Sex education

Sex education

I wish to comment on the issue of UN members agreeing to promote sex education, which was reported in the July 4 edition of The Jakarta Post. The plan calls for increased efforts in family planning, prenatal care and sex education in developing countries, which account for almost 98 percent of world population growth, said UN Population Fund spokeswoman Corrie Shanahan.

Since Indonesia is one of the members of the UN and is prone to rapid population growth, implementing sex education may have a triple function. First, it may help curb population growth. Second, it helps parents teach their children about safe sex as acknowledged by their religion. Third, and most importantly, it is to let people, especially youngsters, learn about the consequences of illicit sex.

In Indonesia, the question remains on the appropriate age level to receive sex education. It is left open to educators for argument. We can see it is already a critical issue in Thailand where, according to Ron Moreau, more than 300,000 people have died after contracting HIV (Newsweek, July 5, 1999). Hence, sex education is a vital issue in this country. When we eat poor- quality food, we fall sick. Let alone what happens when we engage in improper sex.

ODO FADLOELI

Bandung