, including young people, have easy access to
pornography, as well as all the prostitutes operating so
freely ...
In looking at actual youth lifestyles today, I'd blame the
lack of faith and piety in their lives, not the absence of sex
education.
I'd add that the lack of morality in young people today is at
an alarming level, even though we study religion in school.