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